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    Opera "remembers" all passwords even after disk formatting & win reinstall

    Opera for Windows
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    • sgunhouse
      sgunhouse Moderator Volunteer last edited by

      You missed the obvious. Opera will import settings and passwords from your default browser. If you didn't tell the installers otherwise, the default browser will be the one most recently installed - that is, Chrome as described. Hence it imported the bookmarks and passwords from Chrome.

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      • blackbird71
        blackbird71 last edited by

        There is no 'magic' with computers, contrary to occasional popular opinion. The laws of physics still rule. So if data file contents are surviving on your SSD drive after reformatting it, the implication is that either those data files actually (or also) exist elsewhere outside that drive or the reformatting is not being fully successful in the usual sense of the word "format".

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        • masterlon
          masterlon last edited by

          You missed the obvious. Opera will import settings and passwords from your default browser. If you didn't tell the installers otherwise, the default browser will be the one most recently installed - that is, Chrome as described. Hence it imported the bookmarks and passwords from Chrome.

          But Opera didn't ask me whether I want it to import the passwords and settings.

          Besides, even if that were the case, it doesn't explain the fact that as soon as I entered the URL for shutterstock contributors, I was already logged in. The same story for gmail. I wasn't brought to the login screen on those sites, I was already logged in. I don't think that Opera (or any other browser for that matter) is programmed to import sessions from other browsers?

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          • sgunhouse
            sgunhouse Moderator Volunteer last edited by

            Easy way to find out - try it again but install Opera first.

            Opera does import sessions from old Opera (which was my default) - though you really mean cookies, to Opera users "session" means open tabs. As far as what exactly it imports from Chrome ... I have never had Chrome as default. But Opera and Chrome use the same rendering engine, so transferring from one to the other is trivial.

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            • masterlon
              masterlon last edited by

              There is no 'magic' with computers, contrary to occasional popular opinion. The laws of physics still rule. So if data file contents are surviving on your SSD drive after reformatting it, the implication is that either those data files actually (or also) exist elsewhere outside that drive or the reformatting is not being fully successful in the usual sense of the word "format".

              I did notice that the formatting lasted only a few seconds (the format command from win7 installation). I don't know if this is normal or not.

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              • lando242
                lando242 last edited by

                For a 'quick format' it is.

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                • sgunhouse
                  sgunhouse Moderator Volunteer last edited by

                  A quick reformat merely wipes the base directory and file allocation. All the data is still there, and you can even "unformat" a quick format. But not relevant to this discussion as Opera is not recovering any of its own files.

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                  • lando242
                    lando242 last edited by

                    Ah, when you install Opera there is an options page. Inside that page there is a checkbox that says 'Import bookmarks and data from the default browser'. That is probably the source of the bookmarks being imported.

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                    • goedl
                      goedl last edited by

                      You missed the obvious. Opera will import settings and passwords from your default browser.

                      I'm no expert but could anybody please confirm or (as I'm hoping) denying this statement.

                      Even when accepting that stored passwords in a browser can not be considered save I mean what's the logic that a new installed program is allowed to import passwords from another rather unrelated program?

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                      • masterlon
                        masterlon last edited by

                        You missed the obvious. Opera will import settings and passwords from your default browser.

                        I'm no expert but could anybody please confirm or (as I'm hoping) denying this statement.
                        Even when accepting that stored passwords in a browser can not be considered save I mean what's the logic that a new installed program is allowed to import passwords from another rather unrelated program?

                        That's what I thought as well. I don't think it's very nice of Opera (to put it mildly) to import everything it can from other browsers, especially when we take into account the fact that it doesn't even ask the user for the permission!

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                        • masterlon
                          masterlon last edited by

                          Ah, when you install Opera there is an options page. Inside that page there is a checkbox that says 'Import bookmarks and data from the default browser'. That is probably the source of the bookmarks being imported.

                          I'm afraid there's no such checkbox anymore.

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                          • lando242
                            lando242 last edited by

                            @masterlon

                            it doesn't even ask the user for the permission!
                            I'm afraid there's no such checkbox anymore.

                            There is a checkbox. I just downloaded the installer and checked right before posting this. As I said above its in the options of the installer. If you had 'Import bookmarks and data from the default browser' check then that is exactly what it will do.

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