How best to delete cookies?

[grrl]

I'm currently using IE6 and thought I came up with an easy way of deleting all unwanted cookies. I wrote a simple .bat program to delete all the cookies then reload ones I wanted. What I originally did was delete all the cookies, then visit the sites that require a passwork like AnandTech and the New York Times. I copied the cookies generated to a separate directory and the .bat reloads thems.

The problem is after a day or two I have to reenter the passwords. I don't know why this doesn't work. Anybody know what I'm doing wrong if if this will even work?

 

[singh]

What is your bat file like?

If I wrote one, it would be somewhat like this:

'Navigate to the cookies folder here

'Copy known cookies to temp folder
mkdir SafeCookies
copy *@anandtech*.* SafeCookies

'Delete all cookies
del /q *.*

'Copy the safe cookies back
copy SafeCookies\*.*

'Clear temp folder
del /q SafeCookies\*.*
rmdir SafeCookies

 

[grrl]

The bat was basically

del C:\.....\cookies\*.txt
copy c:\temp cookies\*.* c:\....\cookies

 

[singh]

It is possible the cookies are set to expire at a certain time. The way I showed above preserves the cookies by copying their current contents and restoring them again, so it might be worth a shot for you to try it.

 

[grrl]

I see what you mean, Singh. That's what I was thinking I had to do. It should be easy to single out the few sites required. Thanks.

 

[FOBSIDE]

let me know what you get with this. i clear out my cookies manually every day and try to make sure i dont delete the cookies for the sites i actually want. i block all the ad agency cookies but i dont wanna keep adding to a list of cookies to block. id rather just auto delete them. if youre creating an bat file to do it, id be interested in using it too. i probably wont be much help writing it though.

 

[grrl]

I'm setting up the new bat right now. It is set up for AnandTech, the NY Times and the LA times. The bat looks something like this:

COPY c:\windows\temporary internet settings\*nytimes*.txt c:\backups\cookies
COPY c:\windows\temporary internet settings\*mediaplex*.txt c:\backups\cookies
COPY c:\windows\temporary internet settings\*latimes*.txt c:\backups\cookies
COPY c:\windows\temporary internet settings\*anandtech*.txt c:\backups\cookies

DEL c:\windows\temporary internet settings\*.txt

COPY c:\backups\cookies\*.* COPY c:\windows\temporary internet settings

DEL c:\backups\cookies\*.txt


Give me a couple of days to see how the time limits work out. I'll keep you posted.

If you use this program you'll have check the location of your cookies. My directories are a little different. I believe the above are the IE defaults. Singh or someone else would know.

Edited to change the last DEL command to *.txt instead of *.*
That way DOS doesn't ask any questions.

 

[FOBSIDE]

thanks.

the win2k/IE default cookies location is:
C:\Documents and Settings\USER_NAME\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

 

[grrl]

FOBSIDE, the program has been working fine. The cookies must be time sensitive, and this approach seems to take care of that problem.

Try it out and tell me whether you have the same luck.

 

[FOBSIDE]

do i just copy the stuff you have there into a .bat file but with my cookie names? youll have to excuse my ignorance. thanks.

 

[grrl]

That's basically the program, you just need to confirm the location of your cookies, plus the names (roughly) of the cookies you want to keep. What you can do is delete all of the cookies to start with a clean folder, then visit the sites that require passwords. See what cookies are created, then use those names to 'plug into' your bat file.

The * is a wildcard, so if the cookie has a slightly different name (usually because numbers are added to it) the program will recognize it. DON'T NOT use the wildcard, and use the txt extension at the end. That way you can use two *. I recall DOS won't allow three * in the same file name.

I hope that is clear. If you have any more questions I'll be back on line tomorrow.

Good luck.

 

[Hullboy]

or you could just download mozilla, which has good cookie management

 

[FOBSIDE]

it doesnt seem to be doing anything for me. i even removed the last line from the file so the copied over cookies would stay there but i didnt see them in the folder. any ideas?

 

[grrl]

The last line should stay, otherwise the cookies (in the temp folder) won't be updated properly and you'll get questions from DOS about whether you want to overwrite the files. The idea is to empty the temp folder each time. It's just a holding pen for the cookies you want returned to C:\Documents and Settings\USER_NAME\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files or whereever.

I'm not sure why it isn't working. But are you certain the saved cookies are not being copied back to your IE default directory?

 

[FOBSIDE]

nothing works. nothing is deleted. i have no idea whats being copied over.

 

[FOBSIDE]

i typed in the path and .bat file name in cmd and it says it cant find the specified file. nothing is copied over.

its not even copying over the original cookies. it says specified file not found. i looked and the files are in the folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

i also found the cookies in:
C:\Documents and Settings\Matthew Pih\Cookies

it makes no difference which one i specify, both say it cant find the files.

 

[fishingeek]

PopupStopper companion is a nice piece of software that has cookie managment.

 

[FOBSIDE]

grrl, you out there?

 

[singh]

Post your bat file. FYI, the default cookies directory for IE6 will be ROOT_DRIVE\Documents and Settings\USER_NAME\Cookies

 

[grrl]

FOBSIDE, post your .bat file so we can look at it.

 

[TheWart]

i recommend a program called Cookie Pal from Kookaburra Software. $15 to register, the first software i ever bought on teh net back in 98. excellent support for the major browsers, allows you to program it to catch cookies from any other prog that is asking you if you want to keep a cookie. soo easy to use, i really love it.

also, the freeware AdAware 5.83 cleans out some of te more nasty cookies from doubleclick and alexa.

 

[FOBSIDE]

i just moved to win xp. should that make a difference on where my cookies are stored?

 

[grrl]

FOBSIDE. I don't know about the location in XP, but I assume it's the same as in 2K.

Other than that, have you had any luck with the bat?

 

[Mavrick007]

Here's another good little program that will keep track of your cookies for you and alert you for when new ones come up and which ones to keep or remove. It looks pretty good and it's free, it's called CookieWall.

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Hullboy
or you could just download mozilla, which has good cookie management

Yes, netscape does have good cookie management, although I like konquerors better.

What I always do with Netscape & Mozilla is symlink the cookies file to /dev/null
To requesting sites, it looks like you have cookies turned on, but they go straight to the bit bucket.