Netscape, Mozilla, Thunderbird, and Firefox Profiles


This document is intended to help users who are having trouble with their Mozilla/Firefox/Thunderbird Profiles and to help new users avoid such troubles.
  1. The first order of business is to list the default Profile location on various Operating Systems.
  2. Backup
    Given that all of your data (bookmarks, address books, mail and newsgroup folders, ...) is in the Profile, it is rational to back it up on a regular schedule. There are many ways to do this; one is to copy the entire contents of the directory to a date named zip file. Also see the Mozilla Backup Utility.
  3. Some words about Profile Manager.
  4. On Windows systems, Profiles can be moved or copied from their default locations to other drives or directories or even to other windows machines . A similar process will work on Mac. The process has not been checked on Linux.
  5. Creating new Profiles
  6. Copying data from your old Profile
  7. As can be seen from the description of Profile Locations, Netscape and Mozilla use the same paths by default and therefore - by default - share a common Profile. There are dangers in such sharing that the user must be aware of.
  8. Dealing with Corrupted Profiles

Profile Locations

The information in this section was stolen from Holger Metzger's Tips & Tricks which ought to be in everyone's bookmarks!
  1. Netscape & Mozilla

    In the paths specified below Profile name defaults to "Default User"

    Windows 95/98/ME

    C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\Profile name\xxxxxxxx.slt\

    Windows 95/98/Me Family Logon:
    C:\Windows\Profiles\%USER%\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\Profile name\xxxxxxxx.slt\

    Windows NT 4.0:
    C:\Winnt\Profiles\%USER%\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\Profile name\xxxxxxxx.slt\

    Windows 2000/XP:
    C:\Documents and Settings\%USER%\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\Profile name\xxxxxxxx.slt\

    Note: If you can't find your Profile (or files in it) in Windows 2000/XP, make sure you enabled both viewing hidden and system-protected files and folders in your Windows Explorer options.

    Linux::
    /home/%USER%./Mozilla/xxxxxxxx.slt/

    Mac OS 9:
    Documents:Mozilla:User:xxxxxxxx.slt:

    Mac OS X:
    MacHD/Users/[name]/Library/Mozilla/Profiles/[name]/xxxxxxxx.slt

  2. Thunderbird

    Thunderbird Profiles can be found by replacing "Mozilla" with "Thunderbird" in the paths given above.

  3. Firefox

    Firefox Profiles can be found by replacing "Mozilla" with "Mozilla\Firefox" on Windows systems. and  "~/.mozilla/firefox/" on Linux  systems in the paths given above..  For MacOS x  ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox


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Profile Manager

Mozilla and Seamonkey 

The Profile's directory name (xxxxxxxx.slt) is randomly generated as a further security measure; this process is called "salting". From Profile Managers perspective the location of a Profile has three elements. The PATH on which it resides, its NAME, and its SALT (xxxxxxxx.slt). The corresponding windows pathname is \PATH\NAME\SALT. When you want to create a Profile using Profile Manager, it will use default PATH and NAME. If SALT does not exist, it will create it. When Mozilla is first installed, this behavior can not be modified! (On subsequent installations it will default to previously recorded Profiles.)

Once Mozilla has been installed, the behavior is quite different: you can select PATH and NAME. If SALT does not exist, Profile Manager will create it. However, if SALT does exist, Profile Manager will create a POINTER to it in Registry.dat. Registry.dat can not be moved from its default location; it's the "anchor point" for finding Profiles. 

Firefox and Thunderbird 

Registry.dat has been replaced by Profile.ini as the anchor point for finding profiles.  It is an editable file. 

Profiles created on first installation of these products adhere to the PATH, NAME, SALT conventions described above.  Additional profiles created using the default PATH with a Different NAME will not be SALTed  (i.e., there will be no xxxxxxxx.slt folder inserted before the data).  Profiles created in a custom location (i.e, not on the default PATH) will need to specify the complete path to the data (i.e., the folder NAME will not be created).  If you wish to "create" an existing profile, specify the complete path to it, including the .slt folder if it exists.  In the last case it appears rhat the profile will be named "Default User".

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Corrupted POINTER 

Once in a while, the POINTER will get corrupted, for reasons unknown to me. To fix this problem, the following steps are recommended.  If you have a Profiles.ini file (see previous section) edit it to set the correct path to your profile.  Otherwise:

a. Make a backup copy of SALT for safety.

b. Backup Registry.dat  by renaming it. Or - if you're brave - delete it.

c. Use Profile Manager to Create a Profile at PATH, NAME. This will create a new Registry.dat with a correct POINTER.

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Moving or Copying Profiles - Mozilla, Seamonkey, Firefox, Thunderbird

In all cases, exit the Mozilla Software  including Quick Launch before proceeding!

These instructions and the ones that follow (for another machine) apply to Mozilla 1.7 and later, Seamonkey, Firefox , and Thunderbird.

  1. To move a Profile to a new location copy xxxxxxxx.slt to the new location. (Example: I copied xxxxxxxx.slt to D:\Profiles\Mozilla)
  2. Then use Profile Manager to create a new Profile, using NAME (e.g., Mozilla) and PATH (e.g., D:Profiles). It's up to you whether or not you want to delete your old Profile (and its files).

