Software Overview: FEBE

This is an overview of the Firefox browser extension called “Firefox Environment Backup Extension or FEBE.

What it FEBE?

FEBE is a plugin, or extension to Firefox that allows you to backup all or parts of your environment.

Features of FEBE

FEBE can backup the following:

• extensions
• themes
• bookmarks
• preferences
• cookies
• usernames and passwords
• phishing data
• browser history
• form fill history
• permissions
• user-defined backups (file you specify outside of the above list

FEBE can also automatically backup selected items at given times, or remind you to backup.

Where to get FEBE

FEBE is available from the developer, or it can be downloaded from the Firefox addins site.

Why use FEBE?

I am all in favor of backing up whatever I can, especially if it is easy and can be scheduled. Backing up bookmarks has made it easy for me to keep my “Read It Later” bookmarks in sync between work and home, and allowed me to quickly synchronize extensions between the two environments.

How FEBE Saved My Sanity

About two weeks ago, my work computer decided to get flaky. After many solutions, I was instructed to slick the hard drive, reformat, and load everything again. FEBE allowed me to save my working environment in a way that meant I was not going to spend time reconfiguring my browser.

Too bad the rest of the reload wasn’t as painless…