Win11 Need Help Migrating Profile Firefox from External Seagate Back Up Win 7

I've read much information and tried for hours yet I feel lost moving an Old Profile FireFox Win 7 that I had backed up using Seagate Dashboard. I could say what I've tried but I've tried so much I'm lost. My Old Win 7 Inpiron Died so i can't use that machine any longer to retrieve info. I was using Seagate Dashboard to back up my system. My Win 7 Firefox was very Old so not sure if that's my problem ? Can someone try and direct me and then I can say if I've tried this direction before ? Just got Win 11 so new to it.

TY

Already tried that info.

Welcome to the forum.

The simplest way to backup a profile is to create an account and sync.
I would start with the Win 7 (Obviously). Sync it to a Firefox account and then install Firefox on the new system and sign into your FF account and sync.

What can be moved over will be.
And yes, I am guessing the issues are due to the version of FF on Win 7. What version would that be?

Edit:
Could be that sync isn’t available on the old FF. I don’t know.

I’m guessing any FF Add-ons you have on the Win 7 account wont work with the newer FF, they changed the requirements/coding or something. Very frustrating IMO
However, they will sync, most (I am guessing) just wont work though.

There’s a good chance that only the Bookmarks will transfer anyway. A lot has changed with FF since Windows 7 and the profile setup is bound to be very different???

Libra10 said:

I had backed up using Seagate Dashboard

Click to expand...

Have you tried to restore that backup the normal way?
Seagate Dashboard - Installation, Backup, Verify, Restore, and Features - Seagate

I have some experience of transferring Firefox profiles.
I start with zipping up the profile's folder & then unzipping it to the right place on the target computer.
- Can you still read your old computer's disk [through, say, a USB-connected enclosure]?
- If so you have an alternative to using the Seagate utility.
I posted some notes about transferring profiles between computers in How-to guide - Backup and restore Firefox settings - TenForums
I have only used the procedure between recent versions of Firefox.


Denis

Dennis and Sinto TY for replies.

My Old Inspiron will not stay on due to either Bad RAM or Motherboard ? I did however Back up using the Seagate Dashboard. After the back up the Seagate Program oddly places the info in many different folders. As in it does one full back up. Next back up it only backs up NEW data then placed in NEW Folders.


Sinto and Denis TY for your quick replies. I've spent hours on this today and need to walk away. I will reply tomorrow.

My situation is the data i need in on back up but due to using Seagate Backup is seems distributed in multiple locations and I've tried Drop and paste to FAVORITES in new computer and making new Profiles in FireFox. Can someone explain how the profiles attach or send the info to my new profile since its dispersed in different FOLDERS in my Backups ? Prob not making sense... will reply to both of you tomorrow. Too many hours failing i need to walk away right now.

TY

Since your Windows 7 machine died and you no longer have direct access to the FF profile folder in appdata, it will depend on whether the Seagate Dashboard backup is mountable whether or not you will be able to retrieve the subfolders/files in that folder. I know nothing about Seagate Dashboard.
C:\Users\Your username\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

That said, even if you do have access to a copy of that folder in your backup, if the version of FF you ran on the Windows machine is very old, I would have doubts that the folders would have the same naming conventions that newer versions of FF use. As Firefox has evolved and updated to modern browser standards, there is a good chance it's folders have changed/renamed or no longer used along the way.

Try3 said:

Can you still read your old computer's disk [through, say, a USB-connected enclosure]?

Click to expand...

Do consider this when you resume tomorrow.
Disks can still be readable even though they have been taken from a duff computer.


Denis

glasskuter said:

That said, even if you do have access to a copy of that folder in your backup, if the version of FF you ran on the Windows machine is very old, I would have doubts that the folders would have the same naming conventions that newer versions of FF use. As Firefox has evolved and updated to modern browser standards, there is a good chance it's folders have changed/renamed or no longer used along the way.

Click to expand...

I am almost 100% certain that this will be the case. Especially coming from a Win 7 machine.
Firefox version 115 is the last supported FF for Windows 7. FF 146.00 is the latest for Modern Win 11 OS. Huge difference.
If Libra was to install 115 on the new machine, it may work.
Then after the profile is copied over, update FF.

This is just a theory /


You can drop to an even earlier version. I on occasion install Firefox v94.0 (recommended for this process)

If you were to try the above, you’ll need to prevent FF from updating. It can be re-enabled after the drama.

Attached:

Firefox-disable_updates.reg


Firefox-enable_updates.reg


To disable updates:
Download the attached Reg files
For each file: Right click on the file > Properties > check the “Unblock” box
Double click on (or right click and “Merg”) “Firefox-disable_updates.reg” and approve each request

To enable updates:
Run Firefox-enable_updates.reg the same way as above, to re-enable updates.

Thank You all for the information. Please keep this thread open something came up. I want to come back and try your info.

TY Again