Q I use both Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 2, as each has particular features I like to use.

My problem is knowing how to synchronise bookmarks between the two. If I bookmark pages in Internet Explorer, for example, how can I ensure that Firefox is updated to reflect the same new web pages.

The same applies the other way. There must be an easier way than having to have both browsers open and then saving the same site on each browser.
Steven Pocock

A Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to do this, within the programs themselves, or with a download.

A number of plug-ins for Firefox offer similar features, but they are all in very early stages of release and most have bugs or don’t work as you would like. All is not lost, though.

One way to make sure Internet Explorer sees the same list of bookmarks as Firefox is to bookmark sites only in Firefox, not in Internet Explorer. Because Firefox stores bookmarks as a web page on your hard disk, you can set your Internet Explorer home page to be the list of Firefox bookmarks. You’d need to remember to bookmark everything in Firefox, however.

Find the Firefox bookmarks file by opening My Computer, then open the C: drive, and double-click on the Documents and Settings folder. Double-click on the folder for your Windows username, then Application Data, Mozilla, Firefox, Profiles. There should be only one folder inside this – double-click on it, then right-click on the address bar and click on Copy to copy the location of the folder. Now open Internet Explorer and click on the Tools menu, then Options.

Under Home Page, delete what’s in the Address box and press Ctrl and V to paste the location from earlier. Now click on the end of that piece of text, and type a backslash (\) followed by bookmarks.html and click on OK. You will then have the Firefox bookmarks page as your home page in Internet Explorer, and can access Firefox bookmarks from there.

Another option is to use Del.icio.us, aso-called social bookmarking site. Instead of using either browser’s built-in bookmarks or favourites, you store bookmarks on the Del.icio.us site. The advantage is that you can then access them from anywhere in the world. One drawback is that this shouldn’t be used for personalised links that apply to you alone, as everyone will be able to see them.