Cookie Management

Wondering what everyone out there does in the way of managing cookies, to determine what is actually the very best route to take....

Do you use one of the numerous software components like "Cookie Manager" or "Cookie Wall "? If so, which, and which one is supposedly best? AND, do you use more than one concurrently to offset deficiencies?

Or, do you just use something simplistic (but maybe not thorough?) like: IE Tools | Internet Options | Security tab | highlight Restricted Sites | click Sites, then in the line "Add this web site to the zone" enter *.doubleclick.net, etc.....???

Is there already a RELIABLE analysis published on this subject?

 

My method is even more simplistic; I simply allow all which are first-party and block all which are third-party.

Take a look at my second post in this thread.

 

I do "manage" cookies if only because I don't like all those unneeded entries clogging up the viewable contents of my Temporary Internet Files folder. I also don't see the need to add all those unnecessary files to the Windows\Cookies folder

PLUS, I don't like the idea of being tracked or ID'ed, whether or not it is actualy harmful. I keep a few cookies for sites I visit often, like the ones for this board, but all the rest I restrict or periodically clear out.

For Internet Explorer 5.5 sp2 I do use the Restricted Sites approach but additionally, I run
Spybot SD every so often and from there I can remove all Internet Explorer Cookies except for ones which I've checked in Spybot's "excluded cookies" setting.

In Netscape Communicator 4.79 I've made the User profile file "cookies.txt" read-only. This works beautifully, allowing me to run NS4.79 with cookies enabled without actually picking up any new cookie entries. I've thought to do the same with Mozilla 1.0.1 (similar to Netscape 7) but that has a built-in Cookie Manager which I occasionally use to whittle down the number of cookies and restrict certain sites from ever setting cookies again.

PS. MORE INFORMATION on cookies here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;260971

 

keywester--A cookie manager that is really simple is Cookie Jar
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/cookiejar.asp
It shows you what cookies have been added to your PC since the last time you used it and allows you to choose to keep or delete.
It runs only when you click on it.
Of course, it won't hurt to put sites from which you know you do not want cookies in your Restricted Sites. And, yes, I have the first party/third party settings suggested by brett. How you make the settings depends on your version of IE.