April 18, 2005

Curious George: Opera Help! This morning I was browsing Mefi and Mofi when my computer crashed (which it often does in the early morning, coldness I guess). When the computer started back up, I reopened my browser, which is Opera. When I went to my favorite places to reload Mefi/Mofi I found that all my links were gone... all of them! Do any monkey know what to do, or how this problem came about. Can I prevent this from happening in the future, and more importantly, can I get my links back?
posted by LoopyG 19 years ago
  • Loopyg.. some more details perhaps? Mac, PC? Operating system? However, I would guess that, if you haven't backed up your bookmark file someplace, and you've reopened the browser and quit normally, there probably isn't much you can do, no matter what kind of computer you have. Back up, always... Your bookmarks, and your e/mail address book...(and messages)..a lot of people forget these items cuz they aren't typically located in your "document" folder..
  • Opera 7 apparently stores bookmarks (links) in a file in your profile directory. On my computer this lives in C:\Documents and Settings\(user name)\Application Data\Opera\Opera7\profile The "Application Data" folder is hidden by default. (I think this is dumb because every sort of crash like this forces you to find this folder and copy or change something, but I digress.) You may need to unhide the folder to see this, or if you have the address bar up you can just type in the name of the directory to unhide it temporarily. The file is "Opera6.adr", and there is apparently a backup file named "Opera6.adr.bak". If you have file extensions turned off (another silly thing to do, in my opinion) you won't see the .adr or the .bak so make certain you are futzing with the correct one before doing anything. Check the original file by opening it into a text editor (Easiest way to do this is to open Notepad, then drag the file into the Notepad window to open it). Make sure it's what you want. If it is, Opera might have just made a new profile, but you haven't lost anything. If it isn't what you want, open the backup file. If this is your old bookmarks, then save the file as "Opera6.adr". Again (if file extensions are hidden) make sure you are overwriting it and not saving the file as a text file, which is what Notepad seems to want to do by default. (You'll get Opera6.adr.txt that way.) If it doesn't ask for permission to overwrite the old file then turn off file extension hiding (Tools-->Folder Options-->View--> then uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types") and try again. Hope this helps. At any rate, it's not a bad idea to start periodically backing up your profile directory.
  • Oh: If Mac, um, about 90% of the above may not apply. Good luck.
  • You might consider using del.icio.us or Furl or some such as well, as a backup. That way you can access your bookmarks from any computer, as well.
  • A quick search for opera lost bookmarks shows up lots of suggestions. I would start at Opera's own article on the subject. Good luck!
  • On a some-what related side note, my crap iMac at home refuses to operate under cool temperatures. I usually have to take the blow dryer to it for a few minutes before it behaves properly. Otherwise, it will act erratically and tend to crash a lot. Everytime I'm standing there pumping hot air into the air vents, I just have to laugh... so this is what it's come to! What MCT said...
  • I had the same thing happen to me today using Firefox. :(
  • Firefox stores the bookmark file in a similar location, Bobsled. Chances are it still exists in your profile folder.
  • damn, and I thought this was going to be asking for help with a libretto, or supertitles, or if opera glasses really do make you look silly. oh well. Good luck recovering your links!
  • Huh. When Firefox pulled this on me - XP Home - I just did a system restore, and everything was as good as new.
  • Firefox (and Mozilla before that) has crashed on me zillions of times, but I don't remember ever losing my bookmarks. ("Losing" files may be one of those Windows-y features that you all like to pay Microsoft for.)
  • Re. del.icio.us, maybe someone can help: I like the concept but is there a plugin of some sort (for firefox, opera) to automatically import the delicious bookmarks into the built-in system? I have a firefox plugin, but I'd like full integration with firefox' own list. Possible?
  • Well, I was late for class/work, so didn't have time to go browse through and find backup files. It appears that once I closed Opera and powered down my computer, the old backup file got replaced with a fresh copy... the copy containing NO LINKS! So my 300+ links are now gone. I don't really miss about 2/3 of them,and of the 100 or so that I did need, I can reclaim more than half, but its those 30 or 40 links to things which I will forget even exist, things I will forget that were useful (like tab to some songs, links to good places to find Celtic sheet music, and obscure things) are going to be sorely missed. Perhaps now I'll make Firefox my main browser, and say Screw You to Opera...
  • Sure, LoopyG. As much as I like Opera's support for standards, I've never been an Opera user aside for testing websites on it. I mean, you don't have to pay FireFox to make it not show you advertising.