Firefox not showing data from profiles folder

[billubakra]

Hi Friends,

At work I bookmark some sites, save my logins etc. on my pc. To save time in projects I used to copy the profile folder in a pen drive and do the work at home by creating a new firefox profile and pasting the work profile's contents there. But from the past few months it is not working. I mean I copy the profile folder from work, then create a new profile in my home pc and firefox is opened without any bookmarks, logins, history or anything else. It opens like it has been started for the first time. I did some digging and found these things.
1. On the left side is the contents of the folder which is copied from work. On the right side are the files and folders which are auto created when I select this profile and open firefox

*i.imgur.com/NGg2YAE.jpg

Are these auto created files and folders the reason for the fresh start? The name of the profile folder which I copy is like abcd and the one which I create at home is like wxyz(auto-named). I used to copy the contents from abcd to wxyz. I hope the difference in profile names is not an issue.

2. In my home pc this is how the profile folder looks like-


*i.imgur.com/K9De9bP.jpg
Completely different contents if we compare it to the profile folder from work.

The pc at work is xp and at home is 10. I tried the same on a system with xp also but the result was the same. Have already gone through kb topics in mozilla forums like the one below but no help

Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles | Firefox Help
What should I do?

Thanks

 

[whitestar_999]

Info on Mozilla Firefox Cache Folder – Files Location

Cache Files Location in Windows XP:
Local Disk C:\ Documents and Settings\ (Your Username)\ Application Data\ Mozilla\ Firefox\ Profiles\

Cache Files Location in Windows 7:
Local Disk C:\ Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\2d3lp9xj.default

Profile folder - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

On Windows 2000 and Windows XP, profile folders are in this location, by default:
C:\Documents and Settings\<Windows login/user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile folder>

On Windows Vista and above, profile folders are in this location, by default:
C:\Users\<Windows login/user name>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile folder>

Most likely you are copy pasting into wrong folder.

 

[billubakra]

Info on Mozilla Firefox Cache Folder – Files Location


Profile folder - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base


Most likely you are copy pasting into wrong folder.

Sir, what am I exactly look in that cache link? As per the link that I posted in the first post only profile folder is needed.

Regarding copy paste location from second link I am indeed posting in the right locations.

 

[whitestar_999]

There are 2 firefox profile folder locations in win vista & above.One is in C:\Users\<Windows login/user name>\AppData\Local\ in which various cache folders are present & which is not required for backing up data.The other one is in C:\Users\<Windows login/user name>\AppData\Roaming\ in which actual data like bookmarks are present.The screenshots posted by you suggest that you have mixed Local & Roaming profile folders while copy pasting.

 

[billubakra]

There are 2 firefox profile folder locations in win vista & above.One is in C:\Users\<Windows login/user name>\AppData\Local\ in which various cache folders are present & which is not required for backing up data.The other one is in C:\Users\<Windows login/user name>\AppData\Roaming\ in which actual data like bookmarks are present.The screenshots posted by you suggest that you have mixed Local & Roaming profile folders while copy pasting.

Started from scratch copied profiles folder from xp from this location-
Local Disk C:\ Documents and Settings\ (Your Username)\ Application Data\ Mozilla\ Firefox\ Profiles

and pasted the same in-
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

But the result was the same. I think it might have something to do with the profile folder name and digits from the xp machine as the same name of the folder is not possible in any other system.

 

[whitestar_999]

The folder structure is different on xp & latest firefox profiles on win vista & above systems.You have to copy paste selected files & folders & not everything from xp profile.
Transferring data to a new profile - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

Files:

• cert8.db
• chromeappsstore.sqlite
• content-prefs.sqlite
• cookies.sqlite
• formhistory.sqlite
• key3.db
• logins.json (Firefox 32 and above)
• mimeTypes.rdf
• permissions.sqlite
• persdict.dat
• places.sqlite
• signons.sqlite (Firefox 31 and below)
• signons3.txt (if exists)
• webappsstore.sqlite

Folders:

• bookmarkbackups
• chrome (if it exists)
• searchplugins (if it exists)

 

[billubakra]

The folder structure is different on xp & latest firefox profiles on win vista & above systems.You have to copy paste selected files & folders & not everything from xp profile.
Transferring data to a new profile - Firefox - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

I wasn't able to find the below files and folders in the xp backup-

• chromeappsstore.sqlite

• persdict.dat
  

• signons.sqlite (Firefox 31 and below)
• signons3.txt (if exists)
  
  

• chrome (if it exists)
• searchplugins (if it exists)
  
• I still think that the different names of the profile folders might be a reason that it is not working. This used to work great but I have no idea why it isn't now. Any more help? If possible can you please check and confirm this on your machine?

