Should I clean out cookies?

[B & A]

I may have cookies that are bringing in unwanted pop ups
and advertisements that say Internet Explorer Advertisement
in the top blue border.

Where do I find the cookies in Explorer?

Thanks
BA

 

[Guest]

Right click on Internet Explorer Icon
Chose Internet Properties
Press Settings button in centre of window

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi BA,

The cookies for each user are located in the "C:\Documents and
Settings\<user name>\Cookies" folder. They can all be deleted. Or you
can look though them and see if any belong to sites you frequent, and
save them. Some cookies hold information that can make browsing site
easier.

If you suspect add cookies then I would suggest doing some cleaning.

I would first suggest you start by doing a virus scan with up to date
virus
software, then scan for and removing any installed spyware.
If you are in need of virus software, here are a couple to choose
from, for free.
Download the software, and in Update Manager run Update
then do a complete virus scan.
Free Offer: eTrust EZ Armor Security Suite from Computer Associates
http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/index.cfm

Search and destroy Parasites/SpyWare/Malware/Adware:
Ad-aware is a free multi spyware removal utility that scans
your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware
components and lets you remove them safely. After installing
Ad-Aware make sure to run the update feature before scanning.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ For large amounts of installed
spyware and such, it may be necessary to run Ad-Aware several
times to clear them all.

Here are a couple more removal tools that should also be run.
CWShredder: http://aumha.org/freeware/freeware.php#cwshred

Spybot: http://www.safer-networking.org/

SpywareBlaster:
http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html
SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware – it
prevents it from ever being installed. SpywareBlaster is
a non memory resident utility. It works by setting a "kill bit"
for the CLSIDs of spyware ActiveX controls, it prevents the
installation of any of them from a webpage.

For more information:
The Parasite Fight:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

Cleaning a Pest-Infested Computer:
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm

 

[Guest]

Dear BA:

I use 3 different spyware programs and 2 Anti-virus programs to delete
cookies and spyware. In addition, I have some other folders that I empty out
on a daily basis. I just made a new folder that I named "Clean out Daily" on
my desktop (by right-clicking in an empty area of the desktop) and then went
to each of the following folders in my browser and dragged a shortcut to the
folder into the new one to create all the shortcuts from 1 folder.

Once that's done, go into each folder and highlight all of the files EXCEPT
the one at the bottom called "index.dat" and delete them. After each
individual folder has been emptied, hit the "Back" button and resume cleaning
until you are done. If anything goes wrong, you can always restore them from
the Recycle Bin.

Here are the Cookies/Temporary Tracking folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\cookies\
C:\Windows\Temp\
C:\Windows\Temp\Temporary Internet Files\

The following 3 folders require the "Show Hidden Files" feature to be turned
on in your browser because the "Local Settings" folder is hidden. (Note:When
you clean out each History folder, be sure and go inside EACH of the History
folders seperately when you empty them out and don't delete the entire
History folder itself):

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\History\
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp\
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\

This next History folder doesn't require the "Hidden files" feature to be
turned on:

C:\Windows\Temp\History

Good luck.
Big_Mack1