What are cookies?

A cookie is a small file containing an identity code. Your computer accepts the cookie and stores it. Next time you visit the site it's retrieved and your identity is established. Most of the major sites on the Internet, including search engines and portals, send cookies. Some sites store a lot of information about you within the cookie, but most use it as just an identifier. Usually the big file containing your data is at the site server end. All the cookie does is make sure the correct data file is used. The actual cookie is usually limited in size to 4k, so can't contain much information. In many cases the data file at the server end doesn't contain your name or personal details, but other times, especially if you use the Internet for shopping, it does.

What are Flash cookies?

Flash cookies are similar to usual cookies, but thery are set by Flash animation (swf files), where as normal cookies are set by web pages. Flash cookies are usualy located under C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash Player folder. Flash cookies can be set only if you have Macromedia Flash Player installed on your computer.

How do I delete cookies?

The easiest way to delete cookies is to use our free program called IE Privacy Keeper. The program allows secure deletion of all cookies on your PC with the ability to keep selective cookies. IE Privacy Keeper works with Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher and Mozilla Firefox 1.0 or higher. It deletes IE, Firefox and Flash cookies.

You can also delete cookies manually - using the browser interface or Windows Explorer:

Open Windows Explorer, search for the Cookies folder and delete all files in it.

Internet Explorer

From Internet Explorer, choose "Tools" then "Internet Options", Delete Cookies... and click OK.

Mozilla
  1. Choose Cookie Manager from the Tools menu.
  2. Choose Manage Stored Cookies.
  3. Remove any cookie from the list, or remove all cookies.
Mozilla Firebird
  1. Click on Tools, then Options
  2. Select the Privacy icon in the left-hand panel
  3. Click on Cookies
  4. Click on Stored Cookies
  5. To remove a single cookie click on the entry in the list and click on the Remove Cookie button
  6. To remove all cookies click on the Remove All Cookies button
Mozilla Firefox
  1. Click on Tools, then Options
  2. Select the Privacy icon in the left-hand panel
  3. Click on Cookies
  4. Click on View Cookies
  5. To remove a single cookie click on the entry in the list and click on the Remove Cookie button
  6. To remove all cookies click on the Remove All Cookies button
Netscape Navigator 7.x
  1. Choose Cookie Manager from the Tools menu.
  2. Choose Manage Stored Cookies.
  3. Remove any cookie from the list, or remove all cookies.
Netscape Navigator 6.x
  1. Choose Cookie Manager from the Tools menu.
  2. Choose Manage Stored Cookies.
  3. Remove any cookie from the list, or remove all cookies.
Netscape Navigator 4.x

In Netscape, all cookies are stored into one file, called Cookies.txt, in the user preferences folder, making them easy to find and delete. The folder can be located by using your file management software to search your hard disk drive for "cookies.txt". Users of Netscape Navigator 4.x may also stop cookies from being written to the hard drive, by making the cookies file read only. However, even if the browser can't "write" cookies to the hard drive, it can still cache them, and it may create a new cookie file.

Opera

For Opera 6.0, go to Files on the tool bar. Click on Delete Private Data. Then select what cookies you want to delete. Usually, a cookie has a name that is the same as or similar to that of the web site that provided them. Users of Opera may also stop cookies from being written to the hard drive, by making the cookies file read only. However, even if the browser can't "write" cookies to the hard drive, it can still cache them, and it may create a new cookie file.

How do I enable or disable cookies?

We offer fast and simple way of disabling/enabling cookies right from Internet Explorer - a free program called Flash and Pics Control. The program adds a button onto the IE toolbar. A menu appears when you click this button. The menu allows you to enable or disable pictures, Flash, Java Script, Java Applets, ActiveX and cookies.

You can also enable or disable cookies manually:

Internet Explorer

  1. Open Internet Explorer
  2. Select the Tools menu and then click Internet Options
  3. Select the Privacy Tab
  4. Move the slider up or down depending upon the desired level of security you would like
  5. You may also click the ADVANCED button and select how cookies are handled from the presented options
Mozilla Firefox

To disable Mozilla Firefox 1.0 cookies click "Tools", "Options", clicking the "Piracy" button, under "Cookies" check/uncheck the "Allow sites to set cookies" option.

Netscape 7.x

Netscape 7.x users can enable/disable cookies by clicking "Tools" and then opening the "Cookie Manager".

Opera users

Opera users can manage, disable, and enable their cookies by clicking "File", "Preferences", and selecting "Privacy".

See also about cookies: