What's the name of the file? It should be something like bookmarks-2012-04-02.html or bookmarks-2012-04-02.json. If it doesn't have the date in the name that doesn't matter those can still be imported. Try opening the History window by holding Ctrl+Shift+H then choose '''Import and Backup > Import Bookmarks from HTML''' for the .html file or '''Restore > Choose File''' if you have the .json file.

See also: *http://kb.mozillazine.org/Backing_up_and_restoring_bookmarks_-_Firefox <br /> Make sure that the backup file with the bookmarks has the correct file extension: .html for a HTML backup and .json for a JSON backup.<br /> You can check that via the right-click context menu of that file and open the Properties.<br /> If you are not sure about the file type then you can open the file in Firefox via "File > Open File"<br /> A JSON backup will show as one long text line without line breaks and a HTML backup as a web page with clickable links. A JSON backup starts with: <b><nowiki>{"title":"","id":1,"dateAdded":</nowiki></b><br /> An HTML backup starts with: <b><nowiki><!DOCTYPE NETSCAPE-Bookmark-file-1></nowiki></b> Add quotes ("") around the name to rename the file to the correct file extension if the current file extension is hidden or if it is otherwise not working.

cant figure out what kind of file it is. not listed anywhere in properties. below is a copy and paste when i open the file. when i try to open, i get a menu asking what program i want to use to open. i try firefox but no luck. any other suggestions would be great. i guess its not the end of the world to lose all of these BUT, i had them all organized well over the years. i tried to add the image below but it says no image received. i followed instructions well...or so i thought...to make a backup. then copy and pasted to my external drive before installing the new drive. then copy and pasted back to my desktop from that after installation. is there any hope or must i start all over??? :( there is only one long string of data when i open the file on my desktop but when i copied and pasted it here there was over 350,000 characters so i deleted most of it just to give an example of it. {"title":"","id":1,"dateAdded":1303456970765625,<!-- "lastModified":1322151755609000,"type":"text/x-moz-place-container","root":"placesRoot","children":[{"title":"Bookmarks Menu","id":2,"parent":1,"dateAdded":1303456970765625,"lastModified":1332391914765000,"type":"text/x-moz-place-container","root":"bookmarksMenuFolder","children":[{"title":"Recently Bookmarked","id":310,"parent":2,"annos":[{"name":"Places/SmartBookmark","flags":0,"expires":4,"mimeType":null,"type":3,"value":"RecentlyBookmarked"}],"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"place:folder=BOOKMARKS_MENU&folder=UNFILED_BOOKMARKS&folder=TOOLBAR&sort=12&excludeQueries=1&excludeItemIfParentHasAnnotation=livemark%2FfeedURI&maxResults=10&queryType=1"},{"index":1,"title":"Recent Tags","id":311,"parent":2,"annos":[{"name":"Places/SmartBookmark","flags":0,"expires":4,"mimeType":null,"type":3,"value":"RecentTags"}],"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"place:sort=14&type=6&maxResults=10&queryType=1"},{"index":2,"title":"","id":9,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1303456970937500,"lastModified":1303456970937500,"type":"text/x-moz-place-separator"},{"index":3,"title":"Yahoo!","id":10,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1218677659000000,"lastModified":1303456970953125,"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"http://www.yahoo.com/","charset":"UTF-8"},{"index":4,"title":"Yahoo! Mail: The best web-based email!","id":399,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1305866541703000,"lastModified":1305866541828000,"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"https://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2?.intl=us&.src=ym","charset":"UTF-8"},{"index":5,"title":"Google","id":11,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1215577488000000,"lastModified":1303456970953125,"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"http://www.google.com/","charset":"UTF-8"},{"index":6,"title":"Gmail: Email from Google","id":398,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1305866506437000,"lastModified":1305866506625000,"annos":[{"name":"bookmarkProperties/description","flags":0,"expires":4,"mimeType":null,"type":3,"value":"7+ GB of storage, less spam, and mobile access. Gmail is email that's intuitive, efficient, and useful. And maybe even fun."