A guide to cookies and forums

The most common reason for a repeatedly failed log in to a forum is a corrupt cookie. Try the following methods to rectify this problem.

What the hell is a cookie?

A cookie is a file that resides on your computer, created by a website you visit. The information stored in the cookie is useful because it allows the website to recognise you when you visit again.

If you are worried about cookies being used maliciously, run a scan using Ad-Aware (downloadable from www.lavasoft.com), which will advise you to delete any suspicious cookies.

Quick way to reset the cookie

Try logging into the forum by not ticking the "Remember me" box. If you successfully log in, then tick the "log out" link again to force a log out. Then try to log in again by ticking the "Remember me" option. This process should set a new cookie.

If that doesn't work, ensure cookies are activated

In your web browser, check your Internet Options (usually in the Tools menu) and look at the Privacy settings. By default, your browser should be set to accept cookies, but if privacy settings are set too high, or if the browser has been manually told to reject cookies, you should change the settings.

Also, make sure any toolbars, such as Google, Yahoo or Alexa, haven't separately been set to reject cookies. You will have to check their option settings.

Manually deleting a cookie file

If you are still having problems, try manually deleting the relevant cookie file. You can find the cookie file by opening My Computer and then clicking on C Drive > Documents and Settings > User folder > Cookies

Inside the Cookies folder, look for a file whose name contains the domain name of the website you are having problems with. You may find more than one such file. When you find it/them, manually delete it. Then try to log into the website again.

If you can't see the Cookies folders

Your Cookies folder may be hidden. This is a default Windows setting. Open up any folder on your desktop, then at the top of the window, click on Tools > Folder Options.

In Folder Options, click on the View tab, then look for the "Show Hidden Files and Folders" tick box and tick it. If you have Internet Explorer 7 installed, you should also untick the "Hide Protection Operating System Files". This will then make the Cookies folder and its files visible.

Still stuck? This link should help you

Here's a guide to deleting cookies on all browsers, for Mac and PC.
www.aboutcookies.org