 

[whitestar_999]

Whatever you couldn't find in xp backup is fine,copy paste those files you can find.

Profile folder names will always be different & has nothing to do with this.I have copy pasted many times such files from one profile folder to another profile folder with different name & never faced an issue.I don't use xp though.

 

[billubakra]

Whatever you couldn't find in xp backup is fine,copy paste those files you can find.

Profile folder names will always be different & has nothing to do with this.I have copy pasted many times such files from one profile folder to another profile folder with different name & never faced an issue.I don't use xp though.

I did copy paste except the not found files and folders as mentioned in the last post and it didn't work.

 

[whitestar_999]

can you post step-by-step what you exactly did?

e.g.copied below files & folders from xp pc C:\...\profile folder xyz(copy the exact location by clicking in address bar of windows explorer)
bookmark backup
list1.txt
blocklist
..
..

to win 10 pc location C:\...\profile folder abc(copy the exact location by clicking in address bar of windows explorer)

 

[Vyom]

Without delving into detail, I would just like to suggest using Portable Firefox folder, instead of keep manually copying FF profiles. Also if you want logins, passwords, bookmarks synced between Home and Work FF profiles, why not use Sync feature that is in built in FF?
Just my 2 cents.

 

[billubakra]

can you post step-by-step what you exactly did?

e.g.copied below files & folders from xp pc C:\...\profile folder xyz(copy the exact location by clicking in address bar of windows explorer)
bookmark backup
list1.txt
blocklist
..
..

to win 10 pc location C:\...\profile folder abc(copy the exact location by clicking in address bar of windows explorer)

Copied stuff from-
C:\Documents and Settings\computer\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox (XP)
pasted the whole folder to-

C:\Users\MYUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles (10)

after creating a new profile like-
Start button+R
firefox.exe -P>Create Profile>Enter new profile name:>Default User

And surprisingly I got only two websites from yesterday in history. Then I copied those specific files and folders which you mentioned in the replies above and the result was the same.

Without delving into detail, I would just like to suggest using Portable Firefox folder, instead of keep manually copying FF profiles. Also if you want logins, passwords, bookmarks synced between Home and Work FF profiles, why not use Sync feature that is in built in FF?
Just my 2 cents.

Not allowed to use Firefox account, only work related emails are required. People in power don't get what is necessary, they just want what they say to be done.

 

[whitestar_999]

Don't copy the whole folder & don't create any new profile,delete all other profiles you have created on win 10 or if in doubt uninstall & reinstall firefox on win 10 system.There should be only one folder named something like xyz123.default inside profiles folder on win 10.

For XP system
C:\Documents and Settings\computer\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox--go into profiles folder then go into profile folder named something like abc123.default & then copy all files & folders inside(don't copy the folder abc123.default).

For win 10 system
C:\Users\MYUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles--go into profile folder named something like xyz123.default & then paste all files & folders inside the xyz123.default folder.

 

[billubakra]

Don't copy the whole folder & don't create any new profile,delete all other profiles you have created on win 10 or if in doubt uninstall & reinstall firefox on win 10 system.There should be only one folder named something like xyz123.default inside profiles folder on win 10.

For XP system
C:\Documents and Settings\computer\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox--go into profiles folder then go into profile folder named something like abc123.default & then copy all files & folders inside(don't copy the folder abc123.default).

For win 10 system
C:\Users\MYUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles--go into profile folder named something like xyz123.default & then paste all files & folders inside the xyz123.default folder.

I cannot delete the older profile in 10 as it has my personal stuff. Moreover what is the issue if we create a new profile like I am doing? It used to work fine that way itself.

 

[whitestar_999]

It was for testing.Anyway download portable version of firefox & extract it to a new folder.Portable version has the profile folder inside its own folder itself(most likely inside data folder). Paste those files inside the profile folder abc123.default.Since it is a portable version,nothing installs & you can delete the whole folder & test again as many times as you like.Just note that there can not be 2 simultaneous firefox versions running so you can either launch portable firefox or installed firefox but not both of them & you have to close first if you want to launch the second & vice versa.

 

[Desmond]

You can find out the current location of the profile directory more reliably by doing this:
- Enter "about:support" into the address bar.
- Under "Application Basics" look for "Profile Folder" and click the "Show Folder" button against it.
This will open the profile folder for the currently loaded profile. Try replacing everything in this location with your own data and restart Firefox.