CyberAbc

gr8......... :cwrocks:

hey bro r u running windows xp/win7? if it is on xp try this one method 1 go to controll panal>>windows firewall>>advanced>>icmp settings if “allow incoming echo request”box is checked then clear it and if not i prefer u should click restore defults… method 2 http://www.troublefixers.com/fixed-generic-host-process-for-win32-services-encountered-a-problem-and-needs-to-close-svchostexe-error/ alternative u may als visit http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391

gr8 collection bro. :cwrocks:

may be the file u hav downloaded is corrupted or if u hav downoaded the file from torrent is not completed. did u check the hash after downloading ur file?

bro fisrt try to make the iso then transfer on usb. after burning u may only able to see a few file and the rest files r visible in mac.use a 8.5gb dvd dual layer disk to write the dmg content. alternatively u may use transmac pro in windows to mount dmg file in windows. :cwrocks:

Open UltraISO options> GO to configurations and then click on the tab integration. From the list select DMG extension and hit OK. Now you can convert your ISO file directly to DMG.

bro u probably downloaded a ghost image of windows, u may get ur dvd burn by daemon tools/alcohol/ashampoo/imgburn/power iso/magic iso/nero whichever is ease to u. alternatively u may download a xp/win7 from our cwupload section which will relieve all ur problem. :cwrocks:

yes i agree with admin.Rapidshaare is the best. :cwrocks:

bro if i am not norton ghost is a third party RIS(remote installation service) like win2k3 or WDS in win2k8. u may find a bootable norton ghost disk here. if u not i will upload for u . Njoy! alternatively u may use hirenbootdvd proteus version 15.1 where u will find norton ghost in this package.

bro check my post for forgotten password for windows. there is a detailed description of how to. Njoy!

gr8 upload and gr8 news.

Try the key provided by vigneshnallamad first. I hav a key also. plz chack ur pm.....

use passware kit enterprise as it has gr8 success rate with respect to other rar pass remover software.

bro google has everything means every database that u cant imagine. Just u to hav to search the things in a proper way. be specific to ur file with exact format and exact location. tell google the exact phrase u search for.

u r most welcome bro.

Adobe used to be good software. Sometime it is very annoying for updating the program automatically. So to get rid of that annoying update program, there are two options 1)remove Updater.api from C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 10.0\Reader\plug_ins 2)disable Adobe Reader Update Manager Another option is to carefully edit the registry. 1. Choose Start > Run. 2. Type regedit in the Open text field, and then click OK to start the Windows Registry Editor. 3. In the Registry Editor, make a backup copy of the registry by choosing Registry > Export Registry File. In the Export Registry File dialog box, choose a location and type a name for the backup file, and then click Save. 4. Locate and select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\ key. 5. Right-click on updateMgr, choose Delete and click Yes. 6. Restart your computer. Cheers!

just go through this site and u will find ur staffs all here http://tuts4you.com/download.php

1.just copy the code and paste it as anything.bat but for making things easier to remember i prefer the following name "Stop Automatic Updates.bat" net stop wuauserv 2.now run the batch file as administrator and enjoy.

thank u bro...... :cwrocks:

