Tips for doing Profile reset to set opera back to original factory settings
Friday, 26. January 2007, 01:41:13
Many problems related to opera settings are solved by "profile reset" method in blog of Neeraj. But some users find it difficult to do this. To help in that, I have summarized some tips to do backup and profile reset in a smart way so that you will never be afraid of doing it at anytime.
The basic steps are 1)Backup necessary files 2)Delete opera6(configuration settings) file from profile directory. See details below.
The basic steps are 1)Backup necessary files 2)Delete opera6(configuration settings) file from profile directory. See details below.
What is profile reset?
Profile reset removes all your preference settings(like the options you choose in tools>preferences,custom toolbars,menu etc) and let opera rebuild it to the factory default condition automatically. The great advantage it brings that it destroys bad settings that you might have done or might have accumulated with multiple upgrade etc. This is very likely to resolve many issues users encountered with opera user settings.
What to do before profile reset? Do I need to backup?
You need to backup your files so that you can get back your data. For comprehensive backup options, you can check migrating settings and migrating mails articles by Neeraj. There is good discussion on some sort of automated opera back up method by Tamil and also one click backup button option by Euricomatos. Otherwise, you can manually copy the necessary folders/files from your profile directory.
Note that, you only need to backup the files that you changed from default. Say ,if you don't use mail,session, widgets etc, you don't need to backup those. if you never changed default menu, you don't need to change but if you added any custom button, you need to backup toolbar.ini.
Smart tip on backing up toolbar, menu etc.
You don't have to backup your toolbar, menu etc everytime you do profile reset if you do a smart thing.
Close opera. Go to your profile directory. Make a copy of your toolbar file (toolbar.ini) and rename it to something say "operafan2006 toolbar". Also open the newly renamed toolbar and change the name inside.
Do the same thing for your menu.ini file under menu folder in the profile directory. So, after profile reset, these files will remain same and you just select them from Tools>Preferences>advanced>toolbar. Done.
How to do the profile reset?
Close opera. You need to locate your profile directory (Help>about opera will show you the exact location). In windows xp, it is commonly at c:\documents&settings>username>application data>opera>profile and in win vista its under in Win Vista C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\Opera. Note that "Application data" is a hidden folder in windows and you need to enable the opton to view hidden files and folders(open my computer>tools>folder options>view>show hidden files and folders). Once you have found the folder, just find and delete the file opera6.ini(configuration settings). Restart opera and opera will rebuild the profile settings.
Hope it helps.
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