# Computer cookies quesion



## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

I have windows professional 7 on a desktop computer.
I have AVG as a security, free edition.
I do not want to switch browsers. Nor do I want to upgrade
to windows 10 or whatever is available now. I like my system as it is.

So AVG tells me this morning, I have 105 tracking cookies on my system.
And AVG keeps asking me to upgrade my package with them.
To pay so much a month , times either 12 or 24 months at a time for
better security. So is their plans worth it ?

I have it set up in internet options to delete cookies on exit, currently.
I did a manual cookie delete yesterday but only frustrated myself
because I also knocked out my url list of sites I go to often. So I had to pin
some of them in the little box, where I go to bring up my websites I want to visit.

Please don't get too technical with me. My brain is on overload lately.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I wouldn't pay for Avast just to get rid of tracking cookies.

Why are you concerned with tracking cookies? You don't like the idea of a tracking cookie, or are they creating a problem for you?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

ladytoysdream said:


> Nor do I want to upgrade
> to windows 10 or whatever is available now. I like my system as it is.


I was going to leave that alone, but something needs to be said about Windows 7.

Windows 7 is safe to use right now because Microsoft is still providing update support, at least for the time being. But come January 2020 (10 months from now) update support will end. What that means is that vulnerabilities discovered after that date will not be patched by security updates, making your system vulnerable to compromise. That will make your computer dangerous to use for online activities like web browsing and email.

Windows 7 will be fine for the next year but you need to come up with a plan to migrate to something secure sometime in the next year. Note that Windows 10 is now free to use unregistered. If you don't migrate to something else in the next year then tracking cookies will be the least of your problems.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

10 ain't bad


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

I have both Firefox and Chromium (open source version Chrome) and run a third party cookie auto-delete extension on both. You can whitelist sites if you so choose so cookies persist, but otherwise it accepts all cookies when entering a site and auto deletes them when you leave the site. You dont have to think about it.

Having build up of cookies in your system does slow things down as every site seems to want to examine and keep track of your cookies as your personal info is monetarily valuable to them. If you are still trying to use some old version IE, then there probably no help for you.

Dont get scared off when Microsoft no longer supporting an operating system if you dont use the built in browser/email/etc they included with the system. What is real danger and death knell of an operating system is when you can no longer get an up to date browser for it. Lot more important that the browser is up to date than the operating system. Try finding a modern browser for XP or VISTA! That is what is killing them off, not any non-support by Microsoft. Well that and hardware that can run them is getting old and dying off.

If you care about your privacy win10 is a big swiss cheese of an operating system. Most of holes can be plugged but this involves blocking updates and all contact with any Microsoft server via firewall.

Microsoft also did its best to prevent removal of its "metro apps" on updated versions of win10. I have older unupdated version on couple computers. With "Cortana and the Metro-apps" completely removed and its phoning home blocked, its ok, run like this, it shows that it could been a good system but greed always seems to get in the way. Once I got the windows Kindle app to work via WINE (windows emulator) in linux, I rarely use win10. The Kindle app and tax software only real reason for me to use it at all. I much prefer Puppy Linux. Tax software is only run once a year so no reason to spend lot time to try and get it working via WINE, just run it on win10, and not use win10 until the next year.


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## ladytoysdream (Dec 13, 2008)

I don't do our taxes on this computer. I did them at a local place in town that
offers free taxes if one is low income. I can do my own if they get me into the
website that I need. Then the lady there checks the work, and it gets filed.
They want me to volunteer some time there during tax season. So far, I haven't.

Well the cookies were not bothering me too bad. A wee annoying sometimes.
So yesterday when on another website, but what shows across top of the screen,
but a banner for a local business that I had been researching.
A family member had to hire a lawyer to get out of a lease from the guy who owns that 
website. So no way, do I want that website tracking cookie on my machine.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> Dont get scared off when Microsoft no longer supporting an operating system if you dont use the built in browser/email/etc they included with the system.


I use Chrome & Thunderbird for browsing & email, but I still keep my operating system up to date. Windows security updates are the primary line of defense for Windows users. You don't want to end up like Jen on IT Crowd.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Nevada said:


> I use Chrome & Thunderbird for browsing & email, but I still keep my operating system up to date. Windows security updates are the primary line of defense for Windows users. You don't want to end up like Jen on IT Crowd.