Almost Every file format in the world! A ABK Corel Draw AutoBackup ACL Corel Draw 6 keyboard accelerator ACM Used by Windows in the system directory ACP Microsoft Office Assistant Preview file ACT Microsoft Office Assistant Actor file ACV OS/2 drivers that compress and decompress audio data AD After Dark screensaver ADB Appointment database used by HP 100LX organizer ADD OS/2 adapter drivers used in the boot process ADM After Dark MultiModule screensaver ADP Used by FaxWorks to do setup for fax modem interaction ADR After Dark Randomizer screensaver AFM Adobe font metrics AF2 ABC Flowchart file AF3 ABC Flowchart file AI Adobe Illustrator drawing AIF Apple Mac AIFF sound ALB JASC Image Commander album ALL Arts & Letters Library AMS Velvert Studio music module (MOD) file ANC Canon Computer Pattern Maker file that is a selectable list of pattern colors ANI Animated Cursor ANS ANSI text API Application Program Interface file; used by Adobe Acrobat APR Lotus Approach 97 file APS Microsoft Visual C++ file ARC LH ARC (old version) compressed archive ARJ Robert Jung ARJ compressed archive ART Xara Studio drawing ART Canon Crayola art file ASA Microsoft Visual InterDev file ASC ASCII text ASD WinWord AutoSave ASM Assembler language source file ASP Active Server Page (an HTML file containing a Microsoft server-processed script) ASP Procomm Plus setup and connection script AST Claris Works "assistant" file ATT AT&T Group 4 bitmap AVI Microsoft Video for Windows movie AWD FaxView document B BAK Backup file BAS BASIC code BAT Batch file BFC Windows 95 Briefcase document BG Backgammon for Windows game BI Binary file BIF GroupWise initialization file BIN Binary file BK Sometimes used to denote backup versions BK$ Also sometimes used to denote backup versions BKS An IBM BookManager Read bookshelf BMK An A bookmark file BMP Windows or OS/2 bitmap BM1 Apogee BioMenace data file BRX A file for browsing an index of multimedia options BSP Quake map BS1 Apogee Blake Stone data file BTM Batch file used by Norton Utilities B4 Helix Nuts and Bolts file C C C code CAB Microsoft cabinet file (program files compressed for software distribution) CAL CALS Compressed Bitmap CAL Calendar schedule data CAS Comma-delimited ASCII file CAT IntelliCharge categorization file used by Quicken CB Microsoft clean boot file CCB Visual Basic Animated Button configuration CCF Multimedia Viewer configuration file used in OS/2 CCH Corel Chart CCM Lotus CC:Mail "box" (for example, INBOX.CCM) CDA CD Audio Track CDF Microsoft Channel Definition Format file CDI Phillips Compact Disk Interactive format CDR Core Draw drawing CDT Corel Draw template CDX Corel Draw compressed drawing CEL CIMFast Event Language file CFB Comptons Multimedia file CFG Configuration file CGI Common Gateway Interface script file CGM Computer Graphics Metafile CH OS/2 configuration file CHK File fragments saved by Windows Disk Defragmenter or ScanDisk CHP Ventura Publisher chapter CIL Clip Gallery download package CIM Sim City 200 file CIN OS/2 change control file that tracks changes to an INI file CK1 iD/Apogee Commander Keen 1 data file CK2 iD/Apogee Commander Keen 2 data file CK3 iD/Apogee Commander Keen 3 data file CK4 iD/Apogee Commander Keen 4 data file CK5 iD/Apogee Commander Keen 5 data file CK6 iD/Apogee Commander Keen 6 data file CLASS Java class CLP Windows Clipboard file CLS Visual Basic Class Module CMD Command file for Windows NT (similar to a DOS .BAT file) CMD DOS CP/M command file CMD dBase-II program file CMF Corel Metafile CMP JPEG Bitmap CMP Address document CMV Corel Move animation CMX Corel Presentation Exchange image CNF Configuration file used by Telnet, Windows, and other applications CNM Windows application menu options and setup file CNQ Compuworks Design Shop file CNT Windows (or other) system content files for the help index and other purposes COB trueSpace2 object COD Microsoft C compiler output as displayable assembler with original C as comments COM Command file (program) CPD Fax Cover