howto: backup ie favorites (bookmarks)

In my last post, howto: future-proof your user data when switching, I explained how I keep my data on a separate logical drive.
One thing you'll miss dearly if your computer ever has a problem (and you lose your C drive) is your bookmarks. Firefox has backup and restore mechanisms integrated, making it easy to back up your bookmarks. But even while Microsoft grimaces, most of the business world still uses Internet Explorer 6. Here's some code you can implement to keep a reliable backup of your IE favorites:

/S /Q D:\Data\BookmarksBackup
mkdir D:\Data\BookmarksBackup
c:
cd C:\Documents and Settings\your_windows_username\
xcopy Favorites D:\Data\BookmarksBackup\ /Y /E
exit

First, you need to ensure you can see file extensions in Windows Explorer. To do this, open it, then select Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> and untick the box for "Hide extensions for known file types."

Next, place the text into your favorite text editor (I usually use Notepad for something like this) and save it on your D drive. Once saved, open Windows Explorer and change the file extension to .bat (batch file).




In the Windows Control Panel, find the Scheduled Tasks application. Select Add Scheduled Task -> Next -> Browse (and locate the file) -> select how often you'd like to backup the bookmarks (I selected Daily) -> select what time you'd like this to run each day (choose a time when the computer is typically on) -> enter your Windows password -> Finish.
Now you have a scheduled task which will backup your latest bookmarks for you as often as you'd like.

filed under: internet explorer, backup