Attempting to rescue Mozilla folder contents post-crash

Hi folks,

I'm a new user and first time "poster" to this forum. I'm somewhere between a beginner & intermediate computer user. Experience is growing out of neccessity! I'm not very knowledge about forums, so I will pre-apologize for any protocols that I will undoubtedly violate out of ignorance. That being said, here's the problem I would solicit your assistance with:

Back in June, and again about ten days ago, I had the misfortune of trying to install a program of unknown pedigree on my computer and having my hard drive fail as a result. I wrestled with the June incident for nearly three months before I finally broke down bought another hard drive and used it to recover the data from the previous hard drive. Apparently not having learned my lesson properly the first time around, it would seem I re-created the crisis for myself again recently. this time, after a few days, I bit the bullet and bought yet another hard drive to rescue data from #2. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I finally got #3 up and going, drivers installed, applications loaded, etc.

In both instances, I have been running Win98SE and using Netscape 7.1. In examining the contents of old #2, it appears that the appropriate files for mail, bookmarks, address book and such are all still intact and alive & well in C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\d0ogvwgh.slt\........
I have re-installed a new copy of Netscape 7.1 on HD #3, but have not as yet done anything with the setup, profile, mail, bookmarks, or any of that stuff, so it's all still "new ground to be plowed ". I have looked at a number of different bits of advice & recommendations on inummerable sites on the net, most of which I find very confusing and entangled. I guess I'm still gun-shy after my three-months of travail the last time.

Here's my first question: Is it reasonably possible to just copy, move, extract, or otherwise transfer the entire C:\Windows\Application Data\MOZILLA folder (with all it's contents) from the old hard drive to the C:\Windows\Application Data\ folder on the new drive and have everthing work? I'm sure this is probably a much too simplistic view of how things should seem to work, however I was hoping to just transfer the lot without too much muss and fuss. If that's the case and its not do-able, I'd be most grateful for anyone who has the time that would be willing to direct me to a recommended link, an archived solution (s) or a more appropriate forum for my request. Apparently I'm going to have to do the same thing with my mail files and address book from from Outlook Express, but I'm sure that's in a different forum.

Question, or scenario two: It seems to me that somewhere recently I had read that one could configure mail files, bookmarks, address books, etc., of different types so that they would function as they always have, but that would, in fact, reside or be stored on a separate physical hard drive, thus rendering them less vulnerable to loss in a crash of one's primary hard drive. I was planning to look into this further when time allowed, but the recent crash totally changed my priorities and the uncertain accessibilty of certain files has, predictably, thrown me into a tailspin. Any advice, tips, pointers, links, re-direction, even criticism, chastisements (deserved) and outright flaming (as long as its constructive ) anyone can offer on either of these matters will be very greatly appreciated.

Thanking you in advance and wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous new year!

Greg "shoe" Schuller

 

Welcome to the Forum, shoe!

Hi Greg,

Yes, that is definitely doable if you are moving the same Profile from the same OS, to the new location. Here's how:

On the new HD, navigate to the
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla Folder
Move the Mozilla folder to a temporary location, i.e., to any folder you use for backup purposes. If you have none, then create a folder for this explicit purpose.

Next:
Move the C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla Folder from the OLD HD to the NEW HD.
DON'T start Netscape yet

Go to Start | Programs | Netscape 7.1 | Profile Manager
Click on "Create Profile "
Use the same name as the existing Profile
Start Netscape

Your Profile should be in place, including your Mail & Newsgroups.
This only works if you are transferring the Mozilla Folder from the same Profile, and the same OS. Otherwise there are other more involved steps that must be taken.

You can create backups of your Mozilla folder, or the Profiles folder. In the event of a loss of data, then you would copy that backup into the existing Profile. This is why it's important to make frequent backups of your Profile data.

Let us know if this isn't perfectly clear, and if you have further questions.

Ramona