Restore Bookmarks From Registry
I accidentally deleted my back-up 'Bookmarks' in Firefox. I have tried "Import and Backup" and then "Restore", but it only is showing the last couple of days--because, like I said, I accidentally deleted them.
I found a file in the registry (*.json) from an earlier date and would like to know if I can restore my Bookmarks from this, and, if so, how (step-by-step)? Thanks.
All Replies (9)
What do you mean with: I found a file in the registry (*.json) from an earlier date
Firefox doesn't use the registry for storing personal profile data.
Did you look in the Recycle Bin for deleted files?
See also:
I did a search in the Registry and I found a *.json file-which, when I had backed up my Bookmarks back in October, 2011, it saved a file on my Desktop with the extension .json. But I deleted that by mistake. So when I did a Find in the Registry for *.json file, I found one from October, 2011, and thought that there may be a way to restore the Bookmarks from there.
Also, I all ready have deleted everything from my Recycle Bin. Any suggestions?
If you no longer have those JSON backups on your hard drive and you didn't back them up before deleting then there is no way to restore the bookmarks.
Thanks for the reply. I no longer have the .json backups; I guess the bookmark are gone.
But, would you please tell me why that .json entry is in the Registry? Would changing the value name or exporting it, etc. in the Registry do anything?
In which registry key do you see that file?
Can you attach a screenshot of that registry key?
Use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot and make sure that you do not exceed the maximum file size (1 MB).
Cor-el, here's a screenshot of the registry....I hope you can see it. Thanks.
That screenshot shows an MRU (most recently used) list of files that you accessed via Windows Explorer. You seem to saved those JSON backups at that time to the desktop, but if they are no longer there then they were deleted and can no longer be accessed. Windows seems to keep a lot of such MRU lists (privacy?) and they have no other value and purpose than to to make it easier to reopen files that you've ever opened in the past. Such lists may even cause problem if they point to files on removable drives that are no longer attached.
So I'm afraid that you will not be able to use them to get back your bookmarks unless you succeed to undelete (restore) such files successfully with an undelete utility like Recuva.
Cor-el, thanks for your reply. I might try using Recuva.
Cor-el: I tried using Recuva and it looked promising because it found the file I was looking for. But when I went to Restore it in Import & Backup and Choose File, it wouldn't work. A Firefox dialog box came up saying "Unable to process the backup file"-see screenshot. Any ideas...I think something is generally messed up with my computer because of the other issues too, but my anti-virus says everything is o.k. ???
