One of the mishaps we all experience at some point is customizing a favorite program, only to have some unpredictable failure set in. Fear not as there are two free utilities that can backup Mozilla Firefox bookmarks, preferences, extensions, cookies and more. (Includes 4 minute flash tutorial.)

Most of us are getting better about backing up critical files, but sometimes we overlook the obvious. A case in point is all the settings you’ve made for Mozilla Firefox. This is especially true if you’re one of those people who have taken advantage of extensions. There are just certain ones you can’t do without.

Think about it. How long would it take you to reinstall your:

• Firefox extensions
• Firefox cookies
• Firefox preferences
• Firefox profile

By the time you come up with a good guess, FEBE and CLEO could’ve restored the files. These are two extensions developed by Chuck Baker which make backing up or transferring your settings easy. Although each browser extension can stand on its own, they work better together.

FEBE – Firefox Extension Backup Extension

I know the heading sounds redundant, but it’s not. The extension is designed to backup and restore all your Firefox extensions. As you can see from the screen snap below, the extension does more than backing up extensions. You can elect to backup everything from bookmarks for form fill history.

Aside from checking your browser backup items, you need to provide some directory options such as folder location. Since I do a lot of testing, I appreciate the option to timestamp the directory.

The advantage of having the files saved in a separate directory is clear if you ever need to do a restore. Rather than remembering where the original files are located such as your browser’s bookmarks, you simply point to the backup directory. Everything is contained in that folder.

CLEO –Compact Library Extension Organizer

CLEO is another tool which compliments FEBE. The idea behind this Firefox Extension is to create one package that you can use to install many extensions. The package is saved as a XPI file which is what Firefox uses to install extensions.

This is handy if you want to set up a new computer and quickly add your favorite extensions which probably you backed up using FEBE. No longer to do you need to add them one by one. The installer takes care of all the grunt work.

You might also find this tool handy if you want to share a package of your favorite extensions with co-workers, family or friends. Just give them the XPI file.

One drawback to the extension is it only installs your extensions. If you’re setting up a new system you will have put the other files that FEBE backed up on the new machine.

In our testing we were pleased with this combination. We could easily restore items or transfer a package from one Windows machine to another. The one area we did run into an issue was the progress bar on FEBE. About 30 seconds into the backup, it would freeze such that you thought the program stopped. Several minutes later, we would see our FEBE report and knew all was well.

If you’ve spent any time accumulating extensions, bookmark or cookies, we would recommend you check out these tools. The time it will take you to set them up is minimal. You have no reason to wait.

Additional Resources

• Cost: Free
• Requires: Firefox 1.5 and Windows XP
• Versions Reviewed: FEBE 3.0 and CLEO 1.0
• Combo Download Page
• 4 Minute Flash Demo – FEBE and CLEO

Related Articles

• Introduction to Firefox Preferences
• How to Find and Install Firefox Extensions