How to search cookies folder?

[Louisa]

Is there any way to search the cookies folder in Vista (or Windows 7)? In
Windows XP, I can search a specific folder and use part of the domain/site
name to find all cookies from the site (eg. microsoft*).

When I try this in Vista though, I never find anything. First of all,
typing cookies on the start menu is a blind alley. So, I navigate to the
cookies folder, type my search term in the search box and nothing is found.
When I click on the Advanced Search link and check the box to include
non-indexed, hidden, and system files, it still doesn't find anything.

How are people finding anything in Vista?

 

[Louisa]

I know where the cookies are; as I said I can navigate to it without any
problem.

I want to know how to search the folder...as I could do in Windows XP.

Louise

 

[Jim]

Is there any way to search the cookies folder in Vista (or Windows 7)? In
Windows XP, I can search a specific folder and use part of the domain/site
name to find all cookies from the site (eg. microsoft*).

When I try this in Vista though, I never find anything. First of all,
typing cookies on the start menu is a blind alley. So, I navigate to the
cookies folder, type my search term in the search box and nothing is found.
When I click on the Advanced Search link and check the box to include
non-indexed, hidden, and system files, it still doesn't find anything.

How are people finding anything in Vista?

D/l CookieWall from analogx , and it will show all cookies on the
system . ( Been using it for years )

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Louisa.

Have you tried Tools | Internet Options in IE?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

 

[Louisa]

I guess I'm not being clear, I know where the cookies folder(s) are in
Vista and how to display them. What I want to do is search within the
folder to find all cookies related to a specific site/organization. This
was a no-brainer in Windows XP search but I can't find a way to search the
folder contents in Vista.

Frequently, I don't know the actual name of the cookie(s), I just know that
the name will appear somewhere in the name. Just sorting on the name is not
enough because sometimes the site name will be combined with something else.

Am I really the only one who used Windows XP search to find things in the
Cookies folder? It's much more efficient than scrolling through the names
trying to find everything related to a problem and far less disruptive than
just deleting all cookies. What kind of "improved" search doesn't find
anything?

Louisa

 

[Retroman]

I guess I'm not being clear, I know where the cookies folder(s) are in
Vista and how to display them. What I want to do is search within the
folder to find all cookies related to a specific site/organization. This
was a no-brainer in Windows XP search but I can't find a way to search the
folder contents in Vista.

Frequently, I don't know the actual name of the cookie(s), I just know that
the name will appear somewhere in the name. Just sorting on the name is not
enough because sometimes the site name will be combined with something else.

Am I really the only one who used Windows XP search to find things in the
Cookies folder? It's much more efficient than scrolling through the names
trying to find everything related to a problem and far less disruptive than
just deleting all cookies. What kind of "improved" search doesn't find
anything?

Hello Louisa,

Here is what works for me in Vista SP2:

In the Start menu search window, I type
shell:cookies
and press Enter. That opens Explorer to the correct folder.

In the search window, I type
micro
No wild card is needed. That returns my Microsoft cookies.

Doug M. in NJ

 

[Louisa]

Hi Doug,

Thank you for the instructions. That is exactly what I want to do...but
search never finds anything; even when I click the Advanced Search link and
check the box to include non-indexed, hidden, and system files. Something
is obviously wrong but I'm mystified as to how to troubleshoot it. Do I
have to change the search or indexing defaults to find cookies?

Thank you again for understanding my query.

Louisa

 

[Retroman]

Hi Doug,

Thank you for the instructions. That is exactly what I want to do...but
search never finds anything; even when I click the Advanced Search link and
check the box to include non-indexed, hidden, and system files. Something
is obviously wrong but I'm mystified as to how to troubleshoot it. Do I
have to change the search or indexing defaults to find cookies?

Thank you again for understanding my query.

Louisa

You are quite welcome, Louisa. I struggled with Search myself after
moving to Vista. I may not be able to fix your problem but here are a few
settings that are easy to check:

Type "Folder" into the Start menu and click on "Folder Options". In the
dialog, click on the Search tab. The settings that I have enabled are:

What to Search: the top item.
How to Search: the top two items only.
When Searching non-indexed locations: the top item (this one is
important).

There are other search options in the Customize Start Menu dialog, but
they only affect the Start Menu. Since we are using Explorer to search,
they are not relevant. The Cookies folder is not indexed (nor is the
parent AppData folder), so indexing settings are not relevant here either.

You might also want to verify that you have the current version of Search
installed: go to Control Panel - Programs - Programs and Features -
Installed Updates. Scroll down to the end of the list and verify that
"Windows Search 4.0" is shown. If not, download it from Microsoft. Early
versions of Vista used version 3, which had some problems.

It's worth mentioning that Search is now word-based (as opposed to
character-based), so your search term should be a word that follows a
break, like a punctuation mark, a space, or the @ symbol. For example,
you won't get results if you pick a string within a word (like "roso" when
searching for "microsoft"). But searching for "micro" works in cookie
file name searches because it is preceded by the @ symbol.

If still no joy, I don't know what else to suggest. I assume that the
cookies in question can be seen in your folder. I'm using Vista Home
Basic SP2 with all updates.

Doug M. in NJ

 

[Brent]

Wild-carding is required when the specified search string does not match
the beginning of an indexed pattern.

For example, "micro" will return "Microsoft", but "soft" will not unless
prefixed with a wildcard ( "*soft" ).

 

[Louisa]

It doesn't matter, I can type the whole word microsoft in the search box
while in the cookies folder and search won't find anything at all. I can
scroll down the list when the complete contents are displayed but search
won't find them.

I'm at my wits end here. Search never finds anything I need. I don't
understand how this is supposed to be an improvement over Windows XP. I
never had any problem finding things with it and in 18 months of using Vista
I don't think I've ever found anything with search.

Louisa

 

[Retroman]

It doesn't matter, I can type the whole word microsoft in the search box
while in the cookies folder and search won't find anything at all. I can
scroll down the list when the complete contents are displayed but search
won't find them.

I'm at my wits end here. Search never finds anything I need. I don't
understand how this is supposed to be an improvement over Windows XP.

Louisa, I assure you that Vista search works just fine with cookies for
most people, so the problems you are having cannot be with search on Vista
per se. You could have a bad or missing registry entry, or a conflict
with another application.

There is a dedicated Microsoft support forum for Windows Search questions,
monitored by the Microsoft developers. You might try posting there:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsdesktopsearchhelp/threads/

Good luck,
Doug M. in NJ