Bookmark Backup extension glitch?

I'm talking about the actual extension (http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/?addon=bb), not the bookmark backup that's inherent in Firefox.
Under options, I have it set up to back up most of the contents of my profile folder, not just the bookmarks. A couple of days ago I restored the Extensions folder in my profile, but what ended up getting restored included half a dozen extensions that I'd uninstalled a while ago (all the proper extensions were still there, it's just that there were a bunch of unwanted ones as well!). These six particular extensions showed up grayed out (disabled, I guess), but as I have no further use for them, I manually uninstalled each of them again. When I checked the Extensions folder in my backup at the end of the day, however, guess what was back? All those additional (re-uninstalled) extensions! This was a couple of days ago, and sure enough, every day since then, the Extensions folder in my backups has included the uninstalled extensions.
Is this happening to anyone else? Any idea of how I can get rid of the old stuff once and for all?
Thanks!

 

Rebecca,

Have you tried the "Uninstall" link on the author's page? If not, give that a try, and if you continue to have problems, write to the author, Pike. He lists his email address on this page: http://www.pikey.me.uk/mozilla/#bb

I've found the authors of the extensions to be very open and willing to help individuals. They want to know when the extension doesn't work.

Happy New Year!

 

Hi Rebecca,

I'm back from NYC, and back online, so Happy New Year.

I feel somewhat responsible for your problem, since you set up your Bookmark Backup options following my instructions. As you know, Bookmark Backup makes a backup of your chosen profile files/folders each time FF closes. It does this for each day of the week, so that you eventually have seven backup folders.

Apparently, what I didn't make clear is that once a backup is created, only files or folders which are changed are updated. In other words, it's an incremental update, but only to a point ... if you create a backup containing extension xxxyyyzzz.xpi, then later uninstall the extension, the information about it will remain in the backup folder (which is why is shows up in your extensions list as disabled).

The easiest way of dealing with your problem is to delete the backup folder for the current day. The next time you close FF, a new backup will be created for that day of the week. Once you have a good current backup, delete all the rest of the daily folders; each will be re-created on the proper day of the week.

 

Welcome back, Jim, and a happy new year to you, too!
No need to feel 'responsible' for this scenario - I didn't actually add in the additional files to be backed up until after I'd noted this quirk. You just got me looking more closely at what it was I was backing up!
Anyway, the day I noticed this, I actually deleted the contents of the Extension folder in my Bookmark Backup, and replaced them with the contents of the Extension folder in my profile (so that only my active extensions would be there) - thinking that if the backups were based on files/folders that had changed since the previous backup, this would be a way to get back on track. But I guess that would've only fixed my sequential Friday folders, not the backups from the other days of the week. I'd thought each backup would be based on the previous day's, not the backup from the same day a week prior ... if that makes any sense. In any case, I've followed your suggestion, and all looks well in today's new backup, so I'm confident the other backups will follow.
Thanks for setting me straight (yet again!).

 

Hi Rebecca,

I learned the hard way about how Bookmark Backup saves files but, come to think of it, I suppose that any program that saves incrementally might work the same way ... Bookmark Backup just does it on the basis of a calendar day, rather than (as you originally thought) the previous day.

Anyway, I'm glad you got it straightened out.

 

Is Bookmark Backup a separate program or extension? Is there any other way to make a backup of Bookmarks in FF? I've got quite a few and want to save them, but do not know how.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

Hi Ann,

FF 2.0 automatically backs up your bookmarks in the bookmarkbackups folder in your FF profile folder.

Bookmark Backup, on the other hand, is a FF extension. Its advantage is that it can backup any or all files and folders in your FF profile, to a location of your choice, rather than just your bookmarks.

There are other backup programs/extensions, but they don't offer the options that Bookmark Backup does. I've used it through several versions, and wouldn't be without it.

 

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the quick reply. So, there is no way I can backup my bookmarks without an extension or additional program as I do in Opera? I do not use any extensions, because I am a novice as far as they are concerned.

 

Hi Ann,

Did you read the first sentence in my last post?

You don't have to do anything to back up your bookmarks ... FF does it for you automatically, assuming that you're using v1.5 or later, and that you haven't turned the feature off (I'm sure you haven't). They're saved in the bookmarkbackups folder in your FF profile folder.

 

For anyone who's interested, here's the reply I got from Pike, the author of the Bookmark Backup extension:

Bookmark Backup doesn't normally delete the previous backup when making a new one, it just overwrites it. If you backup an entire folder like "extensions" this means that it won't clear out old extensions from the backup. You can work around this by going into about:config and setting the bookmarkbackup.deletePrevious pref to true, this setting clears out old backups before making a new one. The reason it's a hidden pref is that it hasn't been widely tested (though no one has reported problems) so use at your own risk.​

I've gone ahead and modified my setting in about:config, as I like the idea of a fresh backup each time. I installed/uninstalled a couple of extensions again, just to test the new setting, and, as hoped, the uninstalled items are not showing up in my backup folders now.

 

Rebecca ...

My first thought was "deleting a backup before creating a new one defeats the purpose of having a backup ". Then I remembered that, because there's a backup folder for each day of the week, you've always got the last backup from the previous day to fall back on, if necessary.

Thanks for the info.

 

Jim,

Okay! Got it. Thank you for stating that 1.5 also backs up because I do not yet have 2.0.

Ann

 

Hi Ann,

As my kids would say, "My bad!" I should have mentioned from the get-go that any version of FF from 1.5 on automatically backs up the bookmarks.

You really should consider moving up to v2.0 (now at 2.0.0.1), though. I know, from your post in another thread, that you "hope to use [FF1.5.0.9] until FF 2 has been in use for awhile and all the bugs are fixed" but, as Ramona told you, no browser is completely bug-free. More to the point, there is no software that is completely bug-free, which is why updates and revisions are a constant in our lives.

I've been using FF 2.0 since it was in development, with few, if any, problems. Initially, I ran it alongside 1.5 but now use 2.0 exclusively. Try it! I think you'll like it.

 

Jim,

Now you have my interest. I did not know that you could install 2.0.1 without uninstalling 1.5.0.9. Further, someone told me that you had to do a repair install in order to install 2.0.1 in addition to 1.5.0.9, and I am waiting to hear how to do that. Have you ever heard this?

From what you state, I can install version 2.0.1. and leave the older version on my computer as well. Are there any special steps or precautions I should take? I am very cautious and like to take it nice and easy. LOL!

Ann

 

Hi Ann,

No need to uninstall 1.5 before installing 2.0 ... at least I've never had to.

A side-by-side installation is relatively simple, as long as you don't use the default "Standard" setup. Instead, use the "Custom" setup, which will allow you to select where to install the FF program folder and what to name it.

Before running your new FF 2.0, right-click on one of the new icons created for it and select "Properties ". In the Target: window, add (after an intervening space) -p to the end of the line. Click OK to close the window.

When you click on that icon, FF's Profile Manager will open. Create a new profile with a name that you associate with FF 2.0. Locate it somewhere other than the default location if you like.

Reopen the Properties window for the icon you edited previously, and add (after an intervening space) the name of the profile you just created. (Note that Profile names are case-sensitive.)

Add the -p and the profile name to the Target: line for any other FF 2.0 icons. That way they should always open your 2.0 profile in 2.0.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to do something similar with your 1.5 icons, so that the version of FF you choose to use will always look at the proper profile.

HTH.

 

Hi Jim,

Just to confirm, I add the name of the profile after the -p I created in the Target line?

This is all completely new for me and I really appreciate your explicit instructions. I feel as if I actually could do this.

I am printing this thread and some other information posted by Westside and will use it as reference.

Thanks ever so much!

Ann

 

Hi Ann,

That's correct. For example, the Target lines in the shortcut icons I use read:

E:\MOZILLA\FIREFOX\PROGRAM\FF2.0\firefox.exe -p JSS​

To be more specific, what appears in the Target line is the path to the FF executable. Follow that with <space>-p<space>Profile Name. The only thing case-sensitive is the profile name.

Note that the name of the profile and the name of the profile folder don't have to be the same, but it certainly makes it easier to keep track of things.

(FYI, the reason most of my target line example appears in caps is because, years ago, I developed the habit of typing FOLDER NAMES in upper case and file names in lower case to more easily differentiate the two.)

 

Jim,

Thank you for the confirmation. You really are on top of things, i.e., the FOLDER\filename combination. That certainly is a wonderful idea, especially for my old eyes. LOL!.

Now all I need is to get up some courage and try the 2.0..1. install. I am the type of person who does not like to upset the apple cart.

I will let you know how it goes, although I may not install just yet.

Ann