[lenjan]

GROWL.

This has happened to me repeatedly with IE, but never before with Firefox. My whole, lengthy list of bookmarks just up and disappeared. NONE of them is left. All I have is an empty "bookmarks toolbar folder."

Ideas?

what about this?

Step-by-step bookmark recovery

If you don't see your bookmarks when you open Firefox, Mozilla Suite or SeaMonkey, and you've tried closing and reopening the browser or restarting the computer, the bookmarks file may have been damaged or the contents deleted.

Firefox automatically makes a bookmark backup every day you use it (up to 5 backups total), with newer backups replacing the older copies. If you use the profile, you must act quickly, before they are all overwritten. However, there are other reasons why your bookmarks may be missing, so it is important that you follow all of these steps:

1. Mozilla browsers store user data in a separate place for each user account on your computer. Make sure you are logged on to your computer with your usual logon name.
2. Mozilla browsers allow you to store different sets of bookmarks and other user data in separate profiles. You may have created a new profile in the past for troubleshooting or other reasons. Make sure you are using the correct profile (see Multiple profiles and profile in use, below).
3. If bookmarks appear in the Bookmarks Manager but not in the main menu, and they can't be edited, try the fix for a corrupt localstore.rdf file, given below.
4. If your problem is still not solved after doing the above, see Finding your bookmarks and Restoring bookmarks from backup (below). To identify the correct backup file, you can open and view bookmarks files with your browser.
5. Other methods of recovery

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Preventing future problems

* You can minimize the likelihood of future problems by following these suggestions (below).
* If your Web browser is not properly shut down, your bookmarks may be lost after restarting..

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Multiple profiles and profile in use

Mozilla browsers allow different users to have different settings and bookmarks. You may have inadvertently switched to another profile. Start the Profile Manager (If Mozilla Suite or SeaMonkey 1.x is running, click "Tools -> Switch Profile") and, if multiple profiles are listed, select the other profile. If you receive a message that the profile is "in use" or if you are unable to start the original profile, read this article.
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Corrupt localstore.rdf

(Firefox) If your bookmarks appear in the Bookmarks Manager but not in the main menu and can't be edited, this can be caused by a corrupt localstore.rdf file [1]. You can fix this by either deleting the localstore.rdf file from the profile folder or, in Firefox 1.5 and later, by starting in Firefox Safe Mode and selecting the option to reset toolbars and controls, then clicking the "Make changes and restart" button, as explained in this article.
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Finding your bookmarks

* In Firefox 1.5 and above, five daily bookmark backup files are saved in the bookmarkbackups folder, located in the Firefox profile folder. Important: You must recover one of these five backups before they are overwritten by newer versions.

To find all bookmarks files anywhere on your computer, you can use your operating system’s file and folder search feature to locate find bookmarks* (be sure to include the asterisk, with no space).

* Firefox and other Mozilla browsers store bookmarks in file "bookmarks.html", located in the profile folder, except that Firefox 3 (not yet released) stores bookmarks in the places.sqlite file and only uses bookmarks*.html files for backup. There is also a "bookmarks.html" file in the program folder, but this one is only a template and does not hold your bookmarks.

To make sure you have the right file, you can open the bookmarks.html file or any bookmark backup file using "File -> Open File" from the Firefox or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey menu to review the contents (see this article for details).

Important: Windows users should make sure they can view and search hidden files and folders as the profile folder containing your stored bookmarks is hidden by default.
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Restoring bookmarks from backup

The following applies to Firefox (2.x and 1.5.x versions) as well as Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey (all versions):

* The import bookmarks feature of the Bookmarks Manager will add the contents of any bookmark backup to your current bookmarks.

1.
* Firefox: "Bookmarks -> Organize (or Manage) Bookmarks... -> File -> Import... -> from File"
* Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey: "Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks... -> Tools -> Import..."
2. When the file picker appears, navigate to the folder that contains the bookmarks file you wish to use and select that file. Windows 2000/XP/Vista users can navigate to the Firefox bookmarkbackups folder by typing "%APPDATA%" in the file field and pressing Enter, going into Mozilla, then Firefox, then Profiles, then xxxxxxxx.default (where xxxxxxx is any sequence of numbers and characters), then the bookmarkbackups folder [2].

