Hi Uhuru,

From what I understand, your laptop crashed, and you used the hard drive from that computer in your new desktop computer build, and you would like to know if it's possible to restore the Bookmarks that you had available in your Firefox installation. Is this correct?

Do you know if the hard drive was formatted to re-install the operating system for your desktop? If so, then it would not be possible to restore your bookmarks, since those files would be lost.

If, however, the data in your hard drive was maintained, you will be able to copy the data from your old Firefox profile into your new Firefox profile. Please read the following help article for more information:

• Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles

We hope that this addresses your issue. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Thanks!!

- Ralph

See also:

• https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Recovering+important+data+from+an+old+profile
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_data_to_a_new_profile_-_Firefox

I am current operating on a Windows XP desktop and I am migrating to a Windows7 laptop - how do I preserve my account (and the important security data within it) ?

Hi BobWhiteXX, your Firefox data is stored in a profile folder (or, possibly, multiple profile folders).

This article describes how to track down that folder on your current system: Profiles - Where Firefox stores your bookmarks, passwords and other user data.

If you ever used the Firefox Reset feature, also check for a folder on your desktop named Old Firefox Data.

On your new computer, you can restore bookmarks using a menu option. Note that this will replace the default bookmarks included with Firefox, and any of your bookmarks you might add before you restore, so you'll want to do it promptly. See: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer.

Other data isn't as easily moved, but this article should help get you started: Recover important data from an old profile.

If you plan to have both computers running at the same time, you could consider using Firefox Sync to transfer the data that it can transfer. When setting up your Sync account, make sure to save the awkwardly long Sync/Recovery key in case you need to re-setup Sync without being near a computer that currently has it. More info: How do I set up Sync on my computer?, How do I add a device to Firefox Sync?

And... if you run into problems with one of these steps, feel free to start a new question (there's an Ask A Question link at the top of each page here).

P.S. Firefox also stored cached pages temporarily to speed access to pages on return. Those are stored in a separate location and should not be copied over. For privacy, you may want to clear your old cache folders.

orange Firefox button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced

On the Network mini-tab > Cached Web Content : "Clear Now"

If you have a large hard drive, this might take a few minutes.

Or if you're shredding your old hard drive, you could skip that.

Hello Jscher2000 - thx for the response - replying to a human makes my migration so much easier -

I an using my desktop - I am copying all data files/folders to Google Drive - will simply login to google on my new laptop and continue work

I am hoping that all firefox data/files/folders associated with my account are also stored "in the clouds" - if so, all I would need to do is download the latest firefox on my laptop, login to my FF account and keep on truckin' - or is it more complicated than that ?

I will join the mozilla support team after i'm finished with my migration/conversion plus many of the bookmarked sites being reconnected to them from my new system

I will a) shutdown my desktop system on 10/10 am - pickup my new laptop at my vendor(value added reseller - windows7 and MS word installed) -- hook up my desktop peripherals to my docking station, connect my laptop - launch on 10/10 pm and hoping a fairly easy startup - any caveats for me ?

regards - Bob WhiteXX

Hi BobWhiteXX, your Firefox data is normally stored only on your computer. If you want part of it stored in the cloud automatically, check out the Sync feature. But please also make backups of your profile folder because Sync is not complete and if you misplace your Sync Key (sometimes called Recovery Key) you cannot access your Sync data, period.

(Many users have complained about not having a method of key recovery, but the design of the system is that Mozilla doesn't store the key, only you do, locally, so giving you the key later on request is impossible.)

Regarding copying files to Google Drive, make sure Windows isn't hiding your Firefox folders. See Microsoft Windows XP - Display hidden files and folders for more information.

Windows 7 is working well for me; skipping Vista was a good move. But I'm sure there will be some surprises along the way. When you use the Knowledge Base here on the support site, there is a little drop-down to change between XP and Windows 7, where that makes a difference (usually not, but sometimes).