Sure that lady on Jen's computer hiding her browser in video isnt Cortana? Yep, Cortana the primary line of defense for Windows users! LOL But who defends you against Cortana and her Metro-app minions?

Cortana and her newest movie release, Despicable Me 4......... coming to a windows computer near you!


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

ladytoysdream said:


> I don't do our taxes on this computer. I did them at a local place in town that
> offers free taxes if one is low income. I can do my own if they get me into the
> website that I need. Then the lady there checks the work, and it gets filed.
> They want me to volunteer some time there during tax season. So far, I haven't.
> ...


You didnt say which browser you use, but for Firefox (on Mozilla site) and Chrome/Chromium/Iron (all three use same Chrome extensions from Google store), there as I say a free browser extension that will auto delete cookies. It works much better than the browser setting which for whatever reason doesnt eliminate all cookie build up. 

My suggestion, dont pay anybody for security software. There are several free virus/malware ones and they are going to be just as good as the pay ones. The big thing is to use some common sense. Lot scam email especially. Its designed to snag people in hurry and not paying close attention cause it mimicks real websites, etc. Never click on a link in an email, go through your browser to that site and they will have contacted you via your account THERE.

Also use a good free ad and script blocker. There are several. Ghostery probably least effort though you need to not just choose standard option setup, you want to choose the options yourself and uncheck any existing whitelist. Ublock and NoScript take lot more effort on your part. There are also specialized scripts that can be run via TamperMonkey or GreaseMonkey extensions. Yea it can get complicated if you really get serious. 

But run the cookie autodelete and ghostery extensions for your browser and it will help some.


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## weaselfire (Feb 7, 2018)

For the OP's question - AVG is not that good for security. A whitelist based program like PC Matic is a better option, or run a combination of programs to hit all bases.

Windows 7 has some serious security issues and you had better be keeping up with updates for as long as they last.

Jeff


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

I've been wondering: If operating systems that are no longer supported by Microsoft are SO dangerous, do the few folks who still try to use Windows XP or 2000 or (God forbid) ME get bombed with viruses every day?

Or do the folks who write viruses move on to whatever the latest operating system is?


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Could you elaborate a little on the following statement?



Nevada said:


> Windows 10 is now free to use unregistered.


How does it work?

How does one get it?

What is the effect of Windows 10 being unregistered vs registered? 

Second question for you folks who migrated from Windows 7 to Windows 10 (skipping Windows 8 and 8.1), how much of your installed software did you lose?

I am not talking about photos and documents in "My Documents". 

I am concerned about losing my retail box version installation of MS Office, and Adobe Pro that I may no longer have the installation package for or that may not allow me to reinstall it.

I am also concerned about losing some freeware downloads. Some of what I use is no longer available but work just fine on my Windows 7 PC.

I am a little worried that some of my hardware (e.g., a printer, modem, or router) may not have Windows 10 drivers available.

Basically, it is a fear of the unknown. I've been bitten before on system upgrades.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

NRA_guy said:


> How does it work?
> 
> How does one get it?
> 
> What is the effect of Windows 10 being unregistered vs registered?


Sure. First, download the Windows 10 install media from this link (it's big, about 3 GB).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Click the button that says "Download tool now" to get the Windows 10 install media that you want. Then run the program you just downloaded. Select your language preference and whether you want 32-bit or 64-bit. You can choose to download either an iso file so you can burn your own bootable DVDs, or it will create a usb Windows 10 installation drive.

Early in the install process it will ask for a product key. Leave the product key field blank and click the link in the bottom-right that says "I don't have a product key". The install will then continue normally without a product key.










You are free to use Windows 10 unactivated for as long as you wish. The difference is that you'll have a watermark at the bottom-right of your desktop that says to "Activate Windows, Go to settings to activate Windows." You will also not be able to personalize the appearance with custom themes and other visual enhancements.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

NRA_guy said:


> I've been wondering: If operating systems that are no longer supported by Microsoft are SO dangerous, do the few folks who still try to use Windows XP or 2000 or (God forbid) ME get bombed with viruses every day?
> 
> Or do the folks who write viruses move on to whatever the latest operating system is?


