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[ughaibu]

My computer appears to have thrown away all my bookmarks, are they likely to be retrievable?

[InfiniteNow]

Any chance you've got an .htm file where you exported them sometime in the past? This allows you to "carry with you" your favorites across computers or logins via the following steps (at least in Internet Explorer):

File -> Import and Export -> Export Favorites



Is there any data in your

C:\Documents and Settings\User\Favorites

folder?

[ughaibu]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately the answer is "no" to both questions.
I use Firefox. The machine froze and when I restarted it, it ran a consistency check on one of it's disks, this has happened plenty of times without any untoward result. It didn't log me out of any of my fora, so it seems to've been a low-key operation apart from hiding or throwing out all my bookmarks.
It's not a disaster but it's pretty annoying and if possible I WANT THEM BACK!

[InfiniteNow]

Hmmm... not really familiar with Firefox (not really familiar with I/e for that matter).

I do, however, have some google talent (well, I searched "firefox restore favorites"). Maybe one of these will help, if not, wait for one of our more administrative savvy members to login and see your question.


Restore Missing Bookmarks in Firefox 2.0

Firefox keeps all bookmarks and extensions in the profile folder in Application Data (C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\).

In this case the installer isn’t exiting Firefox processes properly and not updating some of the old files. For Firefox versions 1.5 and above, it automatically create 5 most recent backups in bookmarkbackups folder, you can restore your bookmarks by either copying the bookmark backup to your profile folder or by importing bookmarks from the backup copy via the Firefox Bookmarks Manager.

I like this one better:

Tutorial: Restore Firefox Bookmark at TenthOfMarch.com

This tutorial guides you on the process to restore firefox’s bookmarks. It is important to act QUICK. If your bookmarks has been corrupted / broken for more than 5 days, your chances of recovering it is slimmer. I’m running on Windows XP. Therefore, some instructions or folders may be different if you’re running on a different operating system.

Firstly, startup the ‘Run‘ command (Start button –> Run). Type “%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox” into the box and click “OK” (as shown in Figure 1).

TweakGuides.com - Firefox Tweak Guide

In Firefox, your bookmarks are held separately under your Profile folder as the file Bookmarks.html. There is nothing more frustrating than losing all your bookmarks, so regularly back them up by doing the following:



1. Go to the Bookmarks menu and select 'Organize Bookmarks'.

2. In the new Bookmarks Manager window which opens you can see all of your current bookmarks arranged under various folders. You can rearrange, rename or delete any of these just as you would using the Windows Explorer interface (i.e. drag and drop).

3. Once done, to back them all up select the File menu in this box and choose Export.

4. Select a directory where you wish to backup the Bookmarks.html file - this file contains all your current Firefox bookmarks for the active profile.

5. To restore these saved bookmarks at any time, select File>Import under the Bookmarks Manager, select 'From File' and point it to where your backed up Bookmarks.html file is stored.


Note that Firefox itself regularly backs up your Bookmarks to the \bookmarkbackups folder under your profile, in case you suddenly need to restore an earlier version of your bookmarks. You can import any of these backups using the instructions under Step 5 above.

[ughaibu]

Thanks, that looks promising.
As I known nothing about computers and have to go out for a few hours, I'll try to rope my wife into translating that advice this evening.

[InfiniteNow]

From the middle link above:

If you’re using a different operating system from Windows XP, click here to find out where your backup bookmarks folder is located.

For more information, read this.

Originally Posted by ughaibu

As I known nothing about computers and have to go out for a few hours, I'll try to rope my wife into translating that advice this evening.

Now THAT's love.

[InfiniteNow]

Any luck?

[ughaibu]

So far, I've only been able to find a page with around 20 links, from several years ago. The 'bookmarks back-up' was empty. My wife's going to consult her expert-for-such-occasions this evening. Thanks for your help.

[Shyam Bharath]

Hi...

Maybe some recent change accidentally deleted your bookmarks
Which OS do you use?

If you use Win XP, perhaps you can restore back your system to a point when your bookmarks were available.

[ughaibu]

When the bookmarks disappeared, there appeared in their place something entitled "bookmark toolbar folder", which was empty, unsurprisingly as it was the first time it had existed. I accept that computers will sometimes do annoying things and can put up with the consequences. Thanks anyway for the suggestions.