What are cookies?

The cookies are small pieces of information (text) that are created by Web sites that you are visiting and are send to your browser (Internet Explorer) along with the Web pages that you are viewing. Some of these cookies are saved to your hard disk and when you visit again the Web site that generated them your browser sends these cookies back to this Web site.

The purpose of the cookies is one of the following things:

To notify the Web site that you visited it in the past. This information can be used to block some one-time services (for example Web pools, one-time promotional services, etc.). To remember your user name and password so that you don't need to enter them the next time when you visit this Web site. To remember your personal information that is important to the Web site you are visiting. It can be your name, personal preferences, advertising information, etc. To show you a different ad each time when you visit the site or similar ads to one that you clicked in the past.

As you can see there are plenty of ways for cookies to threaten your privacy. Even if it seems that the purpose of some cookies is innocent they still reveal the fact that you have visited the Web sites from which the cookies came. Also notice that the Web site that generated a cookie can change its content each time when you visit the site. Cookies remain on your computer as long as their creator decides. Some cookies exist only when you are on their web site but other can stay on your PC virtually forever.

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Delete cookies
What are cookies?
How to see my cookies?
How to delete cookies?
Multi-page version of this article
What are cookies?
The cookies are small pieces of information (text) that are created by Web sites that you are visiting and are send to your browser (Internet Explorer) along with the Web pages that you are viewing. Some of these cookies are saved to your hard disk and when you visit again the Web site that generated them your browser sends these cookies back to this Web site.

The purpose of the cookies is one of the following things:

To notify the Web site that you visited it in the past. This information can be used to block some one-time services (for example Web pools, one-time promotional services, etc.). To remember your user name and password so that you don't need to enter them the next time when you visit this Web site. To remember your personal information that is important to the Web site you are visiting. It can be your name, personal preferences, advertising information, etc. To show you a different ad each time when you visit the site or similar ads to one that you clicked in the past.

As you can see there are plenty of ways for cookies to threaten your privacy. Even if it seems that the purpose of some cookies is innocent they still reveal the fact that you have visited the Web sites from which the cookies came. Also notice that the Web site that generated a cookie can change its content each time when you visit the site. Cookies remain on your computer as long as their creator decides. Some cookies exist only when you are on their web site but other can stay on your PC virtually forever.

You can use Mil Shield to delete the cookies while keeping some of them (some decent and useful Web sites doesn't work without cookies). Mil Shield cleans also the content of index.dat files, history, temporary Internet files and many other tracks.

How to see my cookies?

Cookies are kept in special folder on your hard disk. Location of this folder depends on the version of Windows and whether or not you are using user profiles (accounts). If you have Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows NT or Windows 95 then cookie folder is in one of these locations:

C:WindowsCookies
C:WindowsProfilesCookies

Note that on your computer the Windows directory may not be C:Windows but some other directory. If you don't have Profiles directory in you Windows directory don't worry - this just means that you are not using user profiles.

If you have Windows XP or Windows 2000 then cookie folder is in this location (note that on your PC it can be on other drive instead of drive C):

C:Documents and SettingsCookies

If you have only one user account on Windows XP or Windows 2000 then replace with Administrator to get the paths.