What Are Cookies, and How Do They Work?

A cookie is a small file that is placed on the users hard drive and is used to store bits of information. Cookies help web sites keep track of information for you, such as the contents of your on-line shopping cart. For this web site, the information is only stored until you close the browser.

When you are using the default cookie settings, this activity is invisible to you, and you won't know when a site is setting a cookie or when your browser is sending a web site's cookie back.

To check/change your Cookie preferences

In Firefox 1.0 for Windows:
1. On the Tools menu, click Tools.
2. Click on the Privacy panel, and then click on the Cookies tab.
3. Select "Allow site to set cookies". You can also select "for the originating site only" and "Keep Cookies: until I close Firefox".

In Firefox 2.0 for Windows:
1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click on the Privacy panel.
3. Under Cookies, Check "Accept cookies from sites ". You can also select "Keep until: I close Firefox".

In Firefox 1.0 for Mac:
1. On the Firefox menu, click Preferences.
2. Click on the Privacy panel, and then click on the Cookies tab.
3. Select "Allow site to set cookies". You can also select "Keep Cookies: until I close Firefox".

In Firefox 2.0 for Mac:
1. On the Firefox menu, click Preferences.
2. Click on the Privacy panel.
3. Under Cookies, Check "Accept cookies from sites ". You can also select "Keep until: I close Firefox".

In Internet Explorer:
1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. Click the Privacy tab.
3. Move the slider up for a higher level of security or down for a lower level of security.

To specify custom security settings for the selected zone, click the Advance button. To set the options for a particular security level back to their original settings, click the Default Level button.

In Netscape:
1. Open the Edit menu and choose Preferences.
2. Under the Privacy & Security category, click Cookies. (If no subcategories are visible, double-click Privacy & Security to expand the list.)

In Safari:
1. On the Safair menu, click Preferences.
2. Click on the Security panel.
3. Under Cookies, "Accept cookies from sites you have navagated to".