Deleting Cookies

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 2 Jun 2002 5:11 pm

I Delete Files, Clear History and Delete Cookies on a regular basis. Sometimes I go back to cookies and they have mysteriously returned. Why?

Is there a way to turn cookies off?

Roger

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 2 Jun 2002 6:52 pm

Roger,

In Internet Explorer, go to the TOOLS menu and scroll down to INTERNET OPTIONS and click it. Then go to the second tab which is SECURITY. Click on 'CUSTOM LEVEL'. Then I think it is the first option, and it should be a option to "ENABLE, DISABLE or PROMPT" for cookies.

In Netscape, go to the EDIT menu and then scroll down to PREFERENCES and select it. Then highlight advanced and it should have the option also to"ENABLE, DISABLE or PROMPT" for cookies.

Just kind of curious...why do you want cookies disabled? I enjoy the convenience of having some settings and things like that stored in cookies. However, I never store user names or passwords.

Mark

erik · Post by **erik** » 2 Jun 2002 7:27 pm

Here is your problem:

When you use "Internet Tools" it does not delete all cookies. You must go to My Documents > Windows > View Files >Temp Internet Files. When you get there click Edit at the top of the tool bar, then Select All, then Delete. This is the only way to be sure all cookies are gone. I would assume this is some sort of bug that webmasters exploit. Most people use only the Internet Tools and believe all the cookies are gone - they're not! You do not have to click Cookies in the Windows file. Just the Temp Int Files. Gets everything in one shot. But you still need to clear History from Internet Tools.

Kenny Forbess · Post by **Kenny Forbess** » 2 Jun 2002 10:39 pm

What happens to the performance of the computer after deleting ALL cookies ?
Do you have problems navigateing or storeing anything , like the password on the forum ?

erik · Post by **erik** » 3 Jun 2002 5:41 pm

When you delete all your cookies you lose the ability to auto sign-in at various web sites, if that's your thing. Personally, I never do that. I just type my password in. When you allow cookies to remain on your HD you allow servers to collect data on your surfing habits and preferences. Convenience comes with a price. To each his own. Every time i go to the food store they ask me if i have a store card. I say no. Then they say i could save money...yada, yada, yada. They usually use their own. But i say, if you see me there all the time i should get the discount anyways, right?

Gary Pederson · Post by **Gary Pederson** » 3 Jun 2002 7:46 pm

I use a program which I set up to allow cookies only for certain websites like this one. I don't like the idea of every website I go to spying on me. Also, it is my understanding that cookies are suppossed to expire after a given lenth of time. I've read that some are set to last for several years. Seems like you could eventually end up with a lot of them.
I've had the same problem as Roger with Netscape, I could delete all the cookies & they would come back even for websites that I hadn't been to since the deletion. Its like Netscape backs them up & restores them when it detects they are missing.

Michael Holland · Post by **Michael Holland** » 4 Jun 2002 1:58 pm

Bobby or Mark,

What is the name of the SGF cookie? I've searched for *SGF* and *forum* with no results. I need to delete and re-create the cookie because my little light bulbs are always lit!

Thanks,

Mike

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 4 Jun 2002 2:10 pm

Mike,

The light bulbs on the forum mean that there is a new message in that area of the forum. Try this...Go to a area that has a light bulb by it, when you open that area you should see some pinkish-red folders and some yellow folders. The yellow means they are old since your last visit. The pinkish red mean there has been a new message posted to that topic. Now exit your browser and open it back up again and go to the forum. Chances are that you will see no light bulbs now. That means since you last visit (probably 5-10 seconds ago) there were no new posts.

What OS are you running and what broswer? I can help you locate the cookie then.

Mark

Michael Holland · Post by **Michael Holland** » 4 Jun 2002 5:36 pm

Mark, I'm using Win98 and IE6. I could be mistaken, but I seem to recall reading that the Forum's cookie expires after a year and that can cause the 'new post since your last visit' lights not to work normally. They're still working fine on my PC at the office, but now they're always on when I log on from my machine at home.