document CPE Fax Cover document CPI Microsoft MS-DOS code page information file CPL Control Panel extension CPL Corel colour palette CPP C++ code CPR Corel Presents Presentation CPT Corel Photo-Paint image CPX Corel Presentation Exchange Compressed drawing CRD Cardfile file CRP Corel Presents Run-Time Presentation CRT Certificate file CSC Corel Script CSP PC Emcee On-Screen image CSV Comma-separated values file CT Scitex CT Bitmap CTL Used in general to mean a file containing control information. CUE Microsoft Cue Cards data CUR Windows Cursor CUT Dr Halo bitmap CV Corel Versions archive CV Microsoft CodeView information screen CWK Claris Works data file CWS Claris Works template CXX C++ source code file D DAT Data file DAT WordPerfect Merge Data DBF Aston-Tate dBASE database DBX DataBeam image DCR Shockwave file DCS Desktop Color Separation file DCX Fax image (based on PCX) DDF BTRIEVE database DEF SmartWare II data file DEF C++ Definition DER Certificate file DIB Device-Independent Bitmap DIC Dictionary DIF Data Interchange Format spreadsheet DIR Macromedia Director file DIZ Description file DLG C++ Dialogue Script DLL Dynamic-Link Library DMF X-Trakker music module (MOD) file DOC FrameMaker or FrameBuilder document DOC WordStar document DOC WordPerfect document DOC Microsoft Word document DOT Microsoft Word document Template DPR Borland Delphi project header file DRV Driver DRW Micrografx Designer/Draw DSG DooM saved game DSM Dynamic Studio music module (MOD) file DSP Microsoft Developer Studio project DSQ Corel QUERY file DSW Microsoft Developer Studio workspace DWG AutoCAD drawing eXchange format DXF AutoDesk Drawing Interchange format E EMF Enhanced Windows Metafile ENC Encore file EPS Encapsulated PostScript image ER1 ERWin file ERX ERWin file EVY Envoy document EWL Microsoft Encarta document EXE Executable file (program) F F FORTRAN file F77 FORTRAN file F90 FORTRAN file FAR Farandole Composer music module (MOD) file FAV Microsoft Outlook navigation bar FAX FAX Type image FH3 Aldus Freehand 3 drawing FIF Fractal image file FITS CCD camera image FLC AutoDesk FLIC animation FLI AutoDesk FLIC animation FLT Corel filter FLT StarTrekker music module (MOD) file FMB Oracle binary source code for form, version 4.0 and later FMT Oracle text format of form, version 4.0 and later FMT Microsoft Schedule+ print file FMX Oracle executable form, version 4.0 and later FOG Fontographer font FON System font FOR FORTRAN file FOT Font-related file FP FileMaker Pro file FP1 Flying Pigs for Windows data file FP3 FileMaker Pro file FPX FlashPix bitmap FRM Form FRM FrameMaker or FrameBuilder document FRM Oracle executable form version 3.0 and earlier FRM Visual Basic form FRM WordPerfect Merge form FRX Visual Basic form stash file G GAL Corel Multimedia Manager album GCP Ground Control Point file used in image processing of remote sensing data . GED Graphic Environment Document (drawing) GEM GEM metafile GEN Ventura-Generated text file GFC Patton&Patton Flowcharting 4 flowchart file GFI Genigraphics Graphics Link presentation GFX Genigraphics Graphics Link presentation GID Windows 95 global index file (containing help status) GIF CompuServe bitmap GIM Genigraphics Graphics Link presentation GIX Genigraphics Graphics Link presentation GNA Genigraphics Graphics Link presentation GNX Genigraphics Graphics Link presentation GRA Microsoft Graph GRD Grid file, used in image processing of remote sensing data often to form map projections. GRP Program Manager Group GTK Graoumftracker (old) music module (MOD) file GT2 Graoumftracker (new) music module (MOD) file GWX Genigraphics Graphics Link presentation GWZ Genigraphics Graphics Link presentation GZ Unix Gzip compressed file H H C program header HED HighEdit document HEL Microsoft Hellbender saved game HEX Macintosh BinHex 2.0 file HGL HP Graphics Language drawing HLP Help file HOG Lucas Arts Dark Forces WAD file HPJ Visual Basic Help Project HPP C++ program header HQX Macintosh BinHex 4.0 file HST History