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How to Manage Cookies |
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Do your favorite websites keep forgetting your name and
password? Do you forever have to reset your preferences?
Here's why -
A website leaves "cookies" on your hard drive to "remember you". So
if you delete your cookies, websites no longer recognize
your computer and they "forget" your preferences and
options. There are ways you can manage these
cookies for smoother, more convenient surfing.
Here's How cookies
work
Each website you visit deposits a tiny identifying file (a cookie)
onto your hard drive. Some sites place another cookie
each time
you visit them. Websites use these cookies to remember
you.
When you log onto a website, it looks up your cookies, sets up your
preferences, perhaps even logs you in. Your chosen
options are ready to use as soon as you connect and your
web page always looks the same - unchanged from
your last visit. |
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In
addition to the cookie you collect when you enter a site,
expect another one whenever you fill out an online form, or
register with your email address and password.
Yes, you give up a little bit of your privacy, but it can be a good
trade-off if you log onto a number of websites regularly.
A data base at the web server saves and keeps track of your
preferences. On your own computer, you see only a short text
file named something like:
"smith@abcdef[1].txt".
The content of a cookie file resembles a couple of lines of jumbled
numbers and letters. To the data base, this is fascinating
stuff!
How to manage your
cookies
Although we hear warnings to delete all cookies regularly, that's
not necessarily the very best advice. When you remove ALL
cookies, you lose the good cookies along with the bad ones.
We also hear about cookies that track our every move, reporting
back to some evil empire. That's true; there are "bad"
cookies that learn our habits and tastes, then flood our
mailboxes and browser windows with individually targeted
advertising (adware).
You no doubt have been advised to "delete all cookies from your
computer once a week," or to "Go to your Cookies folder and
delete everything in it!"
Completely cleaning out your Cookie folder deletes the useful
cookies, too. You then lose functionality that you have come
to rely on.
How do you delete unwanted cookies
while keeping the good ones?
There is a hard way and an easier way of doing this.
The hard way to manage cookies
Go to your Cookies folder. Look at the name of each file; is it a
website that you use all the time? Then let it be. If the
name is unfamiliar, should you delete it? You can never
score 100% on this test. You'll still delete some useful
cookies. Even worse, using
this method, you will likely repeat the same mistakes on
your next purge.
If you are adept at computers, you can open these files and gain
slightly more information from them, especially one with a
meaningless name like: "smith@ig[1].txt". Opening this one
shows the word "Google" in the encoded string. Since the
text reveals no more than that, you should assume nothing
more. (Actually, this one sets preferences
within a personalized Google Homepage) Remember, too, that
it is not unusual to have several cookies from the same
site, numbered [1], [2], etc.
The easier way to manage cookies
Use one of the free cookie management programs. WinPatrol*
is an excellent choice. Its free version is exceptionally
good for managing cookies, and it is fun to use.
The cookie manager lists your cookies alongside check boxes.
Recognize a cookie as one to keep? Set a check in its box.
When you have gone through all the cookies, you can delete
all the unchecked ones with a single click.
Next time, you will have a base on which to build: all the checked
cookies were previously vetted. Now you are only making
decisions on the new, unchecked, cookies. Each time, you
keep refining your results.
How to recover from deleting a good cookie
Suppose after cleaning up your Cookie folder, one of your favorite
websites no longer logs you in automatically; here's your
recovery plan:
Revisit that website, set up your login again. Then close your
browser. Open your Cookies folder immediately to look for
any cookies bearing the website name (e.g.,
smith@abcdef[1].txt) and make a note to keep those. Now test
the site; does it log you in again automatically?
Using a cookie management program, the procedure is the same except
that the software opens the Cookie folder for you. Then a
simple check mark saves the cookie. See how much easier it
is with a cookie management utility?
Your computer collects "good" cookies that make your internet
experience smoother. It also accumulates "bad" cookies that
may spy on you.
You can set your cookie management preferences by visiting the
Options Tool on your Internet Explorer browser and Mozilla Firefox
browser.
*WinPatrol
is available as a free cookie manager download from c|net Downloads. |
Richard Rossbauer
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Richard started his "Firewalls
and Virus Protection" website and "Security
Alert News Reporter" to help everyday Internet users
navigate safely through the Cyber Space that has become a 'Cyber
Jungle', loaded with ambushes and booby traps. He promotes his "Computer
Security Awareness Campaign" thru his website at
https://www.firewalls-and-virus-protection.com
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Critical Alerts You Should Consider when Maintaining Your Computer
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