Broadband Tech > Security > Security > Cookie Pal - Big Problem

Cookie Pal - Big Problem

That's weird. I've been using cookie pal for months, and I can't say I'm having that problem. Something in your settings perhaps? How are you answering the cookie prompts? When it asks you if you want to accept the cookie are you just clicking reject or Never accept. CNN (to name but one site)is a real pain, lots of ads on the page, so you have to Click Never accept quite a few times, because not all the cookies are from CNN. Once you've rejected all the cookies that page is trying to give you, you should have no problem viewing the first page.
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My PC is currently more secure than my house!

Perhaps it's because I'm using cookiepal set up to reject all cookies?

If I was to set it up to prompt me and then I say never, it wouldn't happen? It's weird to think, though, that cookie pal would react differently if I reject all cookies by default vs having a cookie rejected from the always reject list.

Can someone else verify or not if the phenomenom happens to them as well? If you don't surf a similar way to me, you might not notice it.

Lex

ok, cariad, I installed cookie pal on another machine and left everything at the defaults (ie prompt me for cookies).

I went to cnn.com and espn.com about 3 times each to get all the cookies to appear and said never to each request.

Then, the same behaivor exists. I open one up window and load dslreports. Then I open a second window and start cnn.com or espn.com loading. I alt-tab back to the dslreports window, but 3 times during the loading of cnn or espn, that window comes to the forefront. I immediately alt-tab back to dslreports, but then I'm taken back to cnn again. This happens maybe 3 times while cnn is loading.

It's got to be each time a cookie is detected, I'm taken back to that page.

Perhaps you are just not understanding what exactly I'm doing. There is no way what I'm doing is out of the ordinary at all, but, to me, it makes cookie pal totally unusable.

Anyone else know what I'm saying? You just decided to live with it?

Lex

I know it's early Lex, and I'm still on my first cup of coffee, but yes I understand. . I really have no solution, just ideas. When I first went to CNN a few weeks ago, I was inundated with cookies, popping up from the ads on the page as well as cookies from CNN. Every time the alert popped up I clicked Never accept.
Just to make sure, I just went to CNN, no alert box popped up, no cookies were placed on my machine, as I'd previously set it to never accept. Went to espn, two alert boxes popped up, I clicked never accept and moved on, no more alert boxes.
I know CP doesn't work in IE6, but you've already stated you're using IE5.
Can't think of anything else to tell you. I'll monitor this post and see what other posters come up with. There's probably a simple explanation that I'm missing.
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My PC is currently more secure than my house!
[text was edited by author 2001-05-14 10:12:55]

reply to Lex Luthor
Lex, I had the same problem. I haven't found a cookie blocking program that DOESN'T do this. Soooooo, I don't use 'em.
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"Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings. They did it by killing all those who opposed them."

reply to Lex Luthor
Where's Pinan? (He loves Cookie Pal!). OK, are you using a Hosts file to block ads? I wonder if some of those cookies are coming from multiple ad sites on CNN and if you blocked the ad servers with a Hosts file, the problem might go away. Just a thought...

reply to Cariad
cookiepal is working just fine in blocking cookies and so forth, but it keeps making windows that are loading pages in the background to the active window each time it encounters a cookie request.

Here's maybe a better example to show where it gets annoying. Last night I was using espn.com to monitor to the score of a game. Every 30 seconds, it refreshes the page. I only wanted to look at the score every few mins or so. So I'm surfing other pages, completely ignoring the window with espn, BUT each time the page refreshed, it became the active page because cookie pal encountered a cookie and then it put the epsn page on top. No, there was no prompt at all or nothing for me to do, since I previously did reject all for that site, but it still works in some way that makes a page the active page each time a page attempts to store a cookie on my pc.

Maybe I'm just not making it clear. I positive it's nothing to do with my configuration and perhaps no one else either noticed this before or no one surfs in the same manner (ie reading one page, while another is loading), but I don't know how that really could be the case.

Thanks for the help, so far. I also wrote kburra. I'm guessing I'm going to have to give up cookie pal and try something else, but probably any cookie program that relies on the built in IE prompting will have similar behaivor.

Lex

ARGH! I guess wheelart replied while I was typing. Could have saved me a lot of typing..lol.