Ok, been longer than I probably realize, but there for a while I had an ancient AST laptop with win95, THE ORIGINAL UNUPDATED WIN95, the kind you installed via floppy disks, the original version that didnt come with IE preinstalled. Hey this laptop had lot proprietary stuff with no drivers for anything else. Win98 way too slow on it. I think I did try linux at one point and it had black and white screen image that was also fuzzy, didnt have drivers for the proprietary stuff AST used. So win95 it was. Oh I do think win3.1 might been option, but... At that time the ONLY modern browser that worked on it was Opera. This was back when Opera browser was independent and not a Chrome clone. It was handy for email and light browsing.

Ok this was when most people had XP I think. So my win95 gets a virus. It was annoying but also funny. It obviously was a virus needing a fast modern windows computer to go unnoticed. On my antique it just slowed everything to an absolute crawl making itself very noticable. It wasnt worth trying to track it down, I just reinstalled win95 and Opera and went on my merry way. This laptop was just mostly an email checker, so reinstalling system was just bit time consuming, didnt lose any data as nothing was stored on it.

But yea to answer your question, virus and malware is written to affect the most computers possible. They dont target antiques hoping to find some sucker still trying to limp by with a system nobody else is using. Oh sometimes there is overlap, like with my win95 laptop, but they werent targeting win95 computers, it just happened to still be able to install itself and run on win95. Same reason you rarely get virus for linux workstation computer. There are some worms and maybe virus for linux servers since they are very popular, but it would be really lot work for very little effect to write a virus for a linux workstation computer. You want to attack the system the vast majority are using. I imagine lot effort going into attacks for popular phone operating systems. More so than even win10.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Nevada said:


> Sure. First, download the Windows 10 install media from this link (it's big, about 3 GB).
> 
> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
> 
> ...


If you block win10 from phoning home via firewall, the watermark goes away and once again you can change wallpaper. Win10 at that point cant contact the activation server so just assumes the server is down. Or alternatively there is a free third party software that can get rid of the watermark. Way to go is to block it phoning home or updating itself.

Still dont see point of win10 unless you just absolutely have to use it for some software. Linux lot less bloated and easier and you can get latest browsers for it, same ones you run on win10. So if you just want to surf internet and do email, linux fine. If you are a gamer or need to run some specific windows software, then win10 probably makes some kind of sense.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

HermitJohn said:


> If you block win10 from phoning home via firewall, the watermark goes away and once again you can change wallpaper.


There are a number of ways around it. But I don't see it as a big deal. I could easily put up with a watermark, in fact I'd probably display it as a badge of honor. And I certainly wouldn't pay over $100 just for the privilege of installing custom themes.



HermitJohn said:


> Still dont see point of win10 unless you just absolutely have to use it for some software.


Using Windows isn't as important to me as it used to be. I use it because I'm used to it, Windows is an extremely mature product, and I still have a lot of people who call me for support help. I don't know why people call me for support; all I can think is that I must have done something awful in a previous life.


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## 101pigs (Sep 18, 2018)

HDRider said:


> 10 ain't bad


I had problems with 10. So now back to 8.1 . I did have a problem with google chrome search. Another program moved in and took my search over. Took about 4 hour to get it back to normal. Other wise all is fine. I don't use cookies unless i have site that ask for it to use for one time. Other wise i have a program that blocks cookies. I also use Bing as search engine some times.
Other folks have had problems with Google chrome also. Hope they solve that search problem. I do like Google the best for search engine. I have AVG. However it did let one bug in that took over Google Chrome search. What is PC Mate. Does it work with windows 8.1 and with AVG also. I have used AVG for years without a problem. Until last week when that other bug took over my search engine. I do use the free AVG.

I have used a few programs that is suppose to clean up your computer and get rid of all the crap that builds up on it. However each time i use one it deletes a lot of stuff i use. So now i don't use them anymore and my compute is full of stuff i don/t use. There use to be a program that came with the computer that you could run that combined all the program in sink so they didn't take up so much space. I can't locate that program on this newer computer and winders 8.1. Does anyone know if there is a program like that old one that combined stuff so computer had more free space on it. If to much stuff gets spread out on computer it slows it down.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Nevada said:


> Using Windows isn't as important to me as it used to be. I use it because I'm used to it, Windows is an extremely mature product, and I still have a lot of people who call me for support help. I don't know why people call me for support; all I can think is that I must have done something awful in a previous life.


