well I spoke too soon or jinxed myself..
my bookmarks work and are there when i click the toolbar but if i go to organize them nothing showed at all

so i followed the info about making a new profile for FF and then imported the bookmarks from IE and my back up file - that worked
and I still can go back to my old profile if I need to see something or whatever.
I gives you the option to choose the old or the new profile when you start FF.

So if you have any major annoying problems bothering you I can help you though the new profile set up if this link doesn't help you.
It's easier than it sounds.
Basically you copy this - firefox.exe -ProfileManager
and then close FF and paste that into the "Run" area hit OK and go from there.
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Managing+profiles