Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
December 25, 2005

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Volume 1, Number 28 -- Sunday, December 25, 2005
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

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4.  Backing Up Your Firefox Bookmarks

Reader Frank Lid wrote to ask:

Terry,
Do you know how I can back up my foxfire bookmarks? I used Firefox some time ago, and had a problem with it which required a reload, thereby wiping out my bookmarks....I would like to back them up, but can't find a "favorites" file like IE has.

Thanks,
Frank

Quick answer, Frank. They are all in one file, which you can even open with your web browser. That makes it easy to back up the Firefox bookmarks. It also makes it very easy to take a copy of them with you -- on a floppy disk, a CDROM or a USB Flash Drive, or on any type of memory card (Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SD/MMC card, etc) if you have a card reader to take along.

The file is located in the Documents and Settings directory, here: C:\Documents and Settings\[userID]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[userprofile]\bookmarks.html . "userID" is your userID on the computer.

Unfortunately, with Windows default settings (Win95/98/Me/2000/XP), the "Application Data" directory is one of the "hidden" directories. If you haven't already told Windows to show the hidden files and directories, you need to make that change.

"userprofile" is a profile name that Firefox created for you when you ran it the first time. If you see several profiles, just back up one directory (to the "Firefox" directory) and double-click on the file profiles.ini — it will open in a text editor (probably Notepad), and you can read which profile is the current one.

I detailed the steps to unhide the hidden files and directories in my November 14th newsletter.

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5.  Comments From Readers

Last week, Chris Cummings had this to say from the U.K.:

Hi Terry

Great newsletter (still). Loved the 'birthday calculator' link in your last issue. Had some good fun with it, both my wife and kids enjoyed it too. Keep up the excellent work. Will understand if you can't reply to me in person. All the best for the coming festive season.
Take care
Chris (U.K.).

Thanks for the feedback, Chris -- and, yes, I also responded directly to you. Happy holidays to you, too!

Reader Bill Depierri had this to say:

Terry:

I found the following item [editor: Woody's Email Essentials #3.23] discussing SMTP Mail while on the road very interesting. I thought you might like to take a look at it for your “Tips” or the Clickers Newsletter.

By the way, the “Speed Up” tips in your current newsletter are very good. Many thanks.

Bill DePierri

Thanks, Bill. I won't try to relate the same comments as in the Woody's newsletter, though. I'm sure everyone who has taken their home notebook to a hotel has found that they had trouble sending email. Their usual ISP will refuse to handle the outbound mail — because they are not connected directly to the ISP, they are connecting over the Internet to the ISP — just as a spammer would try to do.

I actually have two solutions for sending emails when I am travelling. If I am connected via a high-speed connection (typically a hotel's wireless connection), I can send my emails outbound through by SMTP server at my web host Powweb. Of course, this is locked down pretty tightly, too, but has a significant validation process -- in fact, from home, I send most of my emails via my web host mail account.

My other solution a very cheap dialup account for travel. Whether I am at my mother's or at a hotel, I can use my "20 hours for $9.95 good for 1 year" account at BudgetDialup.com to access the web and send and receive email. In my August 29th newsletter, I wrote about accessing the Internet while traveling.

Sam Boggs wrote back to say:

Terry: Your explanation in your newsletter about selecting the MIDI button was exactly what I needed. I can now hear the music that comes with the e-mail.
Thanks for the help.
Sam

Clif wrote to say:

Hi Terry,

First, let me thank you again for mentioning my newsletter. I have gotten at least 30 subscribers from you.
Now on to business ...

I enjoyed reading how to make Firefox play midi files. I've never had the problem described because I had assigned midi's to be played by an alternative program to QuickTime. Not surprisingly, the program is called QuickTime Alternative. You can see an old review of it here. http://snipurl.com/quicktime_alternativ

This time I'll mention the price. It's free!

Have fun!

Clif
http://clifnotes.net & http://clifnotes.tk
Devoted to promoting Freeware and Free Information

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6.  Freeware Picks of the Week

Reader Larry Braud found these programs and sent me a link to the site.

Website: ornj.net
Developer: Mark McIntyre
Program 1: Web Album Generator — a photo-album creator
Program 2: Araneae — an HTML source-code editor

Web Album Generator

• Create your own photo album for the web
• Organize and title each photograph
• Automatically resize images and create thumbnail galleries

Araneae

• Author websites by hand
• Take control of your own code
• Read and write complex HTML easily with syntax highlighting

Both programs are freeware and the author even has a forum for user-to-user support. Donations are encouraged and accepted, but not required.

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Continued in Part 3

Volume 1, Number 28 -- Sunday, December 25, 2005
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Copyright © 2005 Terry A. Stockdale.  All rights reserved.