MynaG's Bits n Bytes

I’m going to show you how you can transfer, copy or move Firefox’s bookmarks, addons , plugins, profiles and other settings easily between computers running in Windows XP and Windows 7 without having to do any exporting and importing. This method works on version 3.6 up til version 6.0.2.

Firstly you need to make sure you are able to see hidden folders and files in Windows.
If you are not sure how to do that, you can read up on

How to view hidden files and folders in Windows XP. or
How to view hidden folders and files in Windows 7.

There are 2 simple steps to achieve this. First step is to copy the Firefox settings from the source computer. Second step is to place the Firefox settings into the target computer. (You can also do it between users instead of computers).

1. Open Windows Explorer, go to the folder <C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\> if it is on a Windows 7, for Windows XP, go to folder <C:\Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\Mozilla> where XXX is your Windows Logon username.
2. Copy all the following folders
   • Extensions
   • Firefox
   • plugins (if you have plugins installed)
3. On the target computer, paste the folders on to the similar folders.
   <C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\> for Windows 7
   <C:\Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\Mozilla> for Windows XP
4. Similarly, go to the folder <C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\Mozilla\> if it is on a Windows 7, for Windows XP, go to folder <C:\Documents and Settings\work\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla> and copy thee firefox folder.
5. Paste the copied folder on to the similar folders of the target computer.
   <C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\> for Windows 7
   <C:\Documents and Settings\XXX\Application Data\Mozilla> for Windows XP

If you do not know whether you are able to view hidden folders/files, open Windows Explorer and go to the following directory: <C:\Users\XXX> (where XXX is your Windows login username). Check to see if you can see the folder AppData.

1. At the Window Explorer menu, click <Organize> and then click <Folder and search options…>
2. At the Folder Options dialog, click on the <View> tab.
3. At the Advance Settings, you will a list of items with check boxes.
   Scroll down the list and you should see a folder called <Hidden files and folders>

   
   

4. Select <Show hidden files and folders> and click OK to apply the settings. You should now be able to view hidden files and folders.

Hiding files and folders is useful to stop any prying eyes of other users checking out what files you have while using your computer. To a certain extent that is. Unfortunately, unless you are the only administrator of the computer, other administrator will still be able to view the hidden files. If you do not know whether you are able to view hidden folders/files, open Windows Explorer and go to the following directory: <C:\Users\XXX> (where XXX is your Windows login username). Check to see if you can see the following folders: Application Data, Local Settings, Nethood etc. Hidden folders and files are displayed with an folder icon in lighter color than visible files as shown in the below diagram.

1. At the Window Explorer menu, click <Tools> and then click <Folder options…>
2. At the Folder Options dialog, click on the <View> tab.
3. At the Advance Settings, you will a list of items with check boxes. Scroll down the list and you should see a folder called <Hidden files and folders>

   

4. Select <Show hidden files and folders> and click OK to apply the settings. You should now be able to view hidden files and folders.