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can i access my sync while on holiday without destroying the data

motlow
motlow
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im on holiday with a new laptop but would like to access my sync'd data , when i set up my sync account i had to use a pass phrase but this is all changed now to a encrypted key ( which i cant get cause im on holiday ) if i get a new key will it really delete all my passwords and favs ? surely that does away with the point of having a sync system ?

im on holiday with a new laptop but would like to access my sync'd data , when i set up my sync account i had to use a pass phrase but this is all changed now to a encrypted key ( which i cant get cause im on holiday ) if i get a new key will it really delete all my passwords and favs ? surely that does away with the point of having a sync system ?

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the-edmeister
the-edmeister
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The old Pass Phrase scheme was replaced by the Sync Key in mid-December 2010, like 11 months ago. (In Firefox 9 the name is being changed to Recovery Key. The format of the encryption "key" is not being changed - just the name in the UI.) Each Sync account was automatically transitioned to the new Sync Key during the first Sync after the changes was made.

By any chance, do you have a mobile Android phone with you running Mobile Firefox and that is setup with that Sync account? If so, there's an extension available which will extract a "key" for "Add a Device" which can be used on that laptop.

Sorry, if you change your Sync Key all your data on the server will be erased. You should have setup Sync in that new laptop before you left home, while you had access to the device which was connected to Sync.

As far as the "point" of Firefox Sync, the way I see it the system is set up to synchronize your personal data as that data changes, and the next time you use a different device which is connected to that Sync account, the changes will be sent to that "different device". And changes made on that "different device" will be sent to the Sync server as changes happen there. Firefox Sync is not meant as a "backup device" or for long term storage of data or for giving the user access to that data from a web interface on a device that can't connect to the Sync service. Features like that may come along in the future.