<unneeded backstory> Many years ago I had to reinstall Windows, so I went through the normal steps of backing up all of my data, checking to make sure my apps weren't store data in places where it doesn't belong (C:/Windows, C:/Program Files, etc.), and after a quick review I formatted the drive. Then I realized that the app that came with my first gen canon digital camera (this was while ago) had been storing every picture I had downloaded off of the device to an obscure location in Program Files. I had missed it, and I had deleted about three years of pictures. To this day I still have a passionate hatred for the canon programmers that thought storing user data in an obscure location in the Program Files directory was a good idea. </unneeded backstory> What we are doing (placing the profile in C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\) isn't nearly as bad, but I still wonder what percent of users are able to move their Firefox data off of a machine they are about to abandon, and how many forget to back this up because they simply don't know where it is. While not entirely standard (apps are in fact supposed to place their data in "Application Data") I wonder if it would be a better approach to: -Always store the user's profile in My Documents/Firefox -Wrap the profile into a single file so that it's contents can't be inspected by the user -Give the profile file a custom icon -Give the profile file a reasonable file name -If the user double clicks on a profile file, it opens Firefox with that profile -If the user moves the file, Firefox asks the user where they placed it on open This would obviously require a number of significant changes to how we currently deal with profiles, but overall I think it puts users in considerably more control, and gives them piece of mind that their live on the Web can be easily backed up along with the rest of their important data.

> -Always store the user's profile in My Documents/Firefox Please don't pollute personal user folders. Too many applications do that already. Nobody enjoys sifting through tons of cryptic application data to get to their documents. The problem is that Firefox offers no way to backup and restore one's data apart from bookmarks, not that said data isn't dumped in a personal folder so the user will constantly be aware it's there. > -Wrap the profile into a single file so that it's contents can't be inspected by the user I don't see how it would be easier to back things up when you can't even tell what they are. I suppose a good compromise would be to put the whole profile folder in a ZIP archive with a unique extension. Then savvy users who need to tinker with their profiles wouldn't be hung out to dry, and everyone else wouldn't be able to mess with theirs. But wouldn't there be performance considerations, having to work with an archive rather than plain files? The logical thing to do would be to extend the export feature from bookmarks to every component of a profile. * Chrome can import a variety of Firefox data, including passwords. Conversely, Firefox can't even import its own bookmarks from the Import screen. * Safari can be reset to factory defaults. Being able to import previously saved data would be more useful. * Internet Explorer allows exporting favorites, feeds and cookies. * Opera allows exporting bookmarks, feeds and contacts. Ideally, the improved import/export screen would closely resemble this (see attachment). Since the meaning of every item isn't obvious to everyone, perhaps each component could have a single line below it providing a brief description, e.g. "Cookies often store your settings for a website, such as your preferred language or location."

This bug is filed in a bugzilla component related to pre-Firefox code which no longer exists. I believe it is no longer relevant and I am therefore closing it INCOMPLETE. If you believe that this bug is still valid and needs to be fixed, please reopen it and move it to the Toolkit:Startup and Profile System product/component.