Moving Firefox profile files

[John Gray]

I want to keep Firefox 5 bookmarks, passwords and "Awesome Bar" (probably) URL suggestions in step across at least two PCs, one of which will be 64-bit and Windows 7, and the others might be 32-bit Windows 7 or XP Pro.

Is there any good alternative to just copying across the whole Firefox profile to the target computer (on which, of course, no instance of Firefox is running)?
When I say "the whole profile" I presumably mean not only
C:\Users\<me>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profilename>.default
but also
C:\Users\<me>\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profilename>.default

Might one come unstuck in just copying across selected files, such as places.sqlite?

Thanks!

[ChrisJakarta]

John,

The alternative I have always used for similar purposes is MozBackup. There used to be problems using this utility with Thunderbird, but the latest version seems to be fine for that too. But I admit I haven't tried it with 64-bit systems.

Chris

[viking33]

John,

The alternative I have always used for similar purposes is MozBackup. There used to be problems using this utility with Thunderbird, but the latest version seems to be fine for that too. But I admit I haven't tried it with 64-bit systems.

Chris

I've used with both Win7 64 and XP 32 without any apparent problems in Fx 5 and TB 5.

[John Gray]

Thanks, both! I'll investigate...

[John Gray]

Interestingly, the author doesn't recommend MozBackup to keep profiles between two PCs in sync*, but Firefox Sync (which seems to synchronise a PC/laptop with a so-called "smart phone"). Apparently there is also a "Firefox Sync" built in to newer versions of Firefox, but the reviews of this are not positive. I think the MozBackup author must be referring to the original version of "Firefox Sync", called Weave...

* Can I use MozBackup for synchronization between two PCs?
I don't think this is a good idea. If you use Firefox try Firefox Sync which is better for such task. If you use Thunderbird try to think about having your mails on server and access to them via IMAP protocol. Familiar solution you can have for contacts.