You definitely need the latest places.sqlite file that you can find. That is the only hope for history.

First, what is the date/time stamp of the file in Old Firefox Data? Refresh should have placed your latest settings folder in there, but the effects of Windows' System Restore feature can be unpredictable.

Second, can you check for additional profiles in Firefox's profile folder. Type or paste the following in the Windows Start menu search box and press Enter to load the folder:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

It should be obvious from timestamps which is the current folder. Do you see any others that might have recent data?

Thanks for the suggestions. You have made it easier for me to see the limitations here on what can be done. I searched for places.sqlite in whole computer and ext drives but alas last is 3 months old. I thus have history till then.

It occurred to me that I could sue session manager, bring up its sessions one by one, and they would be recorded in history. But session manager similarly has a few month gap.

Is the browser history in the index.dat file?

I think index.dat is an Internet Explorer file.

When you did the system restore, how old was the restore point? I'm a little surprised it was so ineffective.

I don't know whether you want to experiment, but there is some software to help "mine" your restore points for other possible copies of places.sqlite. I haven't tried it myself: http://nicbedford.co.uk/software/systemrestoreexplorer/

All fixed. I searched for places.sqlite and was amazed to see as you suggested that it was in the old firefox folder. I copied , pasted it into current profile folder and everything back to normal. All the browser history is there, as well as everything else. Many thanks for the advice.

rapidtransit said

Background: I stupidly pressed the Mozilla refresh button thinking that is what is was. But it is actually a self destruct button that resets mozilla and thus clears it of all content. Wow. I stupidly used system restore of course not a fix. I found 'places.sqlite' file a few days old and it brought back everything but NOT the browser history. That browser history covers 2 years and I never realized how important it is for me till now. Problem: So all I am missing is my browser history. Attempted fixes: 1. I then imported bookmarks from Bookmarks backup of a few days old from the menu via bookmark restore and same situation. 2. I copied places.sqlite file from old firefox data and again bookmarks updated but not history. 2. I searched for index.dat (I assume that is the history) file and found one but it is the new one. No old one found. Further info: NB. I have a mozy back up pcv file (3 months old but thats okay). But how do I extract history? I have win7, mozilla is latest version. Any ideas how to get my web page visited history back? I am stumped.

Just out of curiosity, how did you get your bookmarks back? What steps did it take to do so? I'm trying to get my bookmarks back too.

Hi cje24576, in this case, the user had an Old Firefox Data folder on the desktop from using the Refresh feature. Do you have that folder and, if so, are the files inside recently updated?

Meanwhile, I replied to your new question here: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1077148

Never mind, I got it fixed. All I had to do was update my browser to the latest version!