Tracking Cookies ~What are these strange things called tracking cookies, can you eat them? Why do I keep hearing about them & are they harmful to my computer?

First off left me explain what they are & what we do with them.

Cookie: First & foremost you can not eat it. A cookie is a file a text file that sits on your pc that stores information on what is called a temporary file or folder about your web surfing. If you log in to say your mail this cookie stores your user name & password on your computer so you do not have to re-type it every time you log in to the site you want to log into.

Tracking Cookie: A tracking cookie is something people or marketers use to track your surfing activity. When you go on a page the tracking cookie tracks your surfing activity. Many people delete their tracking cookie as soon as they find them on their pc & trust me they are there. I really don't mind them because I do not have to spend hours trying to remember where the heck I put that password reminder. It's up to you how you handle tracking cookies.

If you use someone else's computer or even a public computer it's a good idea to dump the temporary files on that computer so no one can come after you & use that information that may be stored on that computer through a tracking cookie.

Here is a very simple explanation of how to dump these temporary files.

1. Go to your START button

2. Go to your CONTROL PANEL

3. Click on INTERNET OPTIONS

4. Under the GENERAL TAB you should see

BROWSING HISTORY

(Delete Temporary files, history, cookies, saved pass words & web form information)

If you want to delete them BEWARE you will have to retype all your passwords on your personal computer! Other wise go ahead & delete them. You can only set them to be deleted every so often if you like.

5. Go to COOKIES & click delete.

You can also do this under the TOOLS tab on your web page while you are surfing the net.

1. Go to Tools

2. Go to Internet Options

3. Under the GENERAL TAB you should see

BROWSING HISTORY

(Delete Temporary files, history, cookies, saved pass words & web form information)

If you want to delete them BEWARE you will have to retype all your passwords on your personal computer! Other wise go ahead & delete them. You can only set them to be deleted every so often if you like.

4. Go to COOKIES & click delete.

I hope this helps answer your questions about tracking cookies & why you can not eat them lol. Thanks for reading & have a great day!

Thank to your post I am adding this section.

To find a hidden tracking cookie go to:

1. Go to my computer

2. tools

3. folder options

4. show hidden folders

There are different programs out there to help you keep your computer cleaned up. Some programs can find and remove tracking cookies below is a list of programs that claim to do just that.