Should I delete cookies?

[Maurice]

I run Ad Aware on a regular basis , twice a week, & nearly every time, there are a host of items found, mostly Trackers.

If I delete cookies, will this help?. & I understand that IF I do this, there is a downside, which may hamper some operations.

I believe that there are levels of deletion, & I needn't delete all, final question, where do I go to delete, if I want to?

Maurice.

 

[Didou]

The only downside to deleting cookies is that you'll have to re-enter your username/password for certain sites that require for you to identify (such as TechSpot).

If you use IE, simply go to Tools -> Internet Options & on the 1st box that shows up click "Delete Cookies".

 

[Maurice]

Thanks, Didou, sorry to appear confused, but are these trackers etc.,dangerous, do they interfere with the running of my PC or should I just keep running Ad Aware [free version] regularly, & leave it at that?, also, it seems that Ad Aware can trap certain trojans.

Maurice

 

[Didou]

Cookies just store information relative to one website. You could have one cookie stored on your hard drive by your browser (as requested by the TechSpot site for example), & that cookie details your user account, the preferences you've set (amount of posts per page, selected timezone, etc.).

Some sites use the cookie to store or "mine" information that goes beyond their own, such as which websites you've visited before visiting them or which page has led you to their page, etc. Those are "data mining" cookies & are generally picked up by AdAware & other such utilities.

It is still a good idea to clear your cookies every once in a while, even when running Ad removal utilities. Cookies are quite harmless 95% of the time & do not harm your system in any way by their presence. Clearing them won't damage your system either, if you do it the way I explained above.

 

[tomrice32]

I personally never clear my cookies and don't have problems. Most cookies are perfectly harmless. After running ad-aware you could delete the ones that brings up, but I wouldn't clear them all. It can be very annoying if you have websites set to remember things for you.. as they do that through cookies. For example I have a counter on my website, and a cookie is stored on my computer to make sure the counter doesn't count me on when I visit my own website. If I cleared the cookies that wouldn't work anymore and I'd have to set it up again. Also I have accounts and LOTS of websites and auto-login cookies are great as I don't have to login to them all the time. If more than one user uses your computer though I guess it wouldn't matter so much as you probably wouldn't be using those cookies so much.

Anyhow, basically I wouldn't bother clearing them out.

 

[Maurice]

Greetings, Tom, ah, another English member!, it's nice making contact with another countryman, & with a modest rig, somewhat like mine, some of our American friends have amazing set-ups, I couldn't be doing with all that, have a look at my profile, if you haven't already done so, I live on the Isle of Wight, whereabouts are you?, our ages couldn't be more different, but that's what makes Techspot so good, it's a great leveller.
As to your advice, others have said the same thing, & I think I'll stick with cookies, in spite of the fact that Ad Aware & the like, can't wait to get rid of them.
Have a look at some of my previous posts on various subjects.


Nice to"meet" you,
Maurice.

 

[tomrice32]

Hi Maurice, I'm from the south of England, and nice to 'meet' you too :grinthumb.

 

[jonnyrocks]

i am also curious about this, i downloaded one of those hour free trial games and i was wondering if there was any cookie i could delete tolet me play another 60mins as i didnt get much of a chance before

 

[poertner_1274]

I am sure it put something in the registry. You can try to use a restore point from a few days before or whatever. Or I would suggest searching through your registry to find the name of the game/writer/etc. and delete it. Just be sure to make a backup of the registry first, in case all goes to hell you can always revert back


:wave:Welcome to TechSpot:wave:

 

[Maurice]

Hello, jonnyrocks, yes, I started this thread, but listen to these other guys, they've helped me so much over the last sixteen months, welcome to Techspot!

Maurice

 

[jonnyrocks]

ok I searched in find for regestry, found most in a folder called windows/sample/wsh
I click the 2 regestry options and i get a message "this shows howto create and delete regestry keys.
Then i get an urgent allert from norton antivirus
Is this what I want t do?