}],"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=mail&passive=true&rm=false&continue=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2F%3Fui%3Dhtml%26zy%3Dl&bsv=llya694le36z&ss=1&scc=1&ltmpl=default&ltmplcache=2&hl=en&from=logout","charset":"UTF-8"},{"index":7,"title":"Google Finance: Stock market quotes, news, currency conversions & more","id":315,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1304551333453000,"lastModified":1304551333515000,"annos":[{"name":"bookmarkProperties/description","flags":0,"expires":4,"mimeType":null,"type":3,"value":"Get real-time stock quotes & charts, financial news, currency conversions, or track your portfolio with Google Finance."}],"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"http://www.google.com/finance","charset":"UTF-8"},{"index":8,"title":"Log on to TD Ameritrade","id":548,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1311007661890000,"lastModified":1311007662046000,"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"https://wwws.ameritrade.com/apps/LogIn","charset":"ISO-8859-1"},{"index":9,"title":"Wells Fargo Sign On to View Your Accounts","id":559,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1312235967140000,"lastModified":1312235967281000,"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"https://online.wellsfargo.com/signon?LOB=CONS","charset":"UTF-8"},{"index":10,"title":"Chase Online - Logon","id":951,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1326095099656000,"lastModified":1326095099828000,"annos":[{"name":"bookmarkProperties/description","flags":0,"expires":4,"mimeType":null,"type":3,"value":"Logon"}],"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"https://chaseonline.chase.com/Logon.aspx","charset":"UTF-8"},{"index":11,"title":"GECapital.com Customer Login","id":900,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1324412533312000,"lastModified":1324412533406000,"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"https://www.statementlook.com/fdr_ge.service?TRANTYPE=STMT_SIGNIN&CID=AAAA1041001&PID=STATE","charset":"ISO-8859-1"},{"index":12,"title":"Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more","id":594,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1312781931375000,"lastModified":1312781931484000,"annos":[{"name":"bookmarkProperties/description","flags":0,"expires":4,"mimeType":null,"type":3,"value":"Online shopping from the earth's biggest selection of books, magazines, music, DVDs, videos, electronics, computers, software, apparel & accessories, shoes, jewelry, tools & hardware, housewares, furniture, sporting goods, beauty & personal care, broadband & dsl, gourmet food & just about anything else."}],"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"http://www.amazon.com/","charset":"ISO-8859-1"},{"index":13,"title":"The World Clock – Time Zones","id":13,"parent":2,"dateAdded":1303310809000000,"lastModified":1303456970953125,"annos":[{"name":"bookmarkProperties/description","flags":0,"expires":4,"mimeType":null,"type":3,"value":"The World Clock shows current local time in cities and countries, in all time zones."}],"type":"text/x-moz-place","uri":"http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/","charset":"ISO-8859-1"},{"index -->

Noah, i tried that the first attempt. no go. when i go to select the file from desktop, the name of the file wont appear in the box below. it will hilite but not move, open or do anything. my guess is that it is not 'proper' in some way. but i made the copy using the import and export functions from the bookmarks menu. strange. it should work just fine but...no. maybe it helps but i used a new XP disk from microsoft to load the XP system onto my new hd.

That is a JSON backup.<br /> Make sure that the file has a .json file extension, otherwise Firefox may refuse to process the file if you try to restore it. *Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks > Import & Backup > Restore > Choose File

it does not have a json extension. can i add one?? i saved these bookmarks from the bookmarks menu so i dont know why firefox cant/wont import them now...

Yes, you can rename the file via the right-click context menu and add a .json file extension to the name. Check the type via the Properties to be sure that the type is JSON.

i renamed the file and even when i type in the name of the file on import, nothing happens. is there a human being in mozilla/firefox i can contact to find out any info on this matter???

did some shuffling and got it to work. lost all of the icons for each site but found that when you click it and go to that page, the icon returns and stays. thank you both for your help

You're welcome