Help with cookies

Hi there, I posted something that Micah moved over to the spyware section and my cookie problem was never resolved. Thank you, Micah, for the hours of help you gave me. The computer works wonderfully well now without the spyware/malware/trojan except for the cookie problem. If I look for cookies, I find numerous cookies folders and scads of just plain cookies. However, when trying to log in to sites that cookies should be enabled on, I get the message that cookies have to be enabled (meaning they are disabled). When I go to tools/internet options/privacy or security/everything looks okay and should run. I have gone as far as running a repair on XP with SP2, and that has not fixed the problem. If I can solve the problem, I won't have to reinstall XP… otherwise, I am going to have to reinstall XP which means cleaning off the drive, moving files, yada yada yada… Help! Thanks, Anita

Hi Anita,

If I look for cookies, I find numerous cookies folders and scads of just plain cookies

What does your Cookie Wall look like, as far as the listing of Always Delete and Always Save.
http://www.analogx.com/contents/graphics/cookie.gif

Is it possible that (somehow) your Cookie Wall list has become "scrambled"?

I suppose that I'd Uninstall Cookie Wall, Delete all Cookies, in C:\Windows\Cookies and in the Saved files of your Cookie Wall application, then confirm IE settings to Default (or your preferred settings) then Reinstall Cookie Wall.

I'm aware that one of the reasons you have Cookie Wall in the first place, may have been to "preserve" some important cookies, such as those associated with PASSPORT, so you may want to allow selected Cookies to remain.

Do you Currently have a Hosts file in root of C:\

You may want to go to MVPSHostsfile to read up on Hosts File:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

Do you happen to have IESpyad?
Many folks installed it and forgot it long ago, but there can be conflicts with MVPSHostsfile, with Spyware Guardian, and with SpywareBlaster.

IESpyad often got installed in the root directory (usually C:\IESpyAd) and not in C:\Program Files\IESpyAd therefore People tend to overlook it in its installed location.

Read here regarding possible conflicts:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/uiuc/resource.htm
http://www.malwarehelp.org/how-to-effectiv…nt-iespyad.html



However, if you do decide to Reinstall……. Now is the time to do it, since you just got cleaned up with help from Micah. Therefore, you would be a good candidate for a Non-Destructive Repair Re-installation as described by Fred Langa. (You won't lose files and documents. You won't lose Drivers. You won't lose your preferences, etc. ) (Though I don't have more than 50/50 that this would help your Cookie problem)
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/sho…cleID=189400897

If you're wondering if there is something wrong with your Operating System, and want to find out… before resorting to a Re-install…
Run Window File Protection - System File Checker
Start - Run - (type)sfc /scannow

Then have your Windows installation CD handy in case SFC detects any missing or corrupt operating system files that need to be replaced from the original. (If you're running SP2 be sure to have the SP2 CD)

These are just a few things I'd consider before going to your bottom-line option of reinstalling XP.

Please let us know what you discover and what additional questions arise.
Hopefully we can get this fixed without a Reinstallation.

Best Regards

Hi Dough, Uninstalled cookiewall… it looked like a mess, but didn't change anything as far as using cookies. I will reinstall when this is all over with. No cookies file under D\: Windows– My C drive houses 98… No Hosts file under D\: Windows None of the mentioned spyware installed… Working on sfc /scannow at the moment… which is about 1/4 done. It will take some time for that to complete. Will report back when it is finished. Thanks, Dough. Anita

Hi Dough, Okay, ran sfc /scannow and it did something, although I am not sure what. Tried to log into Passport Network and got the same message: <> I still show no host file, or any cookie file under Windows, Windows/System, or Windows/System32. I think IE is hosed. Any other suggestions?? Thanks, Anita

Just for kicks and giggles,… and because it is generally more secure anyway, how about loading FireFox or Opera. Browse around a bit with FireFox or Opera to make sure you can do so using a different browser. If you can't browse with Firefox or Opera, then the problem probably isn't IE. (and of course, vice versa)

have wondered about both of those… got websites?? are they free? Anita

Yes, free.

Yes:
Opera: http://www.opera.com/

FireFox: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Enjoy!

will try firefox, I think. I have heard more of that than Opera. If I have no problems with it, do I just leave IE where it is?

If I have no problems with it [FireFox], do I just leave IE where it is?

Is there an option?

Seriously, yes. Just leave it where it is.
Please note that IE is so embedded in Windows that you just about can't remove it without breaking Windows.
Please also note that you had better get IE fixed, because Windows Updater only recognizes IE for Updates!

No easy outs on this one!

I just want to know if you can browse without IE, using FireFox.
Then we should get back to the serious work of fixing IE.

I use both FireFox and Opera over a few years and like both about the same.

Best Regards

Thanks, Dough, Will download firefox and see if I have problems and report back in a couple of days. I am really afraid I am going to have to to a reinstall on windows… It has been almost 3 years with no problems with it. I have read horror stories that it only lasted a few months. Oh, well. Will send a report after I use firefox. Anita

I don't need to wait a few days to see if Firefox works… No go when I type hotmail into the browser window to log in to read email… same "cookies need to be enabled message". Oh well, I do like the look of it! Next stop, reinstalling, I bet! Anita

Please give me a few moments before you launch with the reinstall. In the meantime, are you able to do any "general" browsing? Like to abcnews.com or yahoo.com or staples.com? I guess I know the answer to that, since you downloaded Firefox. So specifically, you only have trouble on the internet when you attempt to login to a website where you need to register or which has a specific cookie to identify you.?

