Tommy's Notes on Cookies [ & pc maintenance ]
CLEANUP & COOKIE TIPS [what works and what doesn't]:
MS WAY:
- Delete Cookies [MSIE T/O/G] : blanket delete . This works.
It deletes cookies in C:\Windows/Cookies and C:\Windows/local
settings/Temporary Internet Files [w98] [ you must restore necessary cookies afterwards
]. C:\Windows/Cookies can be read only. [ I verified this,
unfortunately it does no good, you must use MSIE import / export to save /
restore cookies do this before deleting.]
The W2K cookies are in C:\Documents and
Settings\%user%\Cookies.
[for each user] A copy of these is seen in the C:\%user%\local settings/temporary internet
files These are mirrors of the "cookie" folder and cannot have their attributes
seen or changed. The
other [TIF] folder changes automatically to follow..See this link for
further info: Deleting cookies
/ Tin Hat also 278835 - How to Delete Cookie Files
- Delete Files [MSIE T/O/G] This works.
It deletes everything [in the Temporary Internet Files
folder] that's safe to delete. [ NOT COOKIES ] This is confusing because a certain amount of stuff
may remain
unless you do a manual deletion with DOS commands. Don't worry about
it, it usually deletes everything except cookies.
Don't Delete "all offline content" or your saved
offline web Pages will disappear
- Isolate Good Cookies and Save them :
Go to each web page that requires cookies for passwords and preferences.
Logon to each and watch for the cookies to appear [ in the folders
described]. Delete manually unnecessary or tracking cookies in the TIF
and Cookies folders. When all you have is the ones you want, go to
MSIE File/Import and Export and save them to some folder other than these.
Then when you do the blanket delete, you can restore them afterwards.
- Optional : Use a cookie manager to control incoming new cookies. I
use Cookie Wall from Analog X.
OTHER WAYS: [ examples of commercial software available ]
-
Windows Washer by Webroot [commercial $40] will delete cookies automatically on a schedule. [other commercial clients may also provide this.]
It performs all the cleanup functions except defrag [cost is the only drawback].
Caution ; Windows Washer can delete write-protected cookies! [
don't do if manually if you use it]
- DISKEEPER by Executive [commercial $40]
defragger Executive Software - Defrag with Diskeeper
- VOPT defragger by Golden Bow [commercial $40] Vopt99
SUMMARY :
Cookie Deletion / Maintenance is not as simple as it should be.
There is more than one folder for cookies and these folders are
"system" folders that do no follow the usual rules for folders. You
can perform this manually in MSIE / Tools / Options / General /Delete Files .
Many websites have to have cookies allowed so you generally have to allow
cookies sometimes [ like when you visit these sites for the first time and save
the cookies afterwards ]. There are many way to do this, many choices make for
confusion. I have shown only a couple of ways that I have tried..
I "pick" cookies to save by :
1. I "Allow" cookies with Cookie Wall, [you
must also do this with MSIE Tools /Options / Privacy / Advanced]
2. I select the ones I want to save ["good"
cookies : prefs, passwords, etc],
3. I delete the ones I don't want.
4. I save the "good" cookies with MSIE
File/Import and Export..
5. I reconfigure Cookie Wall to disallow [delete] all new incoming cookies.
This process must be repeated for any new web page that would deliver a "good" cookie.
This is the hassle
Disk Cleanup in MS System Tools is a nice way to automatically
clean up temporary files w/o user intervention. Unfortunately, it does not allow you to select "delete cookies". If you use the method just described you won't need to, but you must do it manually [as just described].
Commercial Ways usually consist of purchasing and
using the "full" products of which "light" versions are
offered
to us by MS or other OS providers. Cost is their only disadvantage usually.
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Created on ... Febt 15, 2004
Last Modified Sunday, 11-Dec-2005 19:56:48 CST