Karma is a b.... And yea for most part even latest version win10 isnt that different from VISTA except for all the added spying and marketing garbage. Win10 once all the marketing/spying nonsense is removed or locked down, actually a very nice, cooperative, and speedy operating system. I was surprised how much I liked it like that. But run like Microsoft wants you to run it and its downright painful, slow, and obnoxious, especially on slower computers with lower resources, cause first and foremost it puts Microsoft profits ahead of any user needs. The user is the product.


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

So . . . did y'all have to reinstall purchased software like Adobe Pro and MS Office that you ran under Win 7 when you upgraded to Win 10?

What about freeware that you had with Win 7? 

Did you have to reinstall either kind of software (free or purchased) . . . or did they just transition automatically to run under Win 10 without reinstallation?

Thanks.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

NRA_guy said:


> So . . . did y'all have to reinstall purchased software like Adobe Pro and MS Office that you ran under Win 7 when you upgraded to Win 10?
> 
> What about freeware that you had with Win 7?
> 
> ...


Generally Windows applications are pretty good about staying intact during a Windows upgrade. I wouldn't be concerned about that. But it's always nice to start with a fresh Windows install when you can.

While the free Windows 7 to Windows 10 upgrade offer officially expired a long time ago, it still works. Read this before trying.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

You can upgrade from win7 or win8 to win10. But back when Microsoft was trying to do that without permission, just as an upgrade to win7 and win8, many people had to reformat and reinstall win10 from scratch for best results.

Actually even if you have win10 now and want updates, you might be better off blocking automated updates and just downloading a complete fresh version win10 from Microsoft website once a year and doing a from scratch install. You then get a version with all the current updates already part of it and supposedly working correctly with everything else. trusting the automated updater stuff to remove and add just right things for everything to work together properly maybe asking too much.


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Thanks everybody for the guidance and insight.

Would something like this work (to transition from Win 7 to Win 10)?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgrade-yo...750207?hash=item4b5e3f3e3f:g:-Y4AAOSwS3lcTMqu

I have the Win 7 key for my existing PCs.

I would maybe spend the money ($139.00) for the following if I knew It would go painlessly:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/windows-10-home/d76qx4bznwk4/1NT3?icid=All_WindowsCat_0518

Bill Gates figured out that he could get rich by selling periodic upgrades to the operating system that forced users to buy new hardware (so hardware manufacturers would love Microsoft.)

And hardware manufacturers helped Gates get rich by selling devices with the latest version of Windows.

New operating system requires--->New hardware requires--->New operating system requires--->New hardware requires--->New operating system requires--->New hardware requires--->etc.

Truthfully though, most upgrades are faster, more powerful, and more user friendly than their predecessor. 

By the way: I cut my teeth on an IBM XT with a 10 MB hard drive and 128 KB of RAM running DOS before Microsoft bought DOS and replaced it with MS DOS. That was before Windows existed.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Personally I would put in spare hard drive to your computer, doing nothing to current one other than removing it. Then do fresh install as Nevada suggested. BEFORE PAYING ANYBODY ANY MONEY. Then see first how it does on your computer and whether you like it. If you dont like it just put your old hard drive with win7 back, no harm no foul. If you do like win10, you can try upgrading your win7 though I doubt you will be happy doing it like that. And if you just insist on enrichening Bill Gates, then buy it and let it officially activate. I strongly suggest not establishing an official Microsoft account, but just install win10 with a local account on your computer only. Course if you want to play their profit game with you as their product, then thats your business, you will need a M$ account to do that.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

NRA_guy said:


> Would something like this work (to transition from Win 7 to Win 10)?
> 
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgrade-yo...750207?hash=item4b5e3f3e3f:g:-Y4AAOSwS3lcTMqu


Don't pay anyone anything. Just upgrade according to the instructions I posted for you.


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## NRA_guy (Jun 9, 2015)

Nevada said:


> Don't pay anyone anything. Just upgrade according to the instructions I posted for you.


Got it! 

And a sincere thanks again for all of your help on this as well as previous PC problems.


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