I had IE of which I had favorites a whole list of then

If IE is on the same system that is easily done all from Firefox with Firefox remaining up.

["Alt"] -> File -> Import -> (x) Microsoft Internet Explorer -> Select only Favorites if bookmarks is all you want -> Next -> Finish

Your Favorites will be added as a folder to the end of your Bookmarks Folder and clearly marked as "From Internet Explorer" and fortunately no attempt is made to mix them up into other folders.

You can make Firefox 5.0 look like Firefox 3.6.19, see numbered items 1-10 in the following topic Fix Firefox 4.0 toolbar user interface, problems (Make Firefox 5.0, or 4.0.1, look like 3.6). Whether or not you make changes, you should be aware of what has changed and what you have to do to use changed or missing features.

• http://dmcritchie.mvps.org/firefox/firefox-problems.htm#fx4interface

If you have problems with importing the IE Favorites in Firefox then export the Favorites in IE to an HTML file and import that file in the Firefox Bookmarks Manager.
That way you also preserve any sorting that you may have done in IE with the Favorites.

• Export the favorites in IE to an HTML file (bookmarks.html): File > Import and Export
• Import the HTML file in Firefox: Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Import & Backup > Import HTML: From File

See also:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Import_bookmarks ("Import from another browser" and "Import from file")