Moving or copying to another windows machine

(If you are transporting via CD, it is suggested that you zip the profile before writing the CD to avoid "read-only" problems  associated with storage on CDs)
  1. Create a profile on the new machine.
  2. Copy the contents of  your old profile over the contents of your new profile.
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Creating New Profiles

The program should be shut down (including Quick Launch) before creating a profile!

If you have installed the program by downloading and running an .exe file, then you can use the Start menu to Run the following command:

program-name.exe -p

where "program-name" is mozilla, seamonkey, firefox or thunderbird.

If you have installed using ZIP files, you will need to create a new shortcut and add " -p" (without the quotes but with the space) to the end of the execute line when you right click and ask for 'properties'.

In Profile Manager, click on the "Create" button. You will be asked to select a Name and PATH for the Profile. The PATH can be anywhere on your machine, but it is safest to use the default PATH. The NAME may be anything you choose except the ones shown when you first start Profile Manager.

Note: If you are creating a new profile because your old one was corrupted, you should set up your mail and newsgroup accounts in the same order they existed in your old profile before copying your data.

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Copying Data From Your Old Profile

In what follows, "Program" is used to refer to Mozilla, Netscape, Thunderbird, or Firefox. For Firefox, only bookmarks, cookies, and Passwords are recoverable.

Start the Program and set up Mail and Newsgroup Accounts in the same order that they exist in your old Profile. Then exit the Program and copy (what you wish to recover of) the following from your old Profile over existing entries in your new one:
  1. To recover bookmarks: bookmarks.html
  2. To recover address book: abook.mab
  3. To recover junk mail controls: training.dat
  4. To recover cookies: cookies.txt, cookperm.txt, and hostperm.1
  5. To recover personal dictionary: persdict.dat (on MAC this may be cust.dic)
  6. To recover extensions and themes: the chrome folder.  In Thunderbird the extensions and themes folders
  7. There are other files, such as *.rdf that you may wish to copy.
  8. The NEWS folder
  9. Some people have had trouble when they have copied the entire MAIL folder, so here is an alternative:
    From the MAIL folder: for each mail account: all files except those with extension ".msf"

Copying Password Files

Mozilla and Thunderbird

The following must be done with Mozilla (including Quick Launch) or Thunderbird closed!

Password files are of the form 12345678.s (where the digits are random)on Mozilla (and Netscape 6 and above). In order to use an old password file in a new Mozilla Profile, you must copy the 12345678.s file and the file key3.db (if it exists) from the old Profile to the new one. Then use any text editor to edit the file prefs.js in the new Profile and find the line (near the bottom of the file) that looks like: user_pref("signon.SignonFileName", "nnnnnnnn.s"); Change the "nnnnnnnn" to the random number of your old password file.

Firefox

The following must be done with Firefox closed!

If your password file is of the form "xxxxxxxx.s", rename it  "signons.txt".
Copy the files "signons.txt" and "key3.db" from your old Profile to your new one.
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Sharing Profiles

Problems With Shared Profiles

Users of Netscape 7.x products who also use Mozilla 1.x products often do not realize that the two - by default - use the same Profile, which is where all application data (bookmarks, address books, mail and newsgroups) are stored. Because the two Applications actually use and update the Profile data in subtly different ways, corruption of the Profiles can occur. This section describes "safe" usage vs "unsafe" usage.

Safe Usage

  1. If you are a Netscape user who is permanently switching to Mozilla and will never use Netscape again, then it is safe to use the default Profile.
  2. If you are a Mozilla user who is permanently switching to Netscape and will never use Mozilla again, then it is safe to use the default Profile.

Unsafe Usage

  1. If you intend to continue to use both Netscape and Mozilla - even if not at the same time - then it is highly likely your Profile will be corrupted. The way to avoid this corruption is to make separate Profiles,

Making Separate Profiles

  1. If you are a current Netscape user who is adding Mozilla, use the Mozilla Profile Manager to create a new Profile for Mozilla (for purposes of exposition I will call this Profile "MOZ"; you may name it anything you wish). Then copy the data from your Netscape Profile.
  2. If you are a current Mozilla user who is adding Netscape, use the Netscape Profile Manager to create a new Profile for Netscape (for purposes of exposition, I will call this new Profile "NS"; you may call it anything you wish). Then copy the data from your Mozilla Profile.
  3. Create (or modify) the shortcuts you use to invoke Mozilla and Netscape, by right clicking and selecting properties. Then append to the execution line (without the quotes, but with the spaces:
    1. For Mozilla: " -p MOZ"
    2. For Netscape " -p NS"
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Corrupted Profile

If - as a result of shared use (or any other reason, such as a crash) - your Profile has been corrupted, your data can still be salvaged:
  1. Use the appropriate Profile Manager (Netscape, Mozilla, Seamonkey, Thunderbird, or Firefox) to delete your existing Profile but not the files.
  2. Follow the steps in the previous discussion to create a new Profile and salvage your data.
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updated 11/23/05

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