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I added a 2nd PC to Sync, if I unpick everything except bookmarks, does it mean the first PC will stop syncing the other things (eg: credentials) to the cloud?

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  • Last reply by FredMcD

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Just asking this because I believe Firefox sync also works as a backup. If I format my computer I can retrieve everything that was synced.

I've just added a second computer to the sync, with one single objective, share bookmarks. So, I've removed everything except bookmarks.

But by doing this it seems I'm no longer syncing things like credentials and history to the "cloud" on the first computer.


ty

Just asking this because I believe Firefox sync also works as a backup. If I format my computer I can retrieve everything that was synced. I've just added a second computer to the sync, with one single objective, share bookmarks. So, I've removed everything except bookmarks. But by doing this it seems I'm no longer syncing things like credentials and history to the "cloud" on the first computer. ty

All Replies (7)

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Yes, when you de-select a data category from Sync the future data changes won't get sent to the Sync server. But already existing data won't be deleted from the server. but it won't be updated with changes any longer.

As far as Sync being a backup medium - not really. Data sent to the Sync server is encrypted y a "key" derived from the Account password; if or when that password is changed, the data already on the Sync server is rendered useless. A new password would have created a different "key" and existing data couldn't be decrypted; so the data already on the server is cleared for a fresh load of data that is encrypted via the new "key".

Overall, for all but login data the method of encryption used is way too strong, IMO. But it is the way it is, all types of data are treated equally as far as how it is encrypted.

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When you decide you need to format your hard drive, make sure you create current backups of all the data that you want to restore.

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Thanks for your help.

Anyway, a leave a suggestion then. Mozilla should make this possible, to choose which computers can sync what.

I want synced computer A to sync everything. But I don't want synced computer B getting the browser history from A. Still, I want B to get bookmarks from A without stopping A from syncing everything.


As I understood the example above isn't possible.

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You can select all of your profile or only parts of it. For example, on my sync, I only select passwords, history, and bookmarks. This is because of compatibility issues between v57, v54, ESR, and Waterfox.

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FredMcD said

You can select all of your profile or only parts of it. For example, on my sync, I only select passwords, history, and bookmarks. This is because of compatibility issues between v57, v54, ESR, and Waterfox.

But I did that on computer B, and it applied also on computer A

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Is everything working properly, or is there a problem?