O.T. deleted bookmark, can't sign-on to FF

Mark Twain wrote:
I was just about to switch the drives when I
decided to check a few more files in the 'My
Documents on the E2TB) and they do not
have the recent changes I made. I noticed this
in more than one file and when I checked the
C1TB) it shows the same thing.

So it seems I've lost some data somehow unless
you know of a way to recover it. I wasn't even
around these files when all this happened I was
on the bookmark menu.

At present, a copy of 'My Documents' is on the
E2TB) but have not switched the hard drives
because of the issue of the files in question.

Robert



And you know how that happened. You did a System
Restore, or at least you attempted one.

You would have to "return to the current date"
to fix that. In other words, use System Restore,
find the restore point that was created when you
tried to restore an older restore point.

That's just a guess as to what happened.

I didn't think things inside "My Documents" were
tracked by System Restore. But files stored outside
of that, could be affected.

You would have to be booted from the 1TB, to attempt
to use a System Restore controlled by that OS.

Now, personally, I don't rely all that much on the
restore point thing and System Restore. And you can
see why, in that you have to be aware what folders
are tracked, why files might disappear, why older
versions of files might show up, and so on. It takes
finding the right third-party web page, to get the
detailed information necessary to use that successfully.
I have found such a page in the past for WinXP, but
I don't know if there is a page for Windows 7 with
the same level of detail.

Paul

I didn't think System Restore affected
'My Document' folders/files only the OS.

Ok, since I see there's only one way to
retrieve the information is to do a 'return
to current date' I will switch the HD's and
try that first. and hopefully it will be
successful and then will install FF.

I'll let you know how it goes,

Thanks,
Robert

Mark Twain wrote:
I didn't think System Restore affected
'My Document' folders/files only the OS.

Ok, since I see there's only one way to
retrieve the information is to do a 'return
to current date' I will switch the HD's and
try that first. and hopefully it will be
successful and then will install FF.

I'll let you know how it goes,

Thanks,
Robert


It doesn't appear to affect data files, in the
tutorial here. But this article still doesn't have
the degree of detail needed.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/11238...ws-7-computer/

There is no indication it affects data files here either.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...m-restore.html

So a logical question would be, why is the feature
available for *data* disks ? That's what I'm trying
to figure out.

Paul

Paul wrote:
Mark Twain wrote:
I didn't think System Restore affected
'My Document' folders/files only the OS.

Ok, since I see there's only one way to retrieve the information is to
do a 'return
to current date' I will switch the HD's and
try that first. and hopefully it will be successful and then will
install FF.
I'll let you know how it goes,

Thanks,
Robert


It doesn't appear to affect data files, in the
tutorial here. But this article still doesn't have
the degree of detail needed.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/11238...ws-7-computer/


There is no indication it affects data files here either.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...m-restore.html

So a logical question would be, why is the feature
available for *data* disks ? That's what I'm trying
to figure out.

Paul

OK here is a list of file extensions it tracks. User
data file types aren't amongst them. No PDF, TXT, HTML
or HTM in here.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa378870.aspx

And you can read more about it here. It looks pretty
benign in Vista or later, focused mainly on system
stuff.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Restore

It would be pretty hard to explain then, how all of
a sudden you have older versions of user data files.
Restoring an entire backup could do that. (I.e. use
one of your disk backup programs, and run a restore
in there.)

Paul

This is what I did:

I switched hard drives so the original
1TB Seagate is now in the 8500 and the
2TB WD is in the case.

I tried to undo the System Restore but
was unsuccessful. I then installed FF
but the bookmarks did not come back.

In passing IE lagged considerably and
Avast wasn't working at all. It wouldn't
even let me update it but was alright with
FF.

So my only concern at the moment is retrieving
the bookmarks if at all possible.

Thanks,
Robert

What do you think of this?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb..._manual-backup

http://i64.tinypic.com/oqx3dw.jpg

Robert

Mark Twain wrote:
This is what I did:

I switched hard drives so the original
1TB Seagate is now in the 8500 and the
2TB WD is in the case.

I tried to undo the System Restore but
was unsuccessful. I then installed FF
but the bookmarks did not come back.

In passing IE lagged considerably and
Avast wasn't working at all. It wouldn't
even let me update it but was alright with
FF.

So my only concern at the moment is retrieving
the bookmarks if at all possible.

Thanks,
Robert

Then I guess you should be booting the 2TB drive,
as it is working.

It sounds like the 1TB drive is "tipped over" and
has some sort of malware on it.

*******

This thread gives some idea where the bookmarks
are stored.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/996638

1) places.sqlite is the location of primary storage.
If you find a copy of sqlite3.exe, you can use
the "dump" command to convert the file into
some sort of text. I've done that here on
occasion, for fun.

