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Will do.
Install done & working well (touch wood). Backups restored too.

Success ! !!! 

Transcript of terminal session ( having cd  'ed to home/etc ):

[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j***/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ cp -a bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4 /media/j***/E6687FC2687F9053/
cp: cannot open 'bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4' for reading: Permission denied
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j***/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ sudo -i
[email protected]:~# cp -a bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4 /media/j***/E6687FC2687F9053/
cp: cannot stat 'bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4': No such file or directory
[email protected]:~# cd home/j***/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups
-bash: cd: home/j***/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups: No such file or directory
[email protected]:~# exit
logout
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j***/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ sudo cp -a bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4 /media/j***/E6687FC2687F9053/
cp: cannot create regular file '/media/j***/E6687FC2687F9053/': No such file or directory
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j***/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ df | grep media
/dev/sda1      472443160 80913728 367507672  19% /media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03
/dev/sdc1      156288320 64940580  91347740  42% /media/ubuntu/E6687FC2687F9053
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j***/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ sudo cp -a bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4 /media/ubuntu/E6687FC2687F9053
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j***/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$
{ I checked in the external HDD & it was there!}

So going to root didn't work but using sudo did - once I'd got the destination drive's full address correct using df | grep media that you told me of in my other thread. ( I've even found where the ' | ' key is on the US keyboard layout ). Sure helps to have some juice in the mental energy dept!

Few - at last. I bet you're glad too. Don't have to deal with me anymore

THANK YOU.  Now I can start looking at installing Ubuntu permanently.  (Will I need to start another thread ?! )

I can get wireless connection OK but it looks like I have to create a new firefox/mozilla account after every shut down. If I just close the laptop's lid (for suspend?) as I used to do then it starts again without a boot fine & I can connect direct to firefox as normal, so I'm leaving it like that for the mo.
I've also had some problems with the live USB mounting & unmounting as a normal USB stick/drive. Applications, like libreoffice, will not work when it's like this & it does not shut down properly & I have to ctrl-alt-del to restart then shut down again. Works OK on reboot. Only started doing this once I logged into terminal as root.

None of anything we set out to do seems to work. I've been at it now near 2hrs & I'm just too tired to do any more or explain things. I'll try again tomorrow & let you know then.

"Not sure why, if you are using the Live USB on the suspect PC, you can't use Firefox and log in to this forum and paste the terminal output."  I originally didn't want to connect to the net using the live USB on the sus.laptop as I knew I'd just have keep connecting to the router & entering the password every time switched on with the same for any forums etc log ins . Then just didn't occur to me to do that for the terminal readout (as connecting had previously been ruled out & was thus a 'sorted' action. Brief insight into my autistic logic there).

For completeness here's the readout from sudo ls -l (not that different to the ls result.) :

[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03$ cd home/jango/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/jango/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ sudo ls -l
total 1784
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 116863 May 25 01:04 'bookmarks-2020-05-25_968_dI0wKDWyFtKLve+EFx1z6Q==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 118019 May 27 23:25 'bookmarks-2020-05-28_979_zoqkQJfBSJ5OTecq8txQdA==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 118418 May 31 16:58 'bookmarks-2020-06-02_981_82lYgTlMNEjKdpX5gNacLg==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 118594 Jun  4 16:32 'bookmarks-2020-06-04_983_PG16mZJoP1KetEaOF-9+Xw==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 119797 Jun  6 13:06 'bookmarks-2020-06-06_990_CVOuOfDKk-Tshy0GMPbeXA==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 120236 Jun  7 09:12 'bookmarks-2020-06-07_994_X2lilIXHr0I-H8HGBuoKEg==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 120532 Jun  7 23:46 'bookmarks-2020-06-08_997_RMLfdoTjjsI9G2JS6ZJLtg==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 120772 Jun 10 11:14 'bookmarks-2020-06-10_1000_Swk9SKNq8rvhOTEgb80xSA==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 121093 Jun 11 16:36 'bookmarks-2020-06-11_1003_knGrBDE4vOjzHZIFKVo99w==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 121351 Jun 12 23:18 'bookmarks-2020-06-13_1005_PvyG9eaQwtiIpIDL0Jyyig==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 121482 Jun 14 22:31 'bookmarks-2020-06-14_1007_caLhS-v8SNpzEREjYsmD9w==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 121612 Jun 14 23:00 'bookmarks-2020-06-15_1008_T4CZSjBnNJEUdF3QUwR9zg==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 121912 Jun 18 17:06 'bookmarks-2020-06-25_1009_IXv9CuTmNW7EdYkXzCX58g==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 122347 Jun 27 23:40 'bookmarks-2020-06-28_1012_6JVT-y65HO6LuCt1s8uqgw==.jsonlz4'
-rw------- 1 1000 1000 122596 Jun 29 15:51 'bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4'
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/jango/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$


