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Deleting Cookie Files

Posted By : Jacqueline of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on June 11, 2001

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I have cookies which will not delete? I have tried and they will not purge. How do I delete them

This question was answered on June 11, 2001. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.


Thank you for submitting your question There are a couple of places to look for cookies C:\Windows\Cookies directory or folder, the C:\windows\Profiles folder or the C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files It is not advised to delete the index.dat, this is the Access Automatic File Controller which is needed Before deleting any cookies, make sure that you close your browser When the browser is open during this process it can cause problems and make the browser unstable.I found an interesting website regarding your question I have included the article for you to review For the full version of this article please refer to: http://www.paperdots.com/cookie.html _____________

For IE Users

A Desktop Cookie Solution

Copyright 1999, 2000 by Curt Berresford

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If you use Internet Explorer, web cookies are stored in a folder called Cookies located at C:\Windows\Cookies Inside are two data files, Mm2048.dat and Mm256.dat As you accumulate web cookies, they are stored along with the data files in the Cookies folder.

Microsoft has decided not to allow you the ability to permanently delete the two dat files, nor to change the attributes of the Cookies folder No one seems to know their reasoning for this But there is something you can do.

Locate the Cookies folder in Windows and make a shortcut to the folder Place the shortcut on your desktop Double click the shortcut to open the folder Inside you'll see the Mm2048.dat and Mm256.dat files, plus any cookies you've picked up while surfing.

Select Edit/Select All to highlight everything in the folder Then select File/Delete to delete them all The Mm2048.dat and Mm256.dat data files will be magically recreated by Internet Explorer, but the cookies will be removed to your Recycle Bin where you can delete them.

As you surf the Web, more cookies will accumulate in the Cookies folder, so make it a habit of opening and deleting the contents at the end of each surfing session You may not be able to delete the folder contents while you are surfing

Although web sites will still be able to track your movements during any one session, deleting the folder contents each day or after each online session will stop them from keeping a long term eye on you.

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For IE Users

Cookie Adventures With Internet Explorer

By David Powell, Vancouver, Canada

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I was poking around on my hard drive one time and discovered two curious files in my windows\cookies folder They are Mm2048.dat and Mm256.dat I opened them and found that Mm256.dat contained traces of my internet browsing activities.

Since I don't like the idea of someone being able to look at a file on my drive and see where I've been, I wanted to delete this stuff, even though I didn't really know what purpose these files served (apparently, these files are not actual cookies, although I read that 256.dat grows as you surf).

I found that Windows prevented me from either deleting or editing them So, I turned to the internet for info A brief hunt on the Microsoft site revealed nothing, and I found very little on these files elsewhere (www.cookiecentral.com has some info).

So, what to do? It occured to me that I could delete these files before Windows loads by placing a command to delete them in my AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

del c:\windows\cookies\*.txt (which deletes the actual cookies)

and

del c:\windows\cookies\*.dat, which kills the .dat files

You could also simply use the command "del c:\windows\cookies\?*.*"

Windows then makes fresh, empty copies of the 2 .dat files as it loads.

I have included two other sites which refer to deleting your cookie files One was from our own database You can find these at:

http://computerproblems.com/answer.cfm?AnswerID=5140&QuestionID=5202&CatID=20

http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq/#2.10

Hope this helps your solution for deleting your cookie files.

About the author

Posted by Jacqueline of Chandler-Gilbert Community College on June 11, 2001

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