Multiple Favorites folders cause problems...

Hi all

Got a little problem involving Favorites. It came about because I've got multiple pcs, each with their own Favorites folder.

What I want to is MERGE these different Favorites collections, so that duplicates are discarded.

However, before you waste your valuable time rushing into print with a solution, please read on a little further.

I'm aware that there are many online Bookmark\Favorites syncing services, but I don't want to use the method. I've tried one fairly well-known service and came to the conclusion that I didn't want to have my personal data circulating in cyberspace, no matter how secure these people say their sites are.

Also, I own a copy of Bookmark Converter, which is very effective for converting, in any direction, Bookmarks\Favorites etc, from IE, Firefox and Opera. It's worth buying, although it has a few limitations.

To cut a long story short, my current needs would be met if I was able to effectively merge two IE6 Favorites collections. After several days of research into this, it seems that a lot of folks are convinced that you can IMPORT one collection over the top of another, which will discard duplicates. Unfortunately this hasn't been my experience.

Suggestions would be most welcome

 

No, I haven't, Pete. Too obvious, maybe, LOL.

I guess I automatically assumed that I would need to monitor the process so that when it encounters duplicates, which probably constitute 95% of each folder, it would want confirmation to abandon or update.

Which would be tiresome. There are a lot of entries........

Thing that puzzles me is that presumably Foxmarks, who's online service I was using, must be employing some kind of intelligent sorting software. As must all the other online syncers. So why hasn't someone come up with a server-based program, so that home LANS could do the same thing? Seems to me there'd be a market for such an application.....

 

I've merged different computer Favorites using the simple copy/paste method before. It works fine. You'll get a prompt when it encounters the first duplicate, just click the "Yes To All" option and it won't bother you again. I've had no problem doing it that way. I normally copy them onto a USB flash drive but any other method would work.

 

Thanks Pete. Seems like the Dude may have the answer.

Dude, hi. Would you mind expanding your statement a little? When you say "copy\paste" do you mean you're just entering the Favorites folder on PC1 and going Ctrl\A, Ctrl\C?

Then what? I'm assuming that you've accessed the first collection on PC1 via a LAN, so all you need do is enter the second Favorites folder (presumably on the PC2 machine you're using to join the LAN) and then go Ctrl\V?

Or have you copied the first folder and renamed the copy to Ezekiel or some such and dragged it across to the second pc?

I ask because I remember trying something like this a few months back, and the renamed copy of the Favorites folder, when shifted to the target machine, kinda ******* up itself or the target collection. I forget the details now (earlier than yesterday LOL) but it seemed to me that Windows will only permit ONE Favorites folder to exist on each pc, no matter what it's been renamed to.

This ring any bells? Or perhaps your method bypassed this issue?

 

I haven't done it over a LAN but it should work similarily.

Yes, just copy all the files and folders that are inside the Favorites folder on rig #1 and go paste them in the Favorites folder of rig #2. When you get the first prompt about duplicate file, click "Yes to All" and away you go.

The point to remember, do not copy the Favorites folder, just the contents. Else you'll lose the proper heirarchy.

 

Ah. So you put 'em onto a memory stick or floppy or something?

OK, I'll give it a try. I wonder how it'll cope with nested folders? My collections have folders in folder in folders. Not too many loose files.

Incidentally, I rarely use Internet Explorer, but mostly Firefox and occasionally Opera. To keep my collections in sync within each pc, I use Bookmark Converter to keep IE, Opera and FF all in line.

But Bookmark Converter doesn't help with the problem of syncing different machines (although I've been badgering the prog's creator for several years). So this is my solution; get all the PC's Favorite versions identical, then run the Converter to bring FF and Opera up to speed.

Thanks again, Dude

 

I use a USB stick to carry it to rig #2 but any media is fine so long as it fits the target rig.

I've done this often between my dual-boot XP-XP system and of course no media is required since the Clipboard holds the data just fine.

The sub-folders are no problem. They'll appear in the new location the same as the old with no questions asked. If you have similarily named folders, you'll be asked to affirm the process since it would overwrite any files in your folder that had might have the same name. Otherwise it will not change your files in those folders.

 

OK, job almost done. Here's a summary of how I did it, in case someone else finds it useful. It's a little different from what we discussed here, earlier.

In the end I involved three computers. A fourth is mainly storage and is hardly ever online, the fifth is my wife's and I wouldn't dare mess with her bookmarks! I can't even get her to use FireFox.....

I copied the contents of all three Favorites folders to new folders on a memory stick. I called the folders favs1, favs2 and favs3. They varied in size from 6.94mb to 7.03mb.

I was just about to use the Dude's tip about copying one folder to another, and so forth, when I remembered I have an app called ViceVersa, which I use mainly for syncing my main 4gb memstick to another 4gb backup memstick. These memsticks replace the sheaf of CDs I used to carry around with me when I visit customers.

I'd previously attempted to use ViceVersa when I'd 'exported' the Favorites as 'bookmark.htm' files, but ViceVersa refused to even recognize the .htms, so I discarded the idea. But Dude saved the day when he suggested dealing with the folder's contents. Running ViceVersa on the three folders was no problem. It took around 30 secs to do a 'consolidation' (it has six different work methods), which is basically a merge, and it required little or no input from me. The app only works on two folders at a time, so I merged 1 and 2, then 3 and 2, then 3 and 1, ending up with all 3 folders the same byte-for-byte size.

All I need to do now is replace the original Favorites on each machine, then use Bookmark Converter to sync them with Opera and Firefox.

Excellent! Thanks again guys, another successful result from the WindowsBBS team