* If your current bookmarks file is corrupt, however, it may be better to completely close the browser, find a bookmark backup file, rename it "bookmarks.html" and then replace the bookmarks.html file in the Firefox or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey profile folder with the renamed backup. Firefox users may prefer to use the Firefox Safe Mode option, "Reset bookmarks to Firefox defaults" and then select the option, "Make Changes and Restart", which will replace the corrupt bookmarks.html file with a new default copy. The Bookmarks Manager can then be used to import the bookmark backup file, as explained above. [3]

Note: Starting in Firefox 3 you will be able to restore a bookmarks file from the Bookmarks menu [4] ("Bookmarks -> Show all bookmarks -> Import and Backup -> Restore"). This will allow you to replace your current bookmarks with a bookmark backup file from within Firefox. Warning: Switching back and forth between Firefox 2 and Firefox 3 using the same profile can cause what appears to be bookmark data loss, since the bookmarks.html file used in Firefox 2 will not be automatically imported into Firefox 3 a second time [5] (see Browser.bookmarks.overwrite for more information). In such cases, you can use the Firefox 3 Bookmarks Manager to restore a more recent bookmarks file from one of the available dated backups.
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Restoring bookmarks from external media

If you are restoring bookmarks (or an entire profile) from CD-Rom or other storage media that creates write-protected files, make sure that you remove the read-only attributes from any copied files. Otherwise, read-only bookmarks or other profile files can result in multiple numbered copies of the read-only file (e.g., "bookmarks-<n>.html") and a read-only *.moztmp" file (e.g., "bookmarks.html.moztmp") in the profile folder . See Multiple profile files created for details.
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Other methods of recovery

* Check the Recycle Bin/Trash for a file called "bookmarks.html".
* (Windows) Run the error-checking tool Chkdsk (Windows 2000, XP) or ScanDisk (Windows 95, 98, ME) to see if you can recover any file fragments that contain your lost bookmarks. Look for files with names like FILE0001.chk or FILE0002.chk on the root directory (the files may be inside folders named FOUND.000 or similar). Open each file in Wordpad or Notepad and, if it contains bookmark data, rename it with an .html extension (for example, rename FILE0001.chk to bookmarks1.html). Finally, import the file using the Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey or Firefox Bookmarks Manager [6].
* Use a file undelete utility to see if you can recover the file



http://kb.mozillazine.org/Lost_bookm...kmark_recovery

[lenjan]

Wow, will be printing this out for future reference, thanks!

I got them back. Day before yesterday I had d/l'd an addon called "Foxmarks" that syncs your bookmarks on all the computers you use, and I think that may have been what screwed it up. It also gave instructions for recovery, though.

WHEW! Dodged that bullet -- I *never* would have remembered that whole, subdivided list! I suppose this is also a gentle reminder to do backups.

Candy

[mandazzle]

Oh snap that happened to me once....and then my computer got a virus and I had to wipe the whole thing clean. Hope I'm not foreshadowing.

[wisewoman]

Candy, why not use Safari?

[lenjan]

So far so good....(fingers crossed)

WW, Safari annoys me, probably because I'm not used to it. Also, this happened on a Windows desktop, not "our" Mac.

[wisewoman]

Okay, I like Safari and firefox both. But, firefox has so many new and improved this and that's that I find it easier to stay on Safari. and, I will take a sec to gripe, I HATE ALL OF THE NEW AND IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY CHANGING BEFORE I HAVE FIGURED OUT THE FIRST STUFF! I am not a kid and I was not born to this stuff and the changes annoy me. There, I griped!

[lenjan]

Can I join you in your gripe? I feel the same way!!

you guys need

[lenjan]

ROFL is THAT what I've been drinking for the last few weeks that's made me so crabby!

[wisewoman]

Naw, it's supposed to take the gripe away silly! Wanna buy some and try it? Somehow I don't think it will work on us old growned way ups.

[lenjan]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Its ingredients vary, and may include alcohol, bicarbonate, ginger, dill, fennel and chamomile

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

All it needs is a little sugar!

It sounds like we could make our own, WW. You first.

yeah just up the alchohol and you have a nice cocktail!

For the record I DO NOT use the kind with alchohol on the baby. No drunk babies here thanks