file HT HyperTerminal HTM Hypertext document HTML Hypertext document HTX Extended HTML template I ICA Citrix file ICB Targa bitmap ICM Image Color Matching profile file ICO Windows Icon IDD MIDI Instrument Definition IDQ Internet Data Query file IFF Amiga ILBM IGF Inset Systems metafile IIF QuickBooks for Windows interchange file IMA WinImage file IMG GEM image INC Assembler language or Active Server include file INF Information file INI Initialization file INP Oracle source code for form, version 3.0 and earlier INS InstallShield install script INS X-Internet sign-up file ISO Lists the files on a CD-ROM; based on the ISO 9660 CD-ROM file system standard ISP X-Internet sign-up file ISU InstallShield uninstall script IT Impulse Tracker music module (MOD) file IW Idlewild screensaver J JAR Java ARchive file (a compressed file for applets and related files) JAVA Java source code JBF Paint Shop Pro image browser file JFF JPEG bitmap JIF JPEG bitmap JMP SAS JMPDiscovery chart-to-statistics file JN1 Epic MegaGames Jill of the Jungle data file JPEG JPEG bitmap JPG JPEG bitmap JS JavaScript source code JTF JPEG bitmap K KDC Kodak Photo-Enhancer KFX KoFax Group 4 image KYE Kye game data L LBM Deluxe Paint bitmap LDB Microsoft Access lock file LEG Legacy document LHA Alternate file suffix for LZH LIB Library LIS Output file produced by a Structured Query Reporting (SQR) program LOG 1. Log file LOG 2. Log file used by pokerstars for errors in their poker software LPD Helix Nuts and Bolts file LRC Intel Video Phone file LST List file LWO Lightwave Object file LWP Lotus Wordpro 96/97 file LZH LH ARC compressed archive LZS Skyroads data file M M3D Corel Motion 3D animation MAC MacPaint image MAD Microsoft Access module MAF Microsoft Access Form MAK Visual Basic or MS Visual C++ Project MAM Microsoft Access Macro MAP Map file MAP Duke Nukem 3D WAD game file MAQ Microsoft Access Query MAR Microsoft Access Report MAS Lotus Freelance Graphics Smartmaster file MAT Microsoft Access Table MAX Paperport file MAZ Hover maze data MB1 Apogee Monster Bash data file MCC Dialer10 calling card MCS MathCAD image MCW Microsoft Word for Macintosh document MDA Microsoft Access add-in MDB Microsoft Access database MDE Microsoft Access MDE file MDL Digital Tracker music module (MOD) file MDL Quake model file MDN Microsoft Access blank database template MDW Microsoft Access Workgroup MDZ Microsoft Access wizard template MED Music Editor, OctaMED music module (MOD) file MER Format for interchanging spreadsheet/database data; recognized by Filemaker, Excel, and others MET Presentation Manager metafile MI Miscellaneous MIC Microsoft Image Composer file MID MIDI music MMF Microsoft Mail File MMM Microsoft Multimedia Movie MOD FastTracker, StarTrekker, Noise Tracker (etc.) music module file MOD Microsoft Multiplan spreadsheet MOV QuickTime for Windows movie MPE MPEG animation MPEG MPEG animation MPG MPEG animation MPP Microsoft Project file MPP CAD drawing file format MP3 MPEG Audio Layer 3 (AC3) file MSG Microsoft Mail message MSN Microsoft Network document MSP Microsoft Paint bitmap MTM MultiTracker music module (MOD) file MUS Music MVB Microsoft Multimedia Viewer file MWP Lotus Wordpro 97 Smartmaster file N NAP NAP Metafile NCB Microsoft Developer Studio file NSF Lotus Notes database NST Noise Tracker music module (MOD) file NTF Lotus Notes database template O OBD Microsoft Office binder template OBD Microsoft Office Binder OBJ Object file OBZ Microsoft Office Binder Wizard OCX Microsoft Object Linking and Embedding custom control OFN Microsoft Office FileNew file OFT Microsoft Outlook template OKT Oktalyzer music module (MOD) file OLB OLE Object Library OLE OLE object OPT Microsoft Developer Studio file ORG Lotus Organiser file OR2 Lotus Organiser 2 file OR3 Lotus Organiser 97 file P P10 Tektronix Plot 10 drawing PAB Microsoft Personal Address Book PAK Quake WAD file PAL Windows colour palette PAT Corel Draw pattern PBK Microsoft Phonebook PBM Portable Bitmap PCD Kodak Photo-CD