About Web Browser Cookies

A cookie is a cute little name, for a tiny little text file. As you search the World Wide Web, your browser collects these cookies along the way and stores them on your personal computer's hard drive. Theoretically, the whole scenario plays out in the hopes of loading web pages quicker, along with other preferred content. Unfortunately, web browser cookies are not always as sweet as they are intended to be. Too many of them stored on your computer at one time, can wreak havoc, actually creating the opposite effect. The result is a computer that runs as slow as molasses.

Identification

Web browser cookies come in two different varieties. The first is called a session cookie. These cookies are only temporary and are erased the minute you close your browser and discontinue your web session. The second type is known as a persistent cookie. Persistent cookies are not temporary and actually remain on your computer's hard drive for an extended period of time. The expiration time of a persistent cookie depends on the website that creates it, in some instances lasting much longer than the computer user desires.

Considerations

Websites that send out web browser cookies actually do so as a kind of courtesy to repeat viewers. Randomly generated file strings are created that have no bearing on your personal information or search habits. More importantly, any additional information that a cookie may contain besides the recognition of your web browser, is information that has been directly inputted by the computer's user. A web browser cookie may contain a profile that is based on submission forms that the user filled out while viewing the website, such as name and contact information. This information is usually encrypted and not able to be seen by anyone other than the content producer of that website.

Prevention/Solution

For those uncomfortable with the idea of web browser cookies and what they stand for, there is a preventative solution. The acceptance of web browser cookies by your web browser can be disabled by adjusting the settings. The browser tools settings can be found on the toolbar at the top of the browser page. By clicking on the tools tab, a drop down box will appear that will display another tab that reads "Internet options." It is inside this tab that the advanced privacy settings can be changed, including the complete disabling of cookies.

Misconceptions

Contrary to popular belief, cookies are not dangerous infections sent to your computer to shut you down and render your computer unworkable. Actually, cookies themselves are relatively harmless, but it is the responsibility of the computer's owner to see to it that the temporary files on the hard drive do not get bogged down with a an excessive amount of them. And cookies also have no way of knowing who you are, where you live, what kind of car you drive, or the amount of your net worth. They are just files, and are not in anyway related to spy ware.

Warning

An overabundance of expired cookies can exhaust a computer's capabilities, making a trip through cyberspace a lot less enjoyable. For this reason, web browsers offer a neat little tool that will allow you to randomly delete all of your existing cookies, at will. By clicking the tools tab at the top of the web browser's toolbar, and opening a second drop down menu, the user can then click on delete browser history. It is there that all of the past cookies that are causing your system to slow down, can be deleted for good. Just remember, once the cookies are deleted websites that you have visited will not remember you. This goes for any screen name or passwords that were previously saved.