All passwords gone after migration to new Windows installation

[celadyn]

celadyn last edited by

Hello!

I have a clean Windows installation on my SSD.

I have copied everything from the old profile folder to the new installation:
C:\Users\John\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software\Opera Stable\ (new Drive Letter and Username are the same as in the old installation)

But when I open Settings > Privacy & security > Passwords > Show all passwords I get an empty list.
Besides, my passwords are NOT backed up in Opera Sync, because I forgot my password and had to reset my whole Sync Data.
I had about 200 passwords which are now gone.

Although the password files are present:
Login Data ( 294,912 B )
Login Data-journal ( 0 B )

And when I start the program NirSoft WebBrowserPassView the passwords are all present.

Any ideas what I could do to get the passwords back to Opera?

Well, I could save a list from WebBrowserPassView, visit all the saved pages, paste in the corresponding password and let Opera save it.
But that is some hard and long-lasting piece of work.

[sgunhouse]

sgunhouse Moderator Volunteer last edited by

Passwords are encrypted to your user account (and not just the name), hence they are unusable in a clean install. If you have the old disk there may be some files or just registry keys you could copy to reinstate the old account (I'm not completely certain), otherwise you're stuck with the brute force method you mentioned at the end there.

[zalex108]

zalex108 last edited by admin

I would recommend .CSV + KeePass (Or another Pss Manager) + Browser extension then you are able to use your passwords in any browser and device (Desktop, Mobile, Tablet...), (does Opera mini/mobile save passwords? In every platform?).

As said in this post using the "exporter tool", (well ChromePass in this case) you could create a .CSV, then import the file, install the appropriate extension and access your passwords everywhere everytime.

I prefer the freedom to have them secure in a Password Manager and the ability to use them everywhere, without depending on the browser.

Checking the app, you can export them as .csv and as Keepass .csv also, but if you prefer to use just Opera, maybe the ChromePass .Csv could be imported into Opera enabling the Flag.

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Windows 10 (x64) | Anniversary Update
Opera Stable · Beta · Developer

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"You cannot know the meaning of your life until you are connected to the power that created you". · Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

[celadyn]

celadyn last edited by admin

Thank you both for the answer.

Meanwhile I figured out how to recover my passwords and posted a solution in this topic

For anybody who wants to recover passwords from another Windows installation or User (or backed up profile folder), follow these steps:

What you need prior to recover your passwords:

• A previous or current Windows installation
• Your User Password for that Windows Installation
• Your User Folder for that Windows Installation

Follow these steps to recover your passwords:

1. Download and open ChromePass
2. Press F9 or go to File > Advanced Options
3. Select the option "Load the passwords from another Windows user or external drive:"
4. Enter or select/browse for the User Profile path, e.g. E:\Users\John
5. Enter your password for the specified account (NOT your current login!)
6. Check the option "Advanced external drive settings:"
7. Enter the path for the Windows Protect folder from this user, e.g. E:\Users\John\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Protect\
8. Enter the path of the Opera Profile folder, e.g. E:\Users\John\AppData\Roaming\Opera Software\Opera Stable\ or F:\Backup\Opera Profile\
9. Click OK and wait! It might take some time if you have huge number of passwords.

[zalex108]

zalex108 last edited by

I thought you had problems after the post so they look that been made at different time/date. xD

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Windows 10 (x64) | Anniversary Update
Opera Stable · Beta · Developer

Test profile | Back up Linux · Mac · Win

"You cannot know the meaning of your life until you are connected to the power that created you". · Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

[ognum]

ognum last edited by

Hello! I have been fighting with the same problem today.

The method of celadyn did work up to the import of the passwords into ChromePass,
but the passwords did not appear in the settings in opera.

Now i have found an solution:

1. I used the same Username and password on the new clean windows installation and installed Opera.

2. Then i copied the whole opera "Program Folder" and the "Profile Folder" from the old onto the new maschine.
   (All settings, except the passwords, have been taken over to the new opera)

3. Type "opera://flags" in Opera addressbar and press Enter. It'll open Opera experiments page.
   There you must search for "Password import and export" and activate this flag.
   (!! Do this in both opera installations !!!)

4. In both opera installation will now appear an "export" and an "import" -Button under
   Settings > Privacy & security > Passwords > Show all passwords

5. Now you only have to export the passwords from the old opera by saving them in an CSV-File
   and importing the saved CSV-File into the new opera.

[ognum]

ognum last edited by

The described solution also works with different users and passwords!!

[zalex108]

zalex108 last edited by

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Windows 10 (x64) | Anniversary Update
Opera Stable · Beta · Developer

Test profile | Back up Linux · Mac · Win

"You cannot know the meaning of your life until you are connected to the power that created you". · Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi