Opera FAQs, Tips, Tricks & Tweaks

Opera Launcher was created using AutoHotkey. It can

• create daily backup of bookmarks, notes & sessions with date stamp. Bookmarks & notes backups will be created in profile\backups directory.
• disable crash startup dialog.
• delete quick find search histories.
• empty Temporary Download Directory (not Cache Directory).
• send keystrokes after starting Opera.
• remove Opera title bar.
• restart Opera.
• change Speed Dial background image automatically.

Download (size < 210 KB), unzip, place OperaLauncher.exe inside Opera installation directory, C:\Program Files\Opera and run it to launch Opera. The following settings dialog will be shown when you run it first time.

Opera Launcher settings dialog

Keystrokes
Keystrokes can be used to perform an action after starting Opera. ^=Ctrl, !=Alt and +=Shift

Examples:

Action	Keyboard Shortcut	Keystrokes
Enter fullscreen	F11	{F11}
Hide Opera	Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H	^!+h
New tab	Ctrl+T	^t
Minimize Opera	Alt+Space+N	!{Space}n

Restart
Use Restart Opera button^! or create new keyboard shortcut/mouse gesture in application section with the following action.

Execute program, "C:\Program Files\Opera\OperaLauncher.exe", "/ro"

^! If your path to OperaLauncher.exe is different change it in toolbar configuration file after closing Opera.

Restore bookmarks/notes
To restore previous version of bookmarks/notes file, close Opera, move previous version of opera6*.adr/notes*.adr from profile\backups directory to profile directory and rename it to opera6.adr/notes.adr.

Changelog

Date	Changes
Oct 24, 2009	Option to change Speed Dial background image automatically. Added help button.
Jul 23, 2009	Option to hide Opera title bar. Thanks to lunigma. Opera restart.
May 11, 2009	Updated for Opera 10.00 Alpha Build 1413. Performance improvements. Tray icon balloon error message. Transparent icon.
Feb 23, 2009	Option to delete old backup files. To disable, set it to 0. Sessions backup will be created every time Opera starts.
Feb 10, 2009	Didn't empty temporary download directory in non-English versions of Windows. Fixed.
Feb 8, 2009	Command line parameters passed to Opera. Thanks to itcpeter. Updated for Opera 10.00 Alpha Build 1139. Opera Launcher can be placed anywhere, but path to Opera Installation Directory should be added in OperaLauncher.ini file.
Jan 8, 2009	Option to send keystrokes.
Nov 26, 2008	Option to empty temporary download directory.
Nov 23, 2008	Initial release.

Linux
Windows

Linux

Create a file opera-backup.sh in your home, add the following and set Execute permission.

#!/bin/bash -
# Opera backup using WinRAR command line
#
# To restore files from backup use the following commands
# cd ~
# unrar x <path-to-archive>
# Example : unrar x /backup/opera-backup-061010-144215.rar
#
echo -e "\nOpera backup using WinRAR command line\n"
cd ~
rar a -hppassword -m5 -r -agYYMMDD-HHMMSS opera-backup- @opera-backup.lst
sleep 5
exit 0

See WinRAR command line switches explanation below.

Create a file opera-backup.lst in your home, add the following and make sure the paths are correct. If you don't want to backup a particular directory or file, add // before that line. Directories (skin, userjs) and files (download.dat, global.dat, vlink4.dat) are disabled by default.

// Opera backup using WinRAR command line
// Remove '//' before file path to archive that directory or file
//
// Directories to backup
.opera/dictionaries/ // Dictionaries
.opera/icons/ // Favicons
.opera/keyboard/ // Keyboard configuration
.opera/mail/ // Mail
.opera/menu/ // Menu configuration
.opera/mouse/ // Mouse configuration
.opera/plugins/ // Plug-ins
.opera/sessions/ // Sessions
.opera/styles/ // Styles
//.opera/thumbnails/ // Speed Dial thumbnails
.opera/toolbar/ // Toolbar configuration
//.opera/skin/ // Skin
.opera/toolbar/ // Toolbar configuration
//.opera/userjs/ // UserJS files
.opera/widgets/ // Widgets
// Files to backup
.opera/bookmarks.adr // Bookmarks
.opera/cookies4.dat // Cookies
.opera/contacts.adr // Contacts for e-mail & instant messaging
//.opera/download.dat // Download history
//.opera/global.dat // Global history
.opera/notes.adr // Notes
.opera/opcacrt6.dat // Certificate authorities
.opera/opcert6.dat // Personal certificates
.opera/operaprefs.ini // Opera settings
.opera/opssl6.dat // SSL preferences
.opera/override.ini // Site preferences
.opera/search.ini // Search engines
.opera/speeddial.ini // Speed Dials
.opera/typed_history.xml // Typed-in addresses
.opera/urlfilter.ini // Blocked content
//.opera/vlink4.dat // Visited links
.opera/wand.dat // Wand data
.opera/widgets.adr // Widgets configuration

Whenever you want to backup, type ./opera-backup.sh in terminal and WinRAR will create a backup file (example: opera-backup-061010-144215.rar) in your home.

If you want launcher, add /home/username/opera-backup.sh in command and enable Run in terminal



Windows



Use Opera backup list and WinRAR command line shortcut creator.



Create a backup shortcut in desktop with following parameters.

"C:\Program Files\WinRAR\WinRAR.exe" a -hppassword -m5 -r -agYYMMDD-HHMMSS D:\Backup\Opera- @Opera-Backup.lst

Right click on backup shortcut → Properties → Start in (delete the content usually it will have "C:\Program Files\WinRAR" → Shortcut key (press Ctrl+Alt+O).

C:\Program Files\WinRAR\ - Change this if path to your WinRAR directory is different.

a - Add files to archive.

-hppassword - If you want to password protect your backup keep it and replace password with your password else remove -hppassword. If you remove password, WinRAR will ask password during backup process. Without password it is impossible to view even the list of files in archive encrypted with -hp switch.

-m5 - Compression method.

-m0 do not compress file when adding to archive
-m1 use fastest method (less compressive)
-m2 use fast compression method
-m3 use normal (default) compression method
-m4 use good compression method (more compressive, but slower)
-m5 use best compression method (slightly more compressive, but slowest)

-r - Recurse subdirectories.

-agYYMMDD-HHMMSS - Generates archive name using the current date and time.

Y - year
M - month
MMM - month name as text string (Jan, Feb, etc.)
W - a week number (a week starts with Monday)
A - day of week number (Monday is 1, Sunday is 7)
D - day of month
E - day of year
H - hours
M - minutes (treated as minutes if encountered after hours)
S - seconds
N - archive number. RAR searches for already existing archive with generated name and if found, increments the archive number until generating a unique name.

D:\Backup\ - Change this path to your backup directory. This directory must exist.

Opera-Backup.lst - Create a file with this name and add the following lines and make sure the paths are correct. If you don't want to backup a particular directory or file, add // before that line. Directories (Skin, userjs) and files (global.dat, vlink4.dat and download.dat) are disabled by default. This file should be in same place where you created backup shortcut (in our case desktop).

// Opera backup using WinRAR command line
// Remove '//' before file path to archive that directory or file
//
// Directories to backup
C:\Program Files\Opera\program\plug-ins\ // Plug-ins
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\dictionaries\ // Dictionaries
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\icons\ // Favicons
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\keyboard\ // Keyboard configuration
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\mail\ // Mail
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\menu\ // Menu configuration
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\mouse\ // Mouse configuration
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\sessions\ // Sessions
// C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\skin\// Skin
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\styles\ // Styles
// C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\thumbnails\ // Speed Dial thumbnails
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\toolbar\ // Toolbar configuration
// C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\userjs\ // User JavaScript files
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\widgets\ // Widgets
// Files to backup
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\bookmarks.adr // Bookmarks
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\cookies4.dat // Cookies
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\contacts.adr // Contacts for e-mail & instant messaging
//C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\download.dat // Download history
//C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\global.dat // Global history
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\notes.adr // Notes
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\opcacrt6.dat // Certificate authorities
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\opcert6.dat // Personal certificates
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\operaprefs.ini // Opera settings
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\opssl6.dat // SSL preferences
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\override.ini // Site preferences
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\search.ini // Search engines
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\speeddial.ini // Speed Dials
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\typed_history.xml // Typed-in addresses
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\urlfilter.ini // Blocked content
//C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\vlink4.dat // Visited links
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\widgets.dat // Widgets configuration
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\wand.dat // Wand data

Whenever you want to backup, press shortcut key, Ctrl+Alt+O and WinRAR will create a backup file (example: Opera-050319-153045.rar) in D:\Backup\ directory.

See user's manual, Rar.txt in WinRAR directory to learn more about console RAR.

Update
Oct 17, 2006: Linux version
Nov 12, 2009