How to Move Internet Favorites Between Windows 95 and Macintosh

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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.

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