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How do I import a profile from another machine in Windows 7

  • 3 replies
  • 69 have this problem
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  • Last reply by bschift

bschift
bschift
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I have a new Windows 7 computer and the hard drive from my old computer (XP) The old hard drive is not bootable but I can see my complete old Firefox profile.

I have not exported the profile.

Ideally I would like to just copy the old profile to my new Firefox setup but Win 7 won't let me browse to the folder. (c:\Users\(name)\Application Data.

What I would like is basically a complete Import function where I could browse to the old profile and have Firefox just copy everything in? Does such a thing exist? Is there some other way to achieve what I'm trying to do?

Thanks.

I have a new Windows 7 computer and the hard drive from my old computer (XP) The old hard drive is not bootable but I can see my complete old Firefox profile. I have not exported the profile. Ideally I would like to just copy the old profile to my new Firefox setup but Win 7 won't let me browse to the folder. (c:\Users\(name)\Application Data. What I would like is basically a complete Import function where I could browse to the old profile and have Firefox just copy everything in? Does such a thing exist? Is there some other way to achieve what I'm trying to do? Thanks.

Chosen solution

First make sure that you have Windows 7 set to view hidden files and foders, for details of how to do that see http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial151.html

You can copy selected files from the old profile folder into your current profile folder, for details see Recovering important data from an old profile.

Many of the files in the profile folder will be automatically generated when required, it is best to let Firefox create those files, and just copy those that contain the data such as bookmarks and passwords as shown in the above article.

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All Replies (3)

TonyE
TonyE
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Chosen Solution

First make sure that you have Windows 7 set to view hidden files and foders, for details of how to do that see http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial151.html

You can copy selected files from the old profile folder into your current profile folder, for details see Recovering important data from an old profile.

Many of the files in the profile folder will be automatically generated when required, it is best to let Firefox create those files, and just copy those that contain the data such as bookmarks and passwords as shown in the above article.

cor-el
cor-el
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  • Top 10 Contributor
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If the old computer had Windows XP then you need to look for:

  • XP: x:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\
  • Vista/Windows 7: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\

"Application Data" in XP/Win2K and "AppData" in Vista/Windows 7 are hidden folders. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Show_hidden_files_and_folders

As Tony wrote above, it is best to only copy files that have important data (bookmarks, passwords, saved form data etc.)

bschift
bschift Question owner
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Both posts were instrumental in helping me solve the issue. The real key was knowing the profile is in AppData, not Application Data! Thanks Microsoft . . . and a serious thanks to cor-el and TonyE