Cookies and Temporary Internet files ...
This is a guess, but I think the cookies stored in the cookie folder get copied to the temporary folder. If you delete the tempoary folder completely (in DOS) and try surfing the web, your cookies will still be available: Not so the other way around.
I've tried deleting the temps and the cookies, connecting to the sites I want, shutting down, and saving the cookie folder contents. Later, I could copy this saved stuff back to the cookie folder. I'm left with no cookies beyond those I need (want). I found this too much bother for too little payoff, so I scrapped the idea. Besides, not needing to enter usernames and passwords makes them easy to forget. (Some people use the same username and password everywhere, but a compromise in one location could spell BIG security troubles.)
Re-formatting ...
Many recommend re-formatting periodically just to give the crap on your system the good-bye. The problem I have with this practice is that some systems are quite hard to re-establish. Sure, Windows can be re-installed from CD in a relatively straight forward manner, provided one has the Product-ID and knows the answer to the various questions asked along the way. The challenge comes when it's time to load the hardware support specific to your machine. The scramble for distribution CDs with various drivers, (some appropriate; some not) and mastering the diverse methods of installation each seems so fond of creating, tend to drive most sane people totally nuts. Once the OS is installed and configured, your application software needs installing too, and it's no easier. (I ALWAYS seem to overlook something! And it's usually important too!) Last time I did this, it took an unpleasant nine hours, plus fixing stuff off and on for the next few days --- and I recorded, on paper, ALL my settings.
Don't get discouraged.
Cheers, PW. |
