Reformatted and Bookmark problems
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louise1949 last edited by
Before I sent my PC to be reformatted I opened Programs/Opera and copied EVERYTHING to a backup drive. When the computer came back my tech told me he did not download Opera 18 and I am embarrassed to admit that I have searched and cannot find out how to tell what version he DID install. Anyway, naturally the bookmarks had reverted to the same useless default bookmarks that comes with Opera. Pleased with myself I went to my backup drive and copied and pasted all the Opera files from that folder into Opera and it still had nothing but the default Bookmarks! How can this be? We deleted the defaults and tried overwriting them again. The defaults returned! Have I lost my bookmarks forever? Why is this happening when I am overwriting with every single file from before the reformat???
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A Former User last edited by
The question is: what version did you use before and what one is installed??
Originally posted by louise1949:
I have searched and cannot find out how to tell what version he DID install.
Go to Programs and Features in the Windows Control Panel and check the Opera version there.
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louise1949 last edited by
Originally posted by sgunhouse:
What version did he install?
Moved to "Opera browser", as it isn't a website question.
Windows XP Home
Opera version 12.16 -
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A Former User last edited by
So, have you pasted your backup to replace the current profile in the path pointed in Opera -> Help -> About Opera?
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blackbird71 last edited byIf you "opened Programs/Opera and copied EVERYTHING to a backup drive" in WinXP for Opera 12.16, then you likely didn't copy the actual personal versions of the various files which installed Opera uses for each user. Instead, you probably copied the as-shipped default versions of those files which Opera instead uses as templates to restore browser functionality if a user's personal data file later turns up missing or corrupted for some reason. Your actual, populated personal files would most likely have been located in /Documents and Settings/**username**/Application Data/Opera.
If one searches XP for Opera's bookmarks.adr, for example, the results should turn up one copy in /Program Files/Opera/Defaults, which is the unpopulated, default version that Opera uses at a fresh installation and to restore if the user's bookmarks file disappears or gets corrupted. Another copy will appear in /Documents and Settings/**username**/Application Data/Opera, which is the file Opera actually uses when **username** runs Opera and saves his bookmarks... thus it gets populated with his unique information, and is the copy that must be saved in order to backup his bookmarks. Ditto for the other personal files. So, if you restore just from what was in /Program Files, you merely "restore" the original default, empty copies of the various Opera personal data files. This is unfortunate if you have no other backups or images containing the personal files in /Documents and Settings, since if this is what actually occurred, the correct personal files never were copied and the formatting would render them otherwise irretrievable at this point.
The exception to all this would be if you had originally installed Opera in its "USB" form, which might have placed the actual user-populated personal files in the /profile folder of the main Opera program folder, but it doesn't sound as if your original installation was the USB form of Opera.
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louise1949 last edited by
OK I am a little confused here. I went into C:Program Files/Opera and copied and pasted all files and folders onto a spare drive. This is not where Opera backs its Bookmarks to????
I did a search and cannot find "Application data" where you mentioned I would find it or anywhere in Search. I did search bookmarks.adr and found only ones under C: Programs: Opera and they were either locale, default or region. -
A Former User last edited by
Originally posted by louise1949:
I went into C:Program Files/Opera and copied and pasted all files and folders onto a spare drive. This is not where Opera backs its Bookmarks to????
Exactly. No software should store user data in Program Files per the OS guidelines.
It's in a location Windows hides by default. As shown in Menu -> About Opera and all the available documentation in Opera help files, the profile folder is located at:
XP: C:\Documents and Settings\**username**\Application Data\Opera
Vista/7/8: C:\Users\**username**\AppData\Roaming\Opera -
blackbird71 last edited by
Originally posted by louise1949:
...I did a search and cannot find "Application data" where you mentioned I would find it or anywhere in Search. I did search bookmarks.adr and found only ones under C: Programs: Opera and they were either locale, default or region.
Windows XP and later Microsoft OS's, by default, hide certain files and folders from users (it's a Microsoft attempt to supposedly "protect users from themselves"). Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to exasperating user problems when trying to locate certain files or folders for various reasons. For most users, I advise making a simple Windows setting change to unhide all the files and folders on the system, then just use some caution and common sense before messing around with files - especially if one doesn't know what the file is. For XP, open Windows Explorer and at the top menu bar: Tools > Folder Options > View > in the list, find Hidden Files and Folders: make sure the "Show hidden files and folders" button is selected/filled-in > OK. That should make the hidden folders and files become visible.
