For some folks out there, a good list of bookmarks is a lifeline to the outside world. No mater how long you have been Online, just about everybody has a nice stash that they do not want to loose. So how do you back them up in Firefox? The location might change in future versions, but this is the way I do it within Firefox 1.0 inside of Windows XP.
You need to get into your main hard drive, and then look inside Documents and Settings. In there click on your user name for the account in Windows XP that you are logged into. From there you will need to go into your Application Data folder. This one might be hidden depending on your file folder settings.
Now keep digging, we are almost there. Next look for the Mozilla folder, then Firefox. Next you should see a Profiles folder to dive into. Now you might get scared by the next folder, because the name is a little funky. Go ahead and click your way inside of there and you have hit a gold mine of information.
Inside the folder with the odd name, you will see a lot of data. I want you to look for the file called “bookmarks.html”. Once you have located it, I want you to copy it and save it to your desktop. Now you can move that version that is sitting on your desktop to a backup method of your own choosing. Make sure you don’t delete or get rid of the original one though, because you might kill off your bookmarks for good.
Copying and saving this bookmarks file from time to time should help out in the war against backing up your personal data.
[Update] Here is another helpful bookmark backup tip from Robin Khor. As oppposed to searching for bookmarks.html in some location that might change in the future, it’s a lot easier to just do the following:
1. On the main menu, select Bookmarks->Manage Bookmarks.
2. In the Bookmarks Manager dialog box, select Export.
3. Just choose your backup location.
[tags]firefox,windows xp,bookmarks,backups[/tags]