How to Move Internet Favorites Between Windows 95 and Macintosh

ID: Q173664

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article describes how to move your Internet Explorer favorite items between Windows 95 and the Macintosh.

MORE INFORMATION

From Windows 95 to Macintosh

To take your Internet Explorer favorites to the Macintosh, follow these steps:

1. In Internet Explorer for Windows 95, click Organize Favorites on the 

   Favorites menu. Select all the files and/or folders you want to copy
   to the Macintosh, right-click one of the files or folders, and then
   click Copy.

   Copying a folder also copies all of the shortcuts within the folder and
   retains the hierarchical organization of your favorite items.
2. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, right-click a floppy disk drive, 
   and then click Paste.
3. Take the floppy disk to your Macintosh. You should be able to access an 
   MS-DOS-formatted floppy disk on your Macintosh using PC Exchange or
   similar software.

   The Macintosh, using PC Exchange (prior to version 2.2), does not
   understand Windows 95 long file names. On the Macintosh computer, you
   see only the short file names in MS-DOS 8.3 format.

   For example, a folder named "My Favorite Web Sites" becomes "Myfavo~1"
   and a favorite item named "My Favorite Web Site" becomes
   "Myfavo~1.url."

   Please note that PC Exchange version 2.2 (bundled with MacOS 8.1),
   supports long file names up to 31 characters.
4. On the Macintosh, open a Finder window to view the folders and files 
   on the floppy disk.
5. In Internet Explorer for Macintosh, open the Favorites window by 
   clicking Open Favorites on the Favorites menu.
6. Drag the files and folders from the Finder window to the Favorites 
   window. You can drag individual or multiple files, and entire folders.
   You may want to select all items in the Finder window to retain the
   hierarchical organization from Windows 95.
7. Rename the truncated file and folder names in the Favorites window as 
   appropriate.

From Macintosh to Windows 95, Method 1

To take your Internet Explorer favorites to Windows 95, follow these steps:

1. In Internet Explorer for Macintosh, open the Favorites window by 

   clicking Open Favorites on the Favorites menu.
2. Copy your favorite items to an MS-DOS-formatted floppy disk using PC 
   Exchange or similar software. You may want to copy the entire Favorites
   window to retain the hierarchical organization of your favorite items.
   This creates folders and Internet shortcuts on the floppy disk.
3. Take the floppy disk to your Windows 95-based computer. 

   The Macintosh, using PC Exchange (prior to version 2.2), does not
   understand Windows 95 long file names. On the Macintosh computer, you
   see only the short file names in MS-DOS 8.3 format.

   For example, a folder named "My Favorite Web Sites" becomes "Myfavo~1"
   and a favorite item named "My Favorite Web Site" becomes
   "Myfavo~1.url."

   Please note that PC Exchange version 2.2 (bundled with MacOS 8.1),
   supports long file names up to 31 characters.
4. Using Windows Explorer or My Computer, copy the folders and Internet 
   shortcuts to the C:\Windows\Favorites folder. It is not necessary to
   copy the hidden Desktop or Finder.dat files.
5. Rename the truncated file and folder names in the Favorites folder as 
   appropriate.

From Macintosh to Windows 95, Method 2

An alternate method to take your Internet Explorer favorite items to Windows 95 is to export or copy the Favorites.html file to an MS-DOS- formatted floppy disk, and then open the document using Internet Explorer. Right-click each link you want to add to the Favorites.html file, and then click Add To Favorites. To use this method, follow these steps:

1. In Internet Explorer for Macintosh, open the Favorites window by 

   clicking Open Favorites on the Favorites menu.
2. On the File menu, click Export.

3. Save to an MS-DOS-formatted floppy disk. The default name is 

   Favorites.html.
4. Take the floppy disk to your Windows 95-based computer. 

   The Macintosh, using PC Exchange (prior to version 2.2), does not
   understand Windows 95 long file names. On the Macintosh computer, you
   see only the short file names in MS-DOS 8.3 format.

   For example, a folder named "My Favorite Web Sites" becomes "Myfavo~1"
   and a favorite item named "My Favorite Web Site" becomes
   "Myfavo~1.url."

   Please note that PC Exchange version 2.2 (bundled with MacOS 8.1),
   supports long file names up to 31 characters.
5. In Internet Explorer for Windows 95, click Open on the File menu, and 
   then click Browse.
6. Click the "!favorit.htm" file on the floppy disk, click Open, and then 
   click OK.
7. Right-click a link you want to add, click Add To Favorites, and then 
   click OK.
8. Repeat step 7 for each link you want to add.

Note that this method does not automatically retain the hierarchical organization from your Macintosh; you must add each favorite item individually. However, this method retains the full (long) descriptions, an advantage over method 1.

The third-party product discussed in this article is manufactured by a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

Additional query words: 

Keywords          : msiew95 msiemac 
Version           : MACINTOSH:3.01a; WINDOWS:3.02
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: January 29, 1998