image PCL HP Laserjet bitmap PCS PICS animation PCT Macintosh PICT drawing PCX ZSoft PC Paintbrush bitmap PDF Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format or Netware Printer Definition File PDF Package Definition File from Microsoft Systems Management Server PDQ Patton&Patton Flowcharting PDQ Lite file PFA Type 1 font (ASCII) PFB Type 1 font (binary) PFC PF Component PFM Printer Font Metrics PGL HP Plotter drawing PGM Portable Graymap (bitmap) PIC PC Paint bitmap PIC Lotus picture PIC Macintosh PICT drawing PIF Program Information File PIF IBM PIF drawing PIG Lucas Arts Dark Forces WAD file PIN Epic Pinball data file PIN Epic Pinball data file PIX Inset Systems bitmap PJ MKS Source Integrity file PKG Microsoft Developer Studio application extension (similar to a DLL file) PL Perl program PLT HPGL Plotter drawing PLT AutoCAD Plot drawing PM5 Pagemaker 5.0 file PM6 Pagemaker 6.0 file P65 Pagemaker 6.5 file PNG Portable Network Graphics bitmap PNG Paint Shop Pro Browser catalogue PNT MacPaint graphic file POT Microsoft PowerPoint Template PP4 Picture Publisher 4 bitmap PPA Microsoft PowerPoint Add-in PPM Portable Pixelmap bitmap PPS Microsoft PowerPoint slide show PPT Microsoft PowerPoint presentation PRE Lotus Freelance presentation PRF Windows system file PRN Print Table (space delimited text) PRS Harvard Graphics for Windows presentation PRZ Lotus Freelance Graphics 97 file PS Postscript Interpreted drawing PSD Adobe Photoshop bitmap PST Microsoft Outlook Personal Folder File PTM Polytracker music module (MOD) file PUB Ventura Publisher publication PUB Microsoft Publisher document PWD Microsoft Pocket Word document PWZ Microsoft PowerPoint Wizard PXL Microsoft Pocket Excel spreadsheet Q QAD PF QuickArt Document QBW QuickBooks for Windows file QDT Quick Books data file from the Quicken UK Accountancy/Tax/Invoice program QLB Quick Library QRY Microsoft Query QT QuickTime Movie QTM QuickTime Movie QXD Quark XPress file R R Pegasus Mail resource file RA Real Audio sound RAM Real Audio sound RAS Sun Raster Images bitmap RAW Raw File Format (bitmap) RC Microsoft Visual C++ Resource Script REC Recorder macro REG Registration file RES Microsoft Visual C++ Resource RFT RFT-DCA RLE Run-Length Encoded bitmap RM Real Audio video file RMI MIDI music ROV Rescue Rover data file RPT Microsoft Visual Basic Crystal Reports file RTF Rich Text Format document RTM Real Tracker music module (MOD) file S SAM Ami Professional document SAV Saved game file SCC Microsoft Source Safe file SCD Matrix/Imapro SCODL slide image SCD Microsoft Schedule+ 7 SCH Microsoft Schedule+ 1 SCN trueSpace2 scene SCP Dial-Up Networking Script SCR Windows screensaver SCR Fax image SCT Scitex CT bitmap SC2 Microsoft Schedule+ 7 SDL SmartDraw library SDR SmartDraw drawing SDT SmartDraw template SEA Self-expanding archive (used by Stuffit for Mac files and possibly by others) SEP Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) bitmap SHB Corel Show presentation SHB Document shortcut file SHG Hotspot bitmap SHS Shell scrap file SHW Corel Show presentation SIT Stuffit archive of Mac files SLK Symbolic Link (SYLK) spreadsheet SND NeXT sound SND Mac Sound Resource SQC Structured Query Language (SQR) common code file SQR Structured Query Language (SQR) program file STM Scream Tracker music module (MOD) file STY Ventura Publisher style sheet SVX Amiga 8SVX sound SYS System file S3M Scream Tracker 3 music module (MOD) file T TAR Tape Archive TAZ Unix Gzip/Tape Archive TEX Texture file TGA Targa bitmap TGZ Unix Gzip/Tape Archive THEME Windows 95 Desktop Theme THN Graphics Workshop for Windows thumbnail TIF Tag Image File Format (TIFF) bitmap TIFF Tag Image File Format (TIFF) bitmap TIG Tiger file, used by US government to distribute maps TLB OLE Type Library TMP Windows temporary file TRM Terminal file TRN MKS Source Integrity project usage log TTF TrueType font TWF TabWorks file TWW Tagwrite Template TX8 MS-DOS Text TXT Text T2T Sonata CAD modelling software file U UDF Windