[OU] Opera 9.6

[Ledgem]

If I remember correctly system restore only looks into the core operating system files. It's worth a try, I suppose, but I don't think it backs up any program files.

Peter: I've been using Opera since version 6 or 7 now and I don't think I've ever had an upgrade wipe my tabs, and certainly not my bookmarks. You can back up your bookmarks by going to the Bookmarks menu > Manage Bookmarks. On the window that opens, click on the "file" icon and select "export Opera bookmarks." For tabs, saving and/or exporting a session will save all current tabs that are open (I think it also works such that if you have two Opera windows open, each with different tabs open, then saving the session will save the tabs and windows such that when you open that session it will re-open each window with the tabs that were in it). If you use Opera for mail, I find it's easier to just back up the whole mail folder and not bother with exporting. In theory you could just back up your session and bookmark files as well, but... it can get messy.

The other advice that Opera didn't look in the correct place for your sessions and bookmarks sounds familiar. I do recall having to manually edit some of the Opera preferences to redirect it to look elsewhere for something; I think it was mail-related in my case. Going to Help > About Opera will show you where it's looking for your session and bookmarks. The good news is that if it's just looking in the wrong place, then all you have to do is either redirect it to your older directory, or overwrite the new files with your older files. Check in your C:\Program Files folder to see if there are two Opera folders (one might be "Opera" and the other "Opera6" if you've been using Opera for as long as I have or even longer). If you see those two, then Opera6 is probably the one that contains the files you want. Unfortunately I do not remember the exact file names and locations of the bookmarks and sessions files, but they're probably called "bookmarks" and "sessions."

Your most recent tabs might also be near the top of your History; that might also be something worth checking.

A final thought about losing tabs... it isn't always so bad. I usually feel like I'm at war with my tabs. They're open to remind me to do something with that website, but it's not really anything important enough to get me to do it. Accidentally losing all of my tabs and starting with a clean slate is slightly devastating at first, but then there's that sense of calm and freedom. If I couldn't remember what the tabs were, then maybe it's for the better that they're gone now :) That's a bit of "zen in the age of computers and data loss" for you!

(But I hope you can get your tabs and bookmarks back anyhow.)

David

On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:39:37 -0500, Webgenie <webgenie at fastmail.fm> wrote:

> How about doing a System Restore?  Then maybe you can save settings before upgrading again.
>
> Webgenie
>
> On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:56:02 -0800, Peter Ellis <peter.ellis at croatiapropertyservices.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi David
>>
>> Thanks for responding. I'm using XP Pro although I suspect it will be
>> the last MS operating system I buy.
>>
>> I've never consciously saved tabs, but whenever I close Opera and
>> whenever I upgraded, I always got an opening screen that had something
>> about resume as the default, so I always got everything back. I always
>> have dozens of tabs open for sites I use regularly. I've not dared to
>> use it since yesterday, in case touching it compromises getting
>> everything back. Had a look on manage sessions, but it is empty :-(
>>
>> Another machine asked me if I wanted to upgrade but I cancelled it. I
>> can't take chances with this sort of thing! Without the bookmarks, I
>> can't recover the tabs. They acted as an aide memoire and it will take
>> weeks to remember them all, as there was no other record for most of
>> them.
>>
>> I'm wondering whether the default had changed on the opening screen and,
>> not noticing, I clicked on Yes, as I always do. That would account for
>> the tabs, but not for the bookmarks all going.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Peter
>>
>> Ledgem wrote:
<snip>
>>
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