Mozilla Firefox: How do I move the bookmarks files off C:

[Sylvander]

I've already moved from C: to D: various things like:
a. My Documents. [Use “TweakUI” to move their home]
b. E-mails for all identities. [use the email client to move their home]
c. Internet Explorer Favourites. [Use “TweakUI” to move their home]
d. Temporary Internet Files. [use the browser (Internet Explorer) to move them]
e. Re-home the Windows Address Book as shown here http://tinyurl.com/24q6l . Use the key “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab FileName” to specify its new address. [Its normal home address [in Win98] is C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\(the name you gave your PC).WAB]

This means that when I restore a backup of C: all of this info remains safely untouched and up-to-the-minute.

But it dawned on me that if I restore a backup to make C: "jump back" [to when it used to work just as I liked], then my Firefox "Bookmarks" will "jump back" also [whereas I'd like THOSE to remain unchanged like the others above].

[Sylvander]

At www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/profile

Found:
Move an existing profile or restore a backed up profile

It's possible to move the location of a profile folder. This could be useful if you have a backed up profile folder somewhere on your hard drive and want to tell Firefox to use that as your profile. This section explains how to do this.

1. Shut down Firefox completely (File > Exit).
2. Move the profile folder to the desired location. For example, on Windows, move the profile from C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default to D:\Stuff\MyProfile. If you are reading these instructions because you want to restore a previously backed up profile, this step isn't necessary. Just note the current location of the profile you want to restore.
3. Open up profiles.ini in a text editor. The file is located in the application data folder for Firefox:
* On Windows XP/2000, the path is %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\
* On Windows 95/98/Me, the path is usually C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\
* On Linux, the path is ~/.mozilla/firefox/
* On Mac OS X, the path is ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/
4. In profiles.ini, locate the entry for the profile you've just moved. Change the Path= line to the new location.
5. Change IsRelative=1 to IsRelative=0.
6. Save profiles.ini and restart Firefox.

I'm about to try that. :)

[pop pop]

I use this: http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/ (Mozilla Backup utility). It creates a backup of FireFox, ThunderBird, and/or Mozilla files into one file that you can put anywhere you choose, and of course restore at anytime.A coouple of clicks and you're done. :p

[Sylvander]

Ahhh, but...
I don't want to be making separate backups for this program and that.

At the moment, when I backup my partitions, EEEEeeeverything is covered by that backup, and I can have backups taken at different times [different days probably] along the way.

For example:
The above procedure didn't work; I suspect I specified an incorrect PATH.
However, it was easily fixed.
What I'd done was:
1. Copied the the contents of the "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles" folder [all sub-folders and files] to "D:\Moved\Mozilla\Firefox\MyProfile".
2. Then I edited "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\profiles.ini" as follows:
a) Changed:
Path=Profiles/default.5kb
to
Path=D:\Moved\Mozilla\Firefox\MyProfile\default.5k b [if I remember right]
and
IsRelative=1
to
IsRelative=0
3. Tried Firefox and it was working. Shut it down
4. Then I sent the contents of "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles" to the Recycle Bin [deleted those folders & files].
5. Tried Firefox again and it wasn't working normally.

The procedure hadn't worked.

6. Opened "Simple Backup" and chose "Custom Restore".
7. Restored "C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla" [the whole folder and all its sub-folders and files].
8. Chose to overwrite ALL files even if they already exist and whether they are more up-to-date or not.
9. That put things back as they were [I'd made a backup an hour before the above procedure].
10. Firefox works as before and I can "Erase" the contents of the Recycle Bin any time I like.

[classicsoftware]

You could also try Mozbackup (http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/). This will allow you easily backup and restore your Firefox/Thnderbird Profiles and restore them at will. You can just backup your booksmarks if you wish or your cache and extensons and restore them just as easily.

[Sylvander]

I notice something about the original path that I don't understand. :confused:

Path=Profiles/default.5kb

The forward slash.
Does anyone understand:

a. Why the path only includes the address RELATIVE to the location of the folder in which the profiles.ini file is held?
My guess is the path is this way because IsRelative=1 is set.
If I'm right, when I changed to IsRelative=0 I was correct to specify the full address.

b. Should I have been using forward slashes instead of backward in the new address?