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Added new computer but lost all favorite settings on old one. Must I have new account to retain different favourite settings on both?

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  • Last reply by FredMcD

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My laptop (i5, running Win 7) is my workhorse computer that had all my favorite settings stored. I have added a new desktop (AMD, Win 8.1) that will be used as a multimedia entertainment unit but when I plugged in the cable to install FireFox it replaced all the settings in my laptop with the ones from the new computer. How do I keep the settings different on each comp? Must I have 2 different accounts to be able do this? I have now lost the web address for some of my sites so it is quite a hassle. The "recently bookmarked" folder is the main problem as this is where I've been keeping track of my sites. LAPTOP is Acer Aspire with i5 & Win 7 running the add-ons listed below. DESKTOP is a Medion with an AMD 3.8GHz Turbo & Win 8.1, with new version of FF browser. Firefox auto installed the same add-ons as the laptop but I will be changing these & don't want FF to auto-install the same stuff on both computers. How do I separate them?

My laptop (i5, running Win 7) is my workhorse computer that had all my favorite settings stored. I have added a new desktop (AMD, Win 8.1) that will be used as a multimedia entertainment unit but when I plugged in the cable to install FireFox it replaced all the settings in my laptop with the ones from the new computer. How do I keep the settings different on each comp? Must I have 2 different accounts to be able do this? I have now lost the web address for some of my sites so it is quite a hassle. The "recently bookmarked" folder is the main problem as this is where I've been keeping track of my sites. LAPTOP is Acer Aspire with i5 & Win 7 running the add-ons listed below. DESKTOP is a Medion with an AMD 3.8GHz Turbo & Win 8.1, with new version of FF browser. Firefox auto installed the same add-ons as the laptop but I will be changing these & don't want FF to auto-install the same stuff on both computers. How do I separate them?

Chosen solution

See this - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-choose-what-types-information-sync-firefox

You may just want to select bookmarks and maybe passwords, and de-select the other data type options.

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Are you talking about sync? You have not said.

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Chosen Solution

See this - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-choose-what-types-information-sync-firefox

You may just want to select bookmarks and maybe passwords, and de-select the other data type options.

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I have previously synced the laptop but losing the favorites happened when I was installing FF on the new comp. Maybe it synced automatically during the install on the desktop & then when I swapped back to the laptop it synced again replacing all the stuff on the laptop with the new stuff. I did not manually sync either computer & the laptop was synced only the once & some weeks ago. Not familiar with syncing so will have to read tutorial. Thanks all, maybe the auto-syncing was the problem. Steve

Modified by Steve

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This may help you;

Bookmark / History Backups

Type about:support<Enter> in the address bar.

Under the page logo on the left side you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To it’s right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.

Enter the bookmarkbackups folder. This is where Firefox makes backups of your bookmarks. Look for the jsonlz4 file you want to restore (check the time / date / size). Right click on that file and select Copy. Now go back to the profile folder where you started. Rename the file places.sqlite by adding .old to it. Now right click in the folder and select Paste. The file you just pasted here, rename it to places.sqlite. After you are done, restart Firefox.


These can't get your data back, but will help in the future.

These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox

FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension) {web link} FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backup of files that you choose.

OPIE {web link} Import/Export extension preferences