Just checking here - to back this up directly to my external HDD, having got to the bookmarkbackups directory, my command should be :

cp 'bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4'/media/<media user name>/<numbers-letters-drivename>

(bookmarks file retains the '   ' marks ?)

or should I be using the rsync command to mentioned in my other thread?

Not mentioned Thunderbird so far, but as I have never used it I don't think this is a problem. (I intend to start using it once all this is sorted.)
I did mention YouTube subscriptions though. Anything I might need to/can do about that ?

  Hehe....  Should not step 2. start cd home/<username>/... ? What you put didn't work until I added that. Sudo ls l did not return a prompt for my password, just said "ls: cannot access 'l': No such file or directory". ls on it's own did give results but I don't think this is anything more than previously.

I can't copy & paste terminal output directly here as that's on my other laptop. I had to save it as an odt file, copy to my ext.HDD then copy/paste it here.
Here it is:

[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03$ cd .mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups
bash: cd: .mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups: No such file or directory
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03$ cd .mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups.
bash: cd: .mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups.: No such file or directory
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03$ cd .mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups/
bash: cd: .mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups/: No such file or directory
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03$ cd home/j**/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j**/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ sudo ls l
ls: cannot access 'l': No such file or directory
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j**/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ sudo ls
'bookmarks-2020-05-25_968_dI0wKDWyFtKLve+EFx1z6Q==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-05-28_979_zoqkQJfBSJ5OTecq8txQdA==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-02_981_82lYgTlMNEjKdpX5gNacLg==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-04_983_PG16mZJoP1KetEaOF-9+Xw==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-06_990_CVOuOfDKk-Tshy0GMPbeXA==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-07_994_X2lilIXHr0I-H8HGBuoKEg==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-08_997_RMLfdoTjjsI9G2JS6ZJLtg==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-10_1000_Swk9SKNq8rvhOTEgb80xSA==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-11_1003_knGrBDE4vOjzHZIFKVo99w==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-13_1005_PvyG9eaQwtiIpIDL0Jyyig==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-14_1007_caLhS-v8SNpzEREjYsmD9w==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-15_1008_T4CZSjBnNJEUdF3QUwR9zg==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-25_1009_IXv9CuTmNW7EdYkXzCX58g==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-28_1012_6JVT-y65HO6LuCt1s8uqgw==.jsonlz4'
'bookmarks-2020-06-29_1014_5Wg+Gtu9QUIDsPtNSEhl8Q==.jsonlz4'
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j**/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$ sudo ls l
ls: cannot access 'l': No such file or directory
[email protected]:/media/ubuntu/397b4fb2-bd3f-4194-be8c-04f46057dc03/home/j**/.mozilla/firefox/ntrc3s4e.default/bookmarkbackups$

Like this? (if I've got how to attach picture that is.)

No worries. At least you're trying to help - & getting there eventually 

Ctrl+H works... but it doesn't help.

Having found said Bookmarkbackup files as you instruct - they all have that nasty little 'x' on them. If I try to copy I get: Error while copying . And if I look at the details I get: Error opening file backup...etc  : permission denied.

If I got to file properties to change permission I get: you are not the owner, so you can not changes these permissions.

End of the road here ?

Hmmm...
I was looking for the .mozilla directory before & couldn't find it. Using the icon route of the live USB default desktop does not display such a directory in home/<username> only the directories that used be 'mine' if you get me. These were also the only directories that displayed in 'home' when the OS/GUI was working, though occasionally these would not be displayed & would have, what I would call, system directories instead.

Whatever, there is no .mozilla directory showing in my 'home' folder now. There is one in usr/share but that only contains 'extensions' which itself is empty.

I have managed to open that drive in terminal and ls home/<username> but the same old directories are listed as per the icon route.

The only other directory (besides home) that has a <username> sub-directory is 'media'. Unfortunately this has a little box with 'x' in it (as does the 'root' directory)
& clicking that open shows 'empty' (as does 'root'). This is the same little 'x' symbol that was on the files I couldn't back up & I'm assuming it means I'm being denied access. When these type didn't copy I was dialoged along the lines that 'I wasn't the owner & didn't have permission'.

