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How do I retrieve bookmarks and passwords from a Windows backup, after OS re-install?I have a full Windows backup of my machine, pre re-installl

  • 3 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by Otarie

Otarie
Otarie
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I had to reinstall Vista 7 OS. I have a full Windows backup of my machine, prior to the re-installation. How do I retrieve the bookmarks and passwords from the backup? I understand they're stored in various files a ".default" folder in C:\users\username\appdata\roaming\mozilla\firefox\profiles. When I try restoring the folder, the files get skipped... When I try browsing for the individual files, I don't see them!

I had to reinstall Vista 7 OS. I have a full Windows backup of my machine, prior to the re-installation. How do I retrieve the bookmarks and passwords from the backup? I understand they're stored in various files a ".default" folder in C:\users\username\appdata\roaming\mozilla\firefox\profiles. When I try restoring the folder, the files get skipped... When I try browsing for the individual files, I don't see them!

All Replies (3)

philipp
philipp
  • Moderator
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hello otarie, your bookmarks are stored within the file places.sqlite in your profile folder and passwords are in key3.db & signons.sqlite.

whether they are available in your backup and how you could access them would obviously depend on the tool and settings you've used for backing up your disk - maybe you could contact the documentation or the support section of the vendor of the tool to get a better and more detailed answer....

Recovering important data from an old profile

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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The "Application Data" folder in XP/Win2K and the "AppData" folder in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and later versions are hidden folders.

Otarie
Otarie Question owner
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Many thanks for your responses... After a little scouting on the web, I have found THE solution... This is all due to the way Windows 7 Backup works, and will NOT let restore apps...

("File restore in Windows7 is not designed to restore back applications. This is because the application state is spread across potentially multiple folders, files & registry. Windows7 file backup is not aware of where all the state is spread to be able to restore the entire application accurately as such information is internal to the application. Restoring application partially might corrupt the application and render the application unusable. So we do not allow restoring applications from file backup. In case files under C:\Program Files etc. are chosen for restoring, we block restoring files from backup to such locations as it might cause the applications to not function.)

What one has to do when restoring is to NOT attempt to restore to the original location, but to select the radio button which allows you to type a path where you want the files restored and type in the path of the original location!!! Then select copy and replace...A little quirky (and tedious), but it works!