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.
- The first order of business is to list the default Profile
location on various Operating Systems.
- 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.
- Some words about Profile
Manager.
- 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.
- Creating new Profiles
- Copying data from your old
Profile
- Copying passwords
to a newly
created Profile.
- 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.
- Dealing with Corrupted
Profiles
The information in this section was stolen from Holger Metzger's Tips
& Tricks
which ought to be in everyone's bookmarks!
-
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
-
Thunderbird
Thunderbird Profiles can be found by replacing "Mozilla"
with
"Thunderbird" in the paths given above.
-
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
Top
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".
Top
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.
Top
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.
- To move a Profile to a new location copy xxxxxxxx.slt to
the new
location. (Example: I copied xxxxxxxx.slt to
D:\Profiles\Mozilla)
- 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)
- Create a profile on the new machine.
- Copy the
contents of your
old profile over the
contents
of your new profile.
Top
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.
Top
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:
- To recover bookmarks: bookmarks.html
- To recover address book: abook.mab
- To recover junk mail controls: training.dat
- To recover cookies: cookies.txt, cookperm.txt, and
hostperm.1
- To recover personal dictionary: persdict.dat (on MAC this
may be
cust.dic)
- To recover extensions and themes: the chrome
folder. In
Thunderbird the extensions and themes folders
- There are other files, such as *.rdf that you may wish to
copy.
- The NEWS folder
- 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"
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.
Top
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
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
- For Mozilla: " -p MOZ"
- For Netscape " -p NS"
Top
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:
- Use the appropriate Profile Manager (Netscape, Mozilla,
Seamonkey, Thunderbird, or Firefox) to delete your existing Profile but
not the files.
- Follow the steps in the previous discussion to create a new Profile
and salvage your data.
Top
updated 11/23/05