I just wanted confirmation that I'm not crazy. Like I said above, I'm sure if any program uses the ie prompt to detect a cookie, it would exhibit the same behavior.

What do you use then wheelart? I agree with you, though, that it makes any cookie program that works this way, unusable. It's way too much of an annoyance to live with.

Thanks!
Lex

I rely heavily on the hosts file. If it looks like an ad cookie, I look at the server it came from and slap it into the hosts file.
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"Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings. They did it by killing all those who opposed them."

reply to Lex Luthor
Hmmmmmmmm, interesting. I have no such problem with CP at all. I remember Wheelert getting warnings that would pop up behind a window, thus having to click on it again to bring it to the front, to "answer" it (or something like that). Then I had the same problem, though re-loading CP solved the issue. I use IE5.

Sorry, I can be of no help. I hope KBurra gets right back to you.
[text was edited by author 2001-05-14 11:50:24]

reply to wheelert$93

said by wheelert:

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Lex, I had the same problem. I haven't found a cookie blocking program that DOESN'T do this. Soooooo, I don't use 'em.

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Dumb question, but I couldn't resist -- why have CookieWall at all then?

Good point.. I just may not need it anymore since Web Washer is so good. Anyhow, back to the answer...

I was testing both simultaneously. Now that I have my findings on cookies, cookie wall can go.

CW is an excellent application though.

reply to R2
Hmmmm. Valid question.. I guess the answer would be so you don't HAVE to do the looking and adding. The program blocks for you at the very beginning.

Another reason would be that after a certain point, a huge Hosts file could slow you down some. I've noticed a performance hit on some sites as it goes through ALL the listings because of all the ads.
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"Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings. They did it by killing all those who opposed them."

reply to Lex Luthor
I thought about the slow down with using a large Hosts file, but then I discounted it. This is why: what takes more time, having your computer run through the Hosts file OR having to go out to your DNS server, find the address, have the address come back, and then going to the web site, and finally having the data return to your computer? I figured the Hosts file would be faster -- am I wrong?

I use CookieWall too -- and for pure simplicity and ease of use, I think it is great. I am not sure what the $$ buys me with CookiePal, so I use the free one!;)
[text was edited by author 2001-05-14 10:57:02]

pinion, please check again. Wheelart confirmed what I said. Maybe you can try some of the things I said and see if you get this window switching thing to happen to you. I tried it on 2 pcs and got the same thing.

I do like the way webwaser does cookies, it's perfect, but was hoping to not do it in a proxy fashion, like ww does. Webwasher seems to screw too much other stuff up. I am tempted to go back to it though if I don't find another way.

Both ww and a hosts file slow me down, I have found. I get no savings from not downloading the ads since I have a super fast connection. It uses up more resources on my pc then time spent just to get the ad.

Cookiewall and cookiepal work in 2 very different ways. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have the same problem with cookiewall, but I just don't like the fact that the cookies seem to get saved on my pc until I go into the program and delete the "new" ones.

Thanks again to everyone.

Lex

I have had great success with cookie pal. I do not block all cookies but in trying your ESPN example, I blocked ESPN and did not have the problem you are having. I normally will accept all cookies from sites like hotmail and others that are cookie dependent and block all cookies from secondary sites, and sites that I just visit. Is your version registered? As well if you are having a big problem with it try another porgram or the IE 6 beta...sort of an interesting approach to cookie handling with not a lot of versatility....it's fun to bang you head against the wall.

yes, it's registered.

You are saying that you open 1 window leave it blank, open another window, load cnn.com, alt tab back to the first window and while the cnn.com page is loading, your browser does not shift back to that cnn.com page 2 or 3 times?

That's exactly what happens to me. I'm guessing the each time it encounters a cookie, I'm reverted back to that page. It doesn't matter if the site is in the block list already or not.

No thanks on IE6 beta;).

Lex

reply to Lex Luthor
Ok. I opened several windows at once, then went back to the first one, and indeed, the last one opening sucked me into that page. I think this is what you mean. However, it does not bother me, as I don't usually surf like that. I suppose it's all in ones browsing habits/method. I don't think I have any favorite sites that refresh them selves either. I can see where that could be a pain. Chances are there is no "fix" yet.