Anita,

Do you know for sure that your ISP requires the PROXY settings that you have set?

as a follow up to installing FireFox, did you allow FireFox to "get internet settings from IE"?
(not the exact wording, but somewhat the message you would have had to answer during FireFox setup)

If so, then FireFox may also be being stopped by these proxy links. (I'm only speculating here, based on the assumption that you may not require proxy settings to get to the internet)

Open FireFox
Then Click on Tools - Options - then click on "Connection Settings
Please reply in this thread with the information in Connection Settings.
Primarily is it set to ???
-Direct Connection to the Internet?
-Auto-detect Proxy settings for the network?
-Manual proxy configuration?

Please consider the following– three step procedure.

Clear your JAVA Cache by going to Control Panel - double-click on - JAVA (or JAVA plug-in)
With your JAVA Control Panel open, Click on "Delete Files" (down toward the bottom of that screen)
next:
Try to access the internet, including a few sites that you have been unable to access.
next:
You need to update your JAVA anyway. Go to Control Panel - Add/Remove and completely uninstall JAVA.
Navigate to C:\Program Files\JAVA and delete any remaining files in java.
Navigate to C:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files\JAVA and Delete any JAVA related installation program.
Next:
Using Internet Explorer or FireFox, doesn't matter. go to: http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp and download/install JAVA for Windows

Best Regards

Anita,

Here is a paragraph that helps explain why I am even thinking about your proxy settings as possibly involved in your ability to access Hotmail and other sites requiring cookies.
An open proxy is a proxy server which will accept client connections from any IP address and make connections to any Internet resource. Abuse of open proxies is currently implicated in a significant portion of e-mail spam delivery. Spammers frequently install open proxies on unwitting end users' operating systems by means of computer viruses designed for this purpose. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) abusers also frequently use open proxies to cloak their identities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server

Because proxies might be used for abuse, system administrators have developed a number of ways to refuse service to open proxies. IRC networks such as the Blitzed network automatically test client systems for known types of open proxy [1]. Likewise, an email server may be configured to automatically test e-mail senders for open proxies, using software such as Michael Tokarev's proxycheck [2].

Groups of IRC and electronic mail operators run DNSBLs publishing lists of the IP addresses of known open proxies, such as AHBL, CBL [3], NJABL [4], and SORBS.

The ethics of automatically testing clients for open proxies are controversial. Some experts, such as Vernon Schryver, consider such testing to be equivalent to an attacker portscanning the client host. [5] Others consider the client to have solicited the scan by connecting to a server whose terms of service include testing.

A more knowledgeable Member will probably be able to punch holes in my logic and dismiss the issue as a wild goose chase, or hopefully assist in a specific fix.

Here's my thinking…. If your ISP does require Proxy server addresses in their internet access, then your two Proxy settings are OK, and I'm on a wild goose chase.

If, however, your ISP does not require or script Proxy server addresses to facilitate your internet access, then these Proxy settings might have been conveyed to you via "some other vector".
Your work in HJT would not have identified these "proxy settings" as malicious, since in and of themselves they are not. But they "could" be restricting your access to login identity password protected sites.

I don't know this to be a fact. I'm just asking. If you don't know, ask your ISP.

If they don't know, consider using IE Tools - Internet Options - Connections - connect directly to the internet.
If they don't know, consider using FF Tools - Options - Connections Settings - connect directly to the internet.

Best Regards

OK. I'm thinking it is a wild goose chase. Sorry. Of course, ATTBB.net refers to AT&T Broad Band services. Many, many HJT logs show the same entry without need to change it. But XP doesn't require the setting in Connection settings in order to connect to the internet.
You could try using "connect directly to the internet, as a possibility. Won't hurt…Might Help.

Morning, Dough, I had to go to bed last night and got your messages this morning. To address the questions: I can browse anything. Miraculously overnight, my ability in Firefox to get the cookies to Passport, hotmail, and tomcoyote.org, etc., are there. Missing is one from mycoke.com which says I have to enable cookies. When I went to hotmail, it didn't give me any message saying I had to enable cookies. It gave me my Passport login page. On tomcoyote my information was there patiently waiting for the click to log on… Specifically, the cookie problem is where I have to log in, or have had a cookie in place. So far, I have only found mycoke.com the only one that isn't working… I don't know about proxies, but I have direct connect checked on both browsers. We use Qwest MSN as our provider, and nobody in the house (we have 5 computers on a home network) has any problems. So it is machine specific. Nobody here uses MSN as their home page except me. I have always used the msn home page. I do have to reinstall cookiewall… I can do the reinstall on Java. I have noticed that a few places I go that uses Java is running slowly or not allowing me to use the page (specifically pages where one can put puzzles together like jigzone.com.) I browse to pages like that being a senior citizen. I like that you say that I need to update java anyway… Amazing what people know about others computers!! I can live with it this way but you said that I have to be able to install updates, etc. to keep things running smoothly. Is there a way to uninstall just IE and start that over with a clean slate? Regards, and thanks for all your help! Anita