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Import old passwords

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My old computer mother board crashed. They backed up all my files and I have them on the hard drive of a new computer. I can see the key3 and logon files in the oldhd folder, can I just copy them over, to get the passwords or is there another process to update my passwords?

My old computer mother board crashed. They backed up all my files and I have them on the hard drive of a new computer. I can see the key3 and logon files in the oldhd folder, can I just copy them over, to get the passwords or is there another process to update my passwords?

Isisombulu esikhethiweyo

Oh, yes, the destination. Open your currently active Firefox profile folder from inside Firefox using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, click the "Show Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
  • (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then in the Windows Explorer window, you can replace the newer key3db and logins.json files with your older ones.

Start Firefox back up again and... are the passwords there?

Funda le mpendulo kwimeko leyo 👍 1

All Replies (6)

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Try copying them over in place of the new ones (while Firefox is closed).

(There is no built-in export/import feature for passwords, but there is an extension you can use... if your old Firefox was still up and running. https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/ad.../password-exporter/)

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Note: By default, Windows hides the .db and various other file extensions. To ensure that you are working with the files named in support articles, you may want to turn off that feature. This article has the steps: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hide-file-name-extensions

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Also, your Firefox identified itself to the forum as version 43.0.1. Mozilla discloses security flaws after each new release. Is something holding you back from upgrading to Firefox 45.0.2? Please let us know so we can suggest solutions or workarounds. Or you can update now using the steps in this article: Update Firefox to the latest release.

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I am sorry but what are the files that I should look for? Then if I understand you correctly - after I find them, then exit firefox and copy the files into the folder. Again can you please share the files I am looking for on the old hard drive that would contain the passwords.

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Isisombululo esiKhethiweyo

Oh, yes, the destination. Open your currently active Firefox profile folder from inside Firefox using either

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter

In the first table on the page, click the "Show Folder" button. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows Explorer.

Leaving that window open, switch back to Firefox and Exit, either:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "power" button
  • (menu bar) File > Exit

Pause while Firefox finishes its cleanup, then in the Windows Explorer window, you can replace the newer key3db and logins.json files with your older ones.

Start Firefox back up again and... are the passwords there?

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And the source: I thought you said you found those?

If you are having trouble drilling down, make sure Windows is set to show hidden files and folders:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files

Then you can open the old folder and search for key3.db if you think there might be more than one old profile folder.