Cookies

This site uses cookies in order to save the items in your shopping basket. They must be enabled in order for the basket to work.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a text file that gets entered into the memory of your browser. This value of a variable that a website sets. If the lifetime of this value is set to be longer than the time you spend at that site, then this string is saved to file for future reference.

How do I set my browser to accept cookies?

Both Internet Explorer and Netscape allow some level of cookie verification. They both have menu options that allow you to accept all, some, or none of your incoming cookies. In addition, the "warn before accepting" feature is present in both, if you want to screen your incoming cookies.

• In Netscape, go to the Edit/Preferences/Advanced menu. Your cookie choices can be changed there.

Microsoft has changed their approach to cookies over the last 3 versions of their browser. This is a reflection of how cookies have been thrust into the limelight of privacy on the Internet:

• In IE 6.0/7.0, go to the Tools/Internet Options/Privacy menu. This menu allows you to select how discriminating the browser will be when accepting cookies, based on two factors -- (1) the source of the cookie, and (2) whether the source has a "privacy policy." There are also features for the advanced user, if you'd like to have a greater control over cookies.
• In IE 5.0, go to the Tools/Internet Options/Security menu. In there, you can choose the security level for 4 different browsing conditions: Internet Sites, Local Sites, "Trusted" Sites, and Restricted Sites. If you select "Internet," and click on Custom Level, you'll get a dialog box where you can accept all, warn before accepting, or reject all cookies.
• In IE 4.0, go to the View/Internet Options/Advanced menu. There you can accept all, warn before accepting, or reject all.
  

Cookies are on. What's wrong?

You may be running software that interferes with cookie usage. There are many filtering and blocking software packages available for Internet users these days, and many of them also filter cookies. If you are running software like this, then your computer may not receive or send cookies. This will cause sites you visit to assume you are not accepting cookies.

Finally, your machine may be behind a firewall or proxy server that prevents cookie transmission. This is most likely in a corporate environment. So, regardless of how your browser is set, cookies won't be sent or received by your browser. Since the cookies aren't making it through to your browser, the Web Site will assume you personally aren't accepting them.

Are Cookies Dangerous to My Computer?

NO. A cookie is a simple piece of text. It is not a program, or a plug-in. It cannot be used as a virus, and it cannot access your hard drive. Your browser (not a programmer) can save cookie values to your hard disk if it needs to, but that is the limit of the effect on your system.

Will cookies fill up my hard drive?

Both Netscape and Microsoft have measures in place that limit the number of cookies that will be saved on your hard drive at one time.

Both Internet Explorer and Netscape conform to the RFC 2109 limitations on your total cookie count to 300 (this includes a limit of 20 cookies per individual domain). If you exceed this, the browser will discard your least-used cookies to make room for the new ones.

Microsoft saves cookies into the "Temporary Internet Files" folder, a system folder that you can set the maximum size of (the default is 2% of your hard drive).

In any event, remember that most cookie files are 4KB or smaller, so you would need about a million cookies to fill up a 4GB drive. This is incredibly unlikely.