I get this sort of thing a lot when computers go wrong on me. Real puzzling.

P.S. Firefox regularly used to interrupt my web browsing claiming to have updated & would have to restart it to continue. I assume that this means it was a recent version.

Hi again,

This relates to my other thread about my LinuxLite OS corrupting & only being able to get to command line on boot. I'm going to have to install a new OS.
I'm starting a new thread because it's a specific question about browser 'bookmark' back ups. (NB I'm writing this on my spare/backup laptop.)

I've been able to back up my home directory files and am about ready to install Ubuntu 18 but I can't find out how to backup my Firefox "bookmarks" or indeed find where they might be on the drive (if at all).  I've looked on-line but all I can find is how to migrate them or back them up from the browser itself &, of course, can't do that because I can't launch the browser as I can't boot to the GUI.

As I'll be using the same hardware will Firefox still recognize that laptop as the same one & still show all my old 'bookmarks' ? Or will having a new OS prevent that?
If the latter am just going to have suck-it-up as a lost cause?

Finally - will I be in a similar position regarding YouTube notifications / followed channels etc. ?

Just finish up the story. I have now accessed & backed up my home files .  I'm opting for Ubuntu 18.04. This is based almost entirely on the support/popularity as many a time while seeking solutions or instructions for LinuxLite the info I've come across relates to Ubuntu distros. Working from the live USB it also seems quite usable for me. Thanks yo all for your suggestions.

P.S. last question on this. Would it be easy to switch between the default desktop & 'classic view', so that I could try each out ?

Quick update.  I did buy one for £7.15 (inc p&p) for Ubuntu 18.04. No issues with it at all.  I based my choice of vendor on the fact he was very upfront in his listing that all Linux is free to download from the net & that what you were paying for was a USB stick (8gb branded 'Verbatim') his time in putting it on there & the postage. Also came with CD with instructions & the (old?) Linux manual, both of which look like useful ref's. So for me this was a good, low stress, option.

Hurrah ! All my home directory/folder files back up to external drive. One or two things didn't copy - they had little padlock symbols on but they weren't important things or old stuff I've other copies of. Just a couple of final things to try to do before Ubuntu install but I'll ask in a new post.

Thank you for helping me out here. Much appreciated. 

Just checked. Ctrl+T gives no result (I was doing it right). Looking for keyboard map with windows-key + space gives no result (of anything). Windows key on it's own comes up with a search option, in which I found out the terminal short cut is Ctrl+alt+T which works.

I also found the keyboard is set as US not UK. The required " | " key is on a separate key that occupies the space where the upper half of the UK's enter/return key lives so Funk knows where it now is on mine. I'll try & track it down* but as copy/paste is working OK & I find that easy (& the folder dates are copying) I think I'll go with that. Not sure I'm copying a directory. 'Home'  displays as a folder & clicking on that displays the sub-folders as if I was working normally on desktop.

I also noted some other short cuts with 'super' as a key. Is that the 'windows key'?

As for needing 'explicit' instructions - that's my Autism getting in the way. Literal is my middle name.

*Just thought I'll need to change this (& now know how to) once I've installed. I tried to do it with the live session but was dialogued I'd need to exit the session & restart for it to take effect & of course that would reset any changes to default.

Just been having a go at backing up my files to the external HDD I have. Here's what happened.

a) There is no 'file manager' in the left hand menu (or anywhere else I can find). There is a 'Files' folder that contains '+ other locations'. This doesn't give stuff like "/dev/sda1" but drive icons instead. I was able to access the correct drive & find the drive files inc. "home" but these are folder/desktop type icons.

b) Cntl+T does nothing. I can only get a terminal from the applications selection (which I did).

c) I can not select the " | " symbol.  Shift+\ types > . Cntl+\ types < . Just pressing the |\ key also types <. So <df> and any combination of what follows doesn't work.  The /<> keys work normally with/out Shift.
I have a path name for the external HDD on this laptop from the 'title bar' (don't know what else to call it). Along the lines /media/<user>/<xyz numbers>/. Would that work?

d) I can just plain copy file/folders in the usual copy/paste manner between drives. These are readable when the external HDD is plugged into this laptop. How important is the metadata?

(finally - using the live USB for this is slower than normal. No big deal )

Thanks. Not sure if I've time left today to try. Should have tomorrow at any rate. Fingers crossed.