Talk:Profile backup

Why in step 3 are we mentioning your home directory first then as an after thought mentioning windows?

"Home directory" is a generic term that applies to all OSes. "My Documents" is the home directory on Windows. We're basically just doing what we do everywhere else: give generic instructions that apply to everyone and then give specific instructions for the less savvy users.--Np 08:23, 26 September 2005 (PDT)

Restoring or migrating your backed-up profile

Please correct/amend this suggested addition(*):

Use this procedure to restore your backed-up profile or move it to another computer.

1. Completely close all Mozilla programs, including the Mozilla Suite, Firefox, and Thunderbird. Don't forget to exit the Mozilla Suite's Quick Launch if it's open (as indicated in the Windows system tray). Make sure no Mozilla Suite/Firefox/Thunderbird processes are still running. 2. Copy the folder you backed up to the exact same location that it was in when you made the backup or to an identical location on the other computer. If you are moving from one OS to another (e.g., Windows 98 to Windows XP), or if your Windows boot drive letter has changed (e.g., from "C:\" to "D:\") or your Windows login/user name is different, see Moving your profile folder. (*)

(*) If you are moving to a new computer and only interested in quickly moving your mail to a new computer without hassle, it's enough to simply copy the Mail folder inside the old profile folder into the new one, in other words, the locations (paths) of the profiles on the two computers do not have to be identical. If you want, you can then also copy other files and settings as described on Migrating_settings_to_a_new_profile. Unfortunately, you'll have to manually re-enter the email account and server settings because Thunderbird's import function can so far import settings (and mail) only from other programs, not from Thunderbird. 27 August 2006 American Finn

Mozbackup

Why are we pushing solutions that require the user to find their profile and denigrating utilities such as Mozbackup by hiding it in a list at the end, and then warning the reader that its not evaluated by Mozilla? I'm all for telling a user how to copy and paste a profile directory but it shouldn't be the first choice. It requires a non-technical user to learn and understand a lot.

We're also hiding the fact that the easiest way to migrate a profile (for most users) to another PC is to back it up using Mozbackup and then restore it on the other PC. Instead we gloss over the fact that the same windows user account might not even exist on the other PC and tell them to find the profile and then copy each folder individually..... Tanstaafl 00:16, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

If you've used any of those utilities and think they're good, then go ahead and promote it a bit better. It's the way it is because no one has taken the time to evaluate any of them.--Np 02:13, 12 June 2007 (UTC)