Firefox Sync and Settings

[alanbjames]

Ive been using firefox sync now for a while and all has been well.

I upgraded PC to Windows 8.1 from 7 a few weeks ago and as usual used sync and it put all my links and so on back as it should, but interestingly it doesnt backup any of the changes u make to firefox yourself under the about:config tab as i thought it would have done under the fact it backs up preferences.

The only reason i have just found this out was i was having problems with youtube videos stuttering and one of the causes can be firefox's cache being to small at the default 350mb. When i went and looked in the settings, all of the settings i usually add or change are not there or have been done.

[mart44]

The question made me research just what Firefox does sync and by default, it doesn't sync all settings that are in 'about:config'. It's necessary to work on the 'about:config' lines that you want to synchronise. Here's an article about that:

http://exde601e.blogspot.co.uk/2012/...refox-and.html (WOT rates this link 'green')

I also read that you can back up the 'prefs.js' file from the old installation (the about:config preferences are stored here) and use it to overwrite the file in the new installation. That sounds easy but I wonder if it would make the new installation exactly the same as the old.

I suppose since installing Firefox again might be a one-off operation, it perhaps isn't too much trouble to set up again those preferences that haven't been synchronised? Personally, I only back up the bookmarks for use in a new Profile or when installing Firefox on another computer. Extensions get reinstalled and preferences are set manually. Everything is new then (apart from importing the bookmarks) and it usually doesn't take too long to do.

[joglynne]

I realise that this is slighty off topic as I doubt it saves your about:config preferences but, just in case it is of any use to members, I thought I would add that I use mozbackup which I find to be very simple to use to transfer a full profile or just one section of the profile. The latest version is 1.5.1 and you can see it in use in the following link.

https://billmullins.wordpress.com/20...ith-mozbackup/

[alanbjames]

Thanks i will give it a try.