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History and Bookmarks lost when upgrading from 3.6.28 Mac to 33.0

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by Kanchan-Z

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Finally saved up and got a new computer so that I can now start using the latest firefox. However, faced with a problem of Migration...

I am moving from 3.6.28 for Mac to the latest 33.0 for Mac. None of the bookmarks or history seems to transfer to the newest version.

So far, I have tried the following: 1. Replacing the contents of the 'Profile' folder and launch = NO AVAIL 2. Launching the 33.0 first and then replacing the contents of the 'Profile' folder and launch again = NO AVAIL 3. Deliberately installed the 3.6.28 on the new machine, which everything works, then use the updater within which updates to 12.0 = Keeps the bookmarks but loses all the history. 4. Used the 'Backup' and 'Restore' of Bookmarks (JSON method) on 3.6.28 and tried to restore on 33.0 = FAILS 5. Re-attempted all the above with plug-ins disable = NO AVAIL

The places.sqlite works fine on 3.6.28, but the moment when the above is carried out, the file changes to places.sqlite.corrupt. I have already read and tried the method shown in the page: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox However no avail. The "Places Maintenance" only supports from 5.0 onwards thus doesn't allow to be installed.

I rely so much on the history as I have a habit of typing the first few letters of any site so that it brings it up. The only thing out of the norm as regards to the setting of the 3.6.28 is it is set to keep more history than the default so places.sqlite is 62.9MB . OK, people might say, it'll slow things down but it doesn't on my Mac and the new one has SSD so this is not a problem either.

Anyway, it's still in early stage of migrating to the new computer and I got backups of the 'Profile' folder together with others so I can screw up as many times so any suggestions would be greatly received. Thank you very much in advance.

Finally saved up and got a new computer so that I can now start using the latest firefox. However, faced with a problem of Migration... I am moving from 3.6.28 for Mac to the latest 33.0 for Mac. None of the bookmarks or history seems to transfer to the newest version. So far, I have tried the following: 1. Replacing the contents of the 'Profile' folder and launch = NO AVAIL 2. Launching the 33.0 first and then replacing the contents of the 'Profile' folder and launch again = NO AVAIL 3. Deliberately installed the 3.6.28 on the new machine, which everything works, then use the updater within which updates to 12.0 = Keeps the bookmarks but loses all the history. 4. Used the 'Backup' and 'Restore' of Bookmarks (JSON method) on 3.6.28 and tried to restore on 33.0 = FAILS 5. Re-attempted all the above with plug-ins disable = NO AVAIL The places.sqlite works fine on 3.6.28, but the moment when the above is carried out, the file changes to places.sqlite.corrupt. I have already read and tried the method shown in the page: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Bookmarks_history_and_toolbar_buttons_not_working_-_Firefox However no avail. The "Places Maintenance" only supports from 5.0 onwards thus doesn't allow to be installed. I rely so much on the history as I have a habit of typing the first few letters of any site so that it brings it up. The only thing out of the norm as regards to the setting of the 3.6.28 is it is set to keep more history than the default so places.sqlite is 62.9MB . OK, people might say, it'll slow things down but it doesn't on my Mac and the new one has SSD so this is not a problem either. Anyway, it's still in early stage of migrating to the new computer and I got backups of the 'Profile' folder together with others so I can screw up as many times so any suggestions would be greatly received. Thank you very much in advance.

All Replies (8)

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Sorry couldn't put the trouble shooting info so here is the screen shot.

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Sorry couldn't put the trouble shooting info so here is the screen shot.

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Type about:support in the address bar and press Enter. Under the main banner, press the button; Copy Text To Clipboard.. Then in the reply box at the bottom of this page, do a right click in the box and select Paste. This will show us your system details. No Personal Information Is Collected.

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One problem that I see is you are transferring information between two different systems. We can do some things, but others you may have to restore manually.

Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the tool bar. Then select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control>(Mac:<Command>)<Shift> B. Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Export Bookmarks To HTML, and follow the prompts and save it to a HTML file. Copy the file to another computer. Repeat the instructions above, BUT select Import Bookmarks From HTML,

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You would probably have to install one or more intermediate Firefox versions to get a smooth migration of your old Firefox 3.6.x profile. Some migration code is only present for a few versions, so updating directly to Firefox 33 may (or will) lead to dataloss.

You can try Firefox 16 and Firefox 24 releases as a start.

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https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/restore-bookmarks-from-backup-or-move-them

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile


Please add this to both your systems. SUMO Troubleshooter {web link} This will provides Firefox troubleshooting data to Mozilla web sites. No personal information is listed.


I do not know if these will work properly between systems, But do install them in your new system.

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

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Thank you for your reply, it is greatly appreciated as I have spent hours trying to solve this. Firefox is a great browser and times like this makes me realise how much I rely on it.

On to individual replies...


FredMcD Yes, I tried copy text to clipboard method first, as 3.6.28 was too old to receive the support plug in or use the automated trouble shooting info. Even then, it still didn't seem to submit the required info so I have posted a screen shot.

Thank you for your suggestions. I will install those extensions on the new system when I successfully get this running.

The system is different, moving from PPC to Intel, however when the same 3.6.28 is installed onto the new Intel system, it works perfectly, therefore as the other poster cor-el suggested, I may need to upgrade gradually as a leap upgrade from an ancient version to the latest.


cor-el Thank you for your insight to this. You are absolutely right, as how history has been kept etc has changed from version to version so I'll do a gradual upgrade. Luckily I got everything back-up, I can try it a little by little.

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Ok, after couple of hours of try and error, partially managed to resolve the issue.

I followed the advice of a gradual update. It was logical to go from 3.6.28 to 4.0 which is the next version, then from that to 12.0 and 33.0. The bookmarks went over OK but not the history.

After upgrading to 4.0, looking at the 'About:Config', I noticed couple of parameters controlling the browsing history was somewhat different. It seems that the way browsing history was handles was already different between 3.6.28 and 4.0. Even at this point, the history wasn't transferring over.

Another peculiar thing was the 'places.sqlite' file where all the history was stored. This file worked well under 3.6.28, even on the new machine, it worked as long as it was under the same 3.6.28. The moment it is upgraded to versions other than that, it became 'places.sqlite.corrupt', which is the reason why the history wasn't transferring.

I did another test b reducing significant number of history down to about 50 from over 35,000, the file size should theoretically drop accordingly from the original 62.9MB but it stayed the same. A clean install will show around 10.5MB, therefore there must be something wrong with the 'places.sqlite' which the 3.6.28 did not pick up.

Anyway, due to the version being so old, none of the rescue method is applicable to revive the 'places.sqlite' file so on this occasion, I have decided to give up the history altogether.

Nonetheless, overall the Firefox is a great browser, even the 3.6.28 which I have been using for years due to hardware restriction. I probably still use the 3.6.28 if not for the flash player issues but now I got the 33.0, this is even better.

Thank you FredMcD and cor-el for kind support and suggestions.