2) bookmarkbackups, as json or jsonlz4
Now, this is the unfortunate part. The JSON is
a text file, lacking proper punctuation. A
major pain in the ass. But JSONlz4 is worse,
because it is compressed. I wrote a simple C program
to convert the JSONlz4 back to JSON. I "cheated"
by using an LZ4 library, so it's a simple matter
of stripping off about 12 bytes of header, then
running the binary through a meat grinder. And out
comes JSON on the other side. In other words, it
can be dealt with, but not easily. We would need
to find a proper utility to do this. I'm aiming
for a separate tool, instead of the suggestion all
the mozilla forum threads have to "use Firefox" to
do it. Firefox made this impossible in the first place.

3) Exported as HTML. I didn't know that you can set
Firefox to "squirt out" an HTML file, each time
Firefox shuts down. So you could be buried in
HTML files, just by changing one setting in Firefox.

Not feeling too warm about this so far.

*******

Now this thread...

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...z4%20to%20html

claims you can use Bookmark manager, and import
something out of the bookmarkbackups on the 1TB drive.
But the thing is, that overwrites the bookmarks
setup on the 2TB drive copy of Firefox.

*******

OK, there is an addon for Firefox, called JSONview,
that allows viewing a JSON file. Now all I need to
do is find an LZ4 decompressor, as this addon does
not appear to handle the LZ4 part. But at least
this has some potential. The idea is, you could
use Firefox to do this, without changing the
contents of the Firefox profile on the 2TB drive.
It's sorta like having "Notepad" to have a look
at it.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fir...ddon/jsonview/

Back in a bit, when I can dig up an LZ4 solution...

Paul

Mark Twain wrote:
What do you think of this?

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb..._manual-backup

http://i64.tinypic.com/oqx3dw.jpg

Robert



I'm trying to avoid this if I can

"Caution: Restoring bookmarks from a backup will overwrite your
current set of bookmarks with the ones in the backup file."

I can see plenty of people asking for what I want (an independent
method), but I haven't found it yet.

*******

OK, I see in your Tinypic picture, you must be
booted on the 1TB at the moment, and viewing
the available bookmarkbackups ? And the Tuesday
one looks pretty good.

OK, before you do that, maybe you can exit Firefox
which is running from the 1TB drive right now,
and copy the profile folder over to E: for safe
keeping. Once this folder is copied, you can run
Firefox again, and carry out your plan. You
can figure out the path, by using Agent Ransack
and searching for jsonlz4.

C:\Users\rob\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profi les\vpyfp7p7.default

What should be in that folder, is the all important file...

C:\Users\rob\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profi les\vpyfp7p7.default\Bookmarkbackups\
bookmarks-2015-11-03 ... random stuff ... ==.jsonlz4

And by copying the whole folder, at the blahblah.default level,
you'll have a copy of the whole thing just in case. Your profile
8 digit number will be different than my example. Also,
the "random stuff" I didn't copy, yours will be different too.
For some reason, they made that file name pretty damn long.

Once the profile is safely copied, give your plan a try.

Paul

The 1TB(Seagate) may have some malware
on it but seems it perform ok minus the
bookmarks but I know that means nothing.

I tried to copy the profile from the c1TB)
to the E2TB) but again the computer
didn't recognize the drive even though
it had the two pop-ups which ask if you
want to view the contents but went I tried
to copy to it it was all grayed out.

http://i64.tinypic.com/6edy5e.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/12221yp.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/2rm1r2s.jpg

In fact, I accidentally copied/pasted the
file to the J: drive and verified that it's
there but I can't get it to the E: drive via USB.

Now why should the 1TB work in the case
and not 2TB? So instead I moved the profile
to a key. I then restore the Tuesday bookmarks
and eureka!! Everything is back to nomal !@!!!!
All the bookmarks are there. Cool

I know we still have a few loose ends but
thanks for all your time and good helps and
links.


Thanks,
Robert

I went into the Administrators Account
and did (5)Windows updates, 1 failed, Nvidia
I believe. Then the Action Center wanted
to run a Troubleshooting program but when
finished it said it couldn't display the
contents.

I reset the Updates to let me choose when
to install them. It changed because I kept
having a notification in the Action Center
to change my settings. So I finally clicked
on it and it changed it to Automatic updates
so I changed it back.

I then did a System Restore. I know you don't
believe in them but it never hurts.

I guess now we have to update the WD(2TB) but
for some reason the case isn't working with it
now whereas before it had been fine and I've
tried other ports on the 8500.

I guess we also need to make a Rescue.ISO disk
and a Mrimg file? for both the 8500 and 8200
computers and a fresh backup and whatever else
for the 1TB external Seagate HD I use for the
8200.

Just tell me how you want me to set things up
so this doesn't happen again.

Many Thanks,
Robert

BTW, I notice that my Avast Pro AV has
changed in the last day or so. Now it
doesn't have any update functions.It
has different scans but no updating
so I guess they are doing it automatically
now.

I almost forgot, I ran Avast scan after
everything came up and it did find a Pup
virus but was able to delete it. Now here's
the weird part; I just did a Malwarebytes
scan on the 8200 and it's infected with
Pup.Optional.ArcadeCandy.WnskRST

location HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRE...OT|NETWORK\VOTPrx

I removed it successfully and had to reboot the
computer. I then re-ran it to make sure it
was removed.

I'm now running scans on both computers.

Robert

Mark Twain wrote:
BTW, I notice that my Avast Pro AV has
changed in the last day or so. Now it
doesn't have any update functions.It
has different scans but no updating
so I guess they are doing it automatically
now.

I almost forgot, I ran Avast scan after
everything came up and it did find a Pup
virus but was able to delete it. Now here's
the weird part; I just did a Malwarebytes
scan on the 8200 and it's infected with
Pup.Optional.ArcadeCandy.WnskRST

location HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRE...OT|NETWORK\VOTPrx

I removed it successfully and had to reboot the
computer. I then re-ran it to make sure it
was removed.

I'm now running scans on both computers.

Robert

Before you transfer the 2TB drive contents
to the 1TB drive, you'd want some assurance
the 2TB drive is clean from a malware perspective.

When I do stuff like this, I would keep a copy
of the 1TB drive somewhere, for a short time. Not
because I was necessarily going to boot from it,
just so that if I forget to copy a file off it,
I would still have a copy. Making a backup of
the 1TB (J: partition) while the 2TB drive is booted,
is probably good enough. Picking a file name
that identifies the OS image as infected and
the files as "for emergency recovery" etc.
That's so you're not depending on that file
as a means to repair a computer.

Once you've secured the original 1TB contents you
want, you could clone back the 2TB drive OS partition
and System Reserved, if it has one. If the partitions
were too big for some reason, then you'd want to
adjust the size in Macrium.

With regard to making ISO files, didn't you prepare
a Macrium CD already ? Have you tested that the CD
is capable of booting both computers, or does it
just boot one of the computers ?

It's the usual recipe. Make sure something on the
computer is "clean" and build on that.

*******

I don't know what is going on with the enclosure. If I was
having problems of that type, I would either monitor the +12V with
a multimeter (inside the casing), or make up a small LED circuit
and connect it to the +12V as a means to monitor whether the
power was "going off" on the thing. The most unreliable part
of enclosures is the power adapter, followed by defective
cooling fans. I had one enclosure here, the fan lasted one
whole day, before it died. The controller boards have been
pretty good, and I haven't had a case where the controller
board seemed to be at fault.

I think overall, I've had pretty good luck with enclosures.
There was just one ugly incident, where using Seagate Seatools,
Seatools managed to erase the config data in the controller chip, and
it was an all-evening job tracing down a flash programmer to fix
it. After the repair, the enclosure is still working today. I
keep an optical drive in that one.

Paul

I'm not sure I'm following you. Why would I transfer
the outdated contents from the 2TBdrive to the 1TB
drive?

I thought that we would backup the 1TB to the 2TB
drive which is what I intended it for. Would not that
be a copy of the 1TB drive then?

Otherwise I'm not following how to make a copy of
the OS if that's what you mean? and cloning OS
Partitions and System Reserved ?? Your way over my
head. This may be basic for you but I'm having a hard
time following.

All I have is Rescue CD's and the Kaspersky CD.

Robert

Also, what do we do about the case and the 2TB
inability to connect fully? I could put the 2TB
inside the 8500 but then I loose my external HD
and I really don;t to hear the hard drive working
constantly.
I could buy another case for it but I find it
odd that it worked previously and it worked with
the Seagate 1TB HD so it should work?

Until I get some sort of connection with the 2TB
drive we really can't do anything with it. I do
have the Seagate 1TB drive I use for the 8200 and
the Patriot Key and a few others and also DVD's.

Robert

Mark Twain wrote:
I'm not sure I'm following you. Why would I transfer
the outdated contents from the 2TBdrive to the 1TB
drive?

I thought that we would backup the 1TB to the 2TB
drive which is what I intended it for. Would not that
be a copy of the 1TB drive then?

Otherwise I'm not following how to make a copy of
the OS if that's what you mean? and cloning OS
Partitions and System Reserved ?? Your way over my
head. This may be basic for you but I'm having a hard
time following.

All I have is Rescue CD's and the Kaspersky CD.

Robert

That's why I asked for a review of the malware
status and general stability. I thought the
1TB was pretty messed up right now ?

*******

It sounds like you're happy with the status quo
right now. Namely

1) 1TB OK. You would like to back it up.
You are currently booted from the 1TB drive.
It is perfectly fine, clean as a whistle.
Firefox works. Avast works.

2) The 2TB drive is inside the 8500, because the
enclosure is not working right.

3) The Macrium backup of the 1TB drive will go
to the E: partition of the 2TB drive.

*******

You can test the Macrium CD you made at any time.
When you quit the copy of Macrium on the CD,
the computer should reboot. And you can boot
the hard drive again right after that.

HTH,
Paul