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Q:  Within my temporary internet files folder (IE 8) resides a pesky group of cookies that simply will NOT be deleted, leaving me feeling somewhat defeated.  I’ve gone the tools, internet options route, the “delete all cookies” route, and even tried safe mode but safe mode doesn’t even allow me to navigate to this folder.  Any advice? Interestingly, all of the cookie:username@insertaddress were all last accessed in May and Sep of last year.  No problems with the machine at all, just this pesky housekeeping frustration.

– Bill R.
Fort Walton Beach, Florida

A:  Cookies don’t use any significant system resources.  They aren’t really in your way unless you’re digging around in folders that are generally reserved for the system’s use.  In fact, by and large, you wouldn’t even know they were there unless you intentionally went looking for them.  Your system is working perfectly fine.  All things considered, this seems like a real non-problem.  Nevertheless, I guess I’m game.  Few things frustrate me more on a computer that I bought and paid for than an obstinate operating system telling me I “can’t” do something for no good reason.

At their heart, cookies are nothing more than files on your hard drive.  As such, they have an assigned location (drive letter, and folder path) which you obviously know, since you’ve been tinkering with them.  You say you can’t navigate there in Safe Mode.  I’d be willing to bet that what you really mean is that at some point during navigation, the next directory level in the hierarchy simply doesn’t show up in Explorer.  No problem.  Did you try going directly to the folder you want?  That is to say, entering the complete folder path straight into the address bar, rather than trying to navigate the hierarchy.  When you’re dealing with areas of the drive that Windows thinks belong to it, it often chooses to not display things that it doesn’t want you poking around in.  It’s not an issue of permission; it just chooses not to display them (they are probably marked with the System attribute).  If you know the folder name, and go straight to it, Windows is a bit more cooperative.  Try it, and you might be able to delete these pesky cookies.

If not, and you absolutely insist on rocking this boat until you fall out, you can try the venerable old DOS prompt, better known as the command prompt in latter versions of Windows.  Using the CD command (change directory) you can navigate anywhere you like.  The DIR, or directory command shows you the contents of your current location.  You can use DIR’s /AD option to see only directories.  The DEL command will delete files.  ATTRIB will change file attributes if the files are marked as read-only.  You can use DOS’s HELP facility to get more information on any of these commands.  Remember that DOS is cryptic and very powerful, and you can damage your system very easily with it, so proceed carefully, and think twice about entering any command (particularly the DELete command) until you’re sure you know exactly what it will do.

TIP OF THE WEEK: Windows XP Support Ending.  As you probably know, Microsoft is planning to discontinue support for Windows XP next month, despite the fact that it is still operating nearly 30% of the Windows-based PCs currently fielded.  If you are an owner of one or more of these machines, what does this mean to you?  Well, first and most importantly, it does not mean your computer will suddenly stop working on April 8^th.  It does mean, however, that Microsoft will no longer issue patches and security fixes for XP.  The net result is that from April 8^th forward, every new bug and security issue that is discovered will never be fixed.  Depending on the severity of new issues as they arise, this could leave Windows XP-based machines vulnerable to hacker attacks, data theft, and all those nasty things we constantly fight against.  The bottom line is that your XP-equipped PC and the personal information it contains will be at increasing risk after April 8^th, and the only way to protect yourself is to upgrade your operating system, which for many will mean simply getting a new computer.  Thanks, Bill!