I regularly go to a website that places a tracking cookie on my
computer.
I can delete the cookies in Internet explorer by going to the tools
button/ Internet options and deleting files ( all offline content) and
also all temporary internet files and then clicking OK. However, when
I go back to the site it still recognizes my computer and shows my
status as, "signed in." However, when I shut down the computer after
following the above
mentioned procedure and then
reboot, and then go back to the site , the site no longer recognizes
my computer. What I
would like is a way to do this without having to shut down the
computer. Please advise how this can be done. I am running Windows 98. |
Request for Question Clarification by
directrix-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 13:56 PDT
May I ask what website you're referring to? Perhaps they have a "log
out" feature that you're missing. As this would most likely delete the
cookie.
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Request for Question Clarification by
tisme-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 13:59 PDT
Giving us the website would allow us to investigate better for you as
directrix said. Also, have you considered the possibility that they
are tracking you by your ip address? I am not sure what internet
connection your are using, but rebooting your computer might be
refreshing your ip address. You can use http://www.whatismyip.com to
test this theory. This method is less common, but is used by some
websites to identify returning guests.
tisme-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
havequestions-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 14:21 PDT
The website is Ebay.
I have a static IP.
Thanks
|
Clarification of Question by
havequestions-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 14:49 PDT
I know that Ebay has a sign out feature on their homepage. However, I
am looking for a way to be able do it locally in my computer. Thanks.
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Request for Question Clarification by
tisme-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 14:57 PDT
Have you tried deleting the cookies and then completely closing your
browser? It could be that the cookie information is still stored in
memory, but I am thinking that closing the browser should prevent ebay
from identifying you.
tisme-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
tisme-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 15:01 PDT
PS: I did test logging into ebay and removing my cookies. Then I went
back to ebay and ebay could still identify me. But after closing the
internet explorer 6 and logging back in, ebay could no longer identify
me.
tisme-ga
|
Hello havequestions,
I do believe that I have the answer to your question, so I am going to
go ahead and answer your question.
I checked the Microsoft Support database and found that Microsoft
Internet Explorer uses two types of cookies, namely "Persistent"
cookies and "Per-Session" cookies.
"Per-session cookies are used to store state information only within a
session. These cookies are cached only while a user is visiting the
Web server issuing the per-session cookie and are deleted from the
cache when the user closes the session."
SOURCE: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;223799
"Persistent cookies are stored for a length of time that is set by the
Web server when it passes the cookie to Internet Explorer. These
cookies are used to store state information between visits to a site."
SOURCE: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;223799
What is interesting about these two cookie types and ebay, is that
Ebay uses them BOTH, and you have the option to use whichever cookie
type you want.
Bear with me and I will attempt to explain what my investigation has
unearthed.
First, let's define an Internet Explorer session: When you open
Internet Explorer from the start menu or desktop, you have started a
new session of Internet Explorer. When you click on the File menu
inside internet explorer and click on New > Window, you have opened a
new window in the same internet explorer session. However, when you
click on the Start menu and click on Internet Explorer again, you have
opened a new session of internet explorer that runs in its own memory
space, and is NOT included in the other Internet Explorer session.
Ebay and PER SESSION cookies:
1. First clear all your cookies and open up Internet Explorer.
2. Click on Sign In.
3. Enter your User ID and Password. Do NOT check "Keep me signed in"
at the bottom.
4. Click on Sign In.
5. At this point, as soon as you close your browser OR open a new
Internet Explorer session (From the Start Menu or Desktop) the cookie
will be gone. This is a PER SESSION cookie that will last only as long
as you keep your Internet Explorer window open. You can not get rid of
this cookie by deleting your cookies.
Ebay and PERSISTENT cookies:
1. First clear all your cookies and open up Internet Explorer.
2. Click on Sign In.
3. Enter your User ID and Password. DO Check the "Keep me signed in"
at the bottom.
4. Click on Sign In.
5. At this point, as long as you keep the cookie on your computer, you
will automatically be signed in. The interesting part is that you can
now CLEAR your cookies and WITHOUT closing your internet explorer
session, Ebay will stop identifying you. PERSISTENT cookies only work
as long as the cookie is on your computer, whereas PER SESSION cookies
work until you close the open session of Internet Explorer.
OTHER SOURCES: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;196955
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;223799
Please let me know if you need any clarifications and I will do my
best to further assist you.
tisme-ga
Search Strategy:
testing using IE6 and using http://support.microsoft.com |
Clarification of Answer by
tisme-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 15:28 PDT
Just to clarify something under Ebay and PER SESSION cookies:
5. At this point, as soon as you close your browser OR open a new
Internet Explorer session (From the Start Menu or Desktop) the cookie
will be gone.
(The cookie will be gone in the NEW session but NOT in the old session
until you close that session of IE OR log out using the Log Out Ebay
feature in that session.)
tisme-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
havequestions-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 17:45 PDT
I have IE 5.5 installed. Even after I close the explorer and then open
it again and delete the cookies, Ebay is still able to identify me. I
need to know where I can find all the cookies that Ebay has stored on
my computer and then delete them without shutting down the computer. I
do know that signing off from the Ebay main page does the trick but
what I want do to is find where Ebay stores the cookies and then
delete them locally. Thanks
|
Clarification of Answer by
tisme-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 18:05 PDT
Is there anyway you can download Internet Explorer 6 to see if that
solves the problem?
Also have you tried rebooting and then using the "Keep me signed in"
selection and then cleared your cookies? I am confident that they
should be gone then.
What version of Windows are you using? The only thing that can keep a
per session cookie alive is for it to stay in memory somehow. The only
way to get rid of it would be to somehow access your RAM memory and
remove it. Closing Internet Explorer is supposed to do this
automatically.
You could try experimenting with a RAM cleaner (you can find some
here: http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=ram&tg=dl-2001) but I
think that if you were to use the PERSISTENT method of logging into
ebay, it would solve your problem instantly. As soon as you clear your
cookies from your hard disk, the login information would then be gone.
tisme-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
tisme-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 18:38 PDT
I also want you to try using CTRL-ALT-DEL and then doing an "End Task"
on all iexplore.exe. Maybe for some reason closing internet explorer
still leaves the task open?
tisme-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
havequestions-ga
on
03 Aug 2003 20:18 PDT
Maybe ebay is tracking me via the IP address. However, I would still
like to know where all the cookies ( "per-session", persistent and
whatever other type) are stored in my computer and how I can find and
locally delete them ( my original question.) Thanks.
|
Clarification of Answer by
tisme-ga
on
04 Aug 2003 00:01 PDT
Hello havequestions,
Actually Ebay is NOT tracking you by IP address. Basically the
Persistent cookies are stored in your Windows Cookies folder. I still
am not sure exactly what operating system you are using so I cannot
tell you the exact path of the folder.
The "Per Session" cookies are stored in your computers RAM and not on
the hard disk. These cookies can be deleted by EXITING completely from
Internet Explorer and then opening it up again.
In my answer I have explained the scenario ebay uses to decide what
cookie to plant on your computer. The only way to "delete" the cookies
is to A) close the session completely (for per session cookies) and B)
remove the cookie from your computer (for persistent cookies).
I hope this clarifies it for you,
tisme-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
havequestions-ga
on
04 Aug 2003 10:09 PDT
As you will notice in the original question, I am running Windows 98.
Thanks
|
Clarification of Answer by
tisme-ga
on
04 Aug 2003 11:29 PDT
In Windows 98, the cookies folder should be at C:\Windows\Cookies\
tisme-ga
|
