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Restoring lost passwords in Netscape 7.2

Discussion in 'Firefox, Thunderbird & SeaMonkey' started by blilling, 2008/11/01.

  1. 2008/11/01
    blilling

    blilling Inactive Thread Starter

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    Sorry, guys... I'm new to this forum, so I may not be in the right place. Searched previous threads and found some info, but not exactly what I need. I am running XP Pro SP3 on an Athlon 64X2 4000 Anyway, I have 7 or 8 browsers loaded on my system, as I am a webmaster. When I started Netscape 7.2 this morning (which I have been using since it came out) my profile had been blitzed. Don't know why. I have been able to restore my profile, mail and bookmarks, but have not been able to restore saved password info. I can read the xxxxxxx.s file and see the urls. And I still have the key.db file, but I cannot read that. I tried replacing the key.db file with the same file from a backup, but no luck. Also tried restoring my system to an earlier date. No go. Cannot find anything in the recycle bin or anywhere else either. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.:(
     
  2. 2008/11/01
    Westside

    Westside Inactive Alumni

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    I think that you are doing the right things. Do you have another .s file in your profile?
    You should not be able to read the .db file, by default and do you need one matching the present .s file. I believe that you need a key3.db file pointing to the same profile. The fact that you could not access your old profile does not mean that the profile is gone. How did you restore the bookmarks, and mail, and, for that matter was a new profile with the old info?
     

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  4. 2008/11/01
    blilling

    blilling Inactive Thread Starter

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    The new profile Netscape setup did not have anything in it.. no e-mail, no, bookmarks, no passwords, no history... folders for everything were there, but no data. I found old mail, bookmark files, etc. in another slt folder and just replaced the new ones with old ones. Everything is more or less back in place except for the stored passwords, and I have a ton of them! Could the key3.db have gotten corrupted or overwritten? I tried replacing the current file with an older one from a backup drive, but it didn't work. Also, "store passwords" is definitely clicked in the options section. Been pulling my hair out on this one.
     
  5. 2008/11/02
    Westside

    Westside Inactive Alumni

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    For security's sake, I store hardly any passwords on my computer. I have a nice sheet of paper for the purpose. I understand your plight, but I suggest that you go with suggestion. Write down the critters. Honestly, I never had occasion of having to do what you are trying to do, nor of anyone having the issue, so I don't have an answer. I hope that someone has ab answer.
     
  6. 2008/11/02
    The Old Chief Lifetime Subscription

    The Old Chief Inactive

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    Let me say upfront that I've never had reason to troubleshoot my passwords and until I read this post I had no idea which files were related to the password manager.

    In other words I don't know much about what I'm fixing to say.

    But, this cranked up my curiosity and I now understand your meaning of being able to see the URLs in the xxxxxxx.s file and I will assume the key3.db file has something to do with all this but, I was unable to determine what if anything.

    However, after my trouble shooting and experimentation I will tell you something I think will get you back in business.

    A review of several profiles in both Netscape 7.02 and Seamonkey indicates to me that this "s" file is created the very first time a password is used and is given a file name of 6 to 8 randomly selected numbers and is dependent on which profile is being used which would seem to indicate something in the profile is causing the selection due to the file name being constant for a given profile as once the "s" file is deleted it gives the same name when the "s" file is once again created.

    It does not appear to me that the key3.db file has anything to do with dictating how the "s" file numbers are generated. I determined this by moving the key3.db file between profiles and causing new "s" files to be created. When I did this the numbers were still randomly created based on something else and not the key3.db file

    With out boring the world with other experimentation I did on this subject, here is my suggestion:

    The first task is to determine the name being given to the "s" file within your current profile.

    To accomplish that, rename or delete the current xxxxxxx.s file and then go to an easy web site which requires passwords and sign in and tell the password manager to save the new password.

    This will generate a new "s" file and provide you with the name of the "s" file for that particular profile.

    Next, go to the backup "s" file you say you have and rename it to same as the newly determined "s" file name for your current profile and then copy it into the current profile slt folder.

    The test I ran doing this same thing indicates this procedure should get you back in business.

    Bottom Line:... Get the backup "s" file named to the one the current profile will recognize as determined by forcing the current profile to generate a new "s" file.

    Good Luck, Ray
     
    Last edited: 2008/11/03
  7. 2008/11/05
    Ramona

    Ramona Geek Member Alumni

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    blilling,

    Ray has it nailed, and for future reference, you might want to bookmark this page, when it's necessary to create a new Profile: Creating a New Profile
     

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