With out knowing what format your bookmarks are in and if this is backup which would contain 1000's of files nor do we know if this can be restored at all as you are now using a different operating system. Nor do we know if the old was 32x or 64x

You possible need what ever OS you were running or you need a separate drive or usb to extract to and how you do that depends on the file extension ie: .bak ,,zip So sorry.

There is multiple ways to go about this; but this issue can not be solved in the Firefox Support Forum.

Ask the tech how Windows was installed. Was the disk formatted, or was the data saved?

Look for C:\windows.old or something like that.

What file dates do these files have? Does the backup have a bookmarkbackups folder with .json files or compressed .jsonlz4 files in it?

You can also copy the places.sqlite file (bookmarks and history) from the old drive to the current profile folder.

• C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<profile>\

You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.

• Help -> Troubleshooting Information -> Profile Directory:
  Windows: Show Folder; Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder
• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox

You can copy files like these to the current Firefox profile folder to recover specific data.

• bookmarks and history: places.sqlite
• bookmark backups: compressed .jsonlz4 backups in the bookmarkbackups folder
• cookies.sqlite for the cookies
• formhistory.sqlite for saved form data
• logins.json and key3.db (decryption key) for Passwords saved in the Password Manager
• cert8.db and possibly cert_override.txt for (intermediate) certificates stored in the Certificate Manager
• persdict.dat for words you added to the spelling checker dictionary
• permissions.sqlite for Permissions and possibly content-prefs.sqlite for other Site Preferences
• sessionstore.js for open tabs and pinned tabs

crispy41 said

I have the old memory drive and maybe I could take it back to him but I need instructions cause he does not seem to know how to do this. Or maybe I can try on my own.

Firefox would have stored your bookmarks in two formats:

• in the places.sqlite database file, combined with history
• in regular backup files in a compressed format

Do you have the old drive connected now as a data drive, either internally on a desktop computer or by USB on a laptop?

The trick with finding data on an old drive is to first set Windows to show you hidden files and folders. See:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14201/windows-show-hidden-files

Then on the old drive, which I will call "F" for discussion purposes (modify as needed), look for:

F:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

At that point you may see only one folder, with a semi-random name. Click into it and look for a bookmarkbackups folder. The file names should have a date coded into them, for example:

bookmarks-2017-06-28_5849_gibberish==.jsonlz4

In that example, the bookmarks are as of June 28, 2017, and there are 5849 bookmarks and bookmark folders in the backup. (Undoubtedly a lot of duplicates...)

If you find a file or two that you would like to restore, I recommend copying them to your Windows desktop or your documents folder for easier access.

Note: If you find multiple folders under Profiles, check each one for the latest/largest bookmark backup files.

Did you find anything promising you want to try to use?

Finally, the restore procedure -- which totally replaces any bookmarks you have now -- is described in this article: Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer. (You'll use "Choose file" to point Firefox to the copy you made on the desktop or in documents.)

Once you are ready;

These add-ons can be a great help by backing up and restoring Firefox

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/febe/ FEBE (Firefox Environment Backup Extension)

FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions, history, passwords, and more. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your saved files individually into installable .xpi files. It will also make backups of files that you choose.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/opie/ OPIE

Import/Export extension preferences

Thanks guys for helping I will need my ntech to help based on what you suggest But I did find a few recent bookmarks in the profile directory folder. I don't seem to find a program that will open such json files however assuming I will find the old files in the same jargon how do I get them into openable files. Also how do I copy that list into current profile?

Firefox automatically makes backups of the bookmarks. These are stored in the bookmarkbackups folder.

Open the Bookmarks Manager; Press the Alt or F10 key to bring up the toolbar, and select Bookmarks. Hot key is <Control> (Mac=<Command>) <Shift> B.

Once the window is open, at the top of the page, press the button labeled Import and Backup. Select Restore. From the list, pick the file you want and click it.

The backups are stored in a jsonlz4 file named something like this; bookmarks-2016-06-29_1424_enD1GTH ya0JmicnYWg4V4g==.jsonlz4

In this example; 2016-06-29 = date created, 1424 = number of entries.

crispy41 said

I did find a few recent bookmarks in the profile directory folder. I don't seem to find a program that will open such json files however assuming I will find the old files in the same jargon how do I get them into openable files. Also how do I copy that list into current profile?

If you found files in a bookmarkbackups folder: these usually are compressed and can't be read by other programs as anything other than gibberish. You can replace the existing set of bookmarks in Firefox with the contents of a backup file using the Restore feature. Bear in mind that this is a complete replacement, and there is no undo. Therefore, if you need to retain a copy of your existing bookmarks, you should export them first.

(1) (Optional) Export Firefox bookmarks to an HTML file to back up or transfer bookmarks -- if you have new bookmarks you want to keep a copy of (2) Restore bookmarks from backup or move them to another computer (3) (Optional) Import Bookmarks from an HTML file -- if you created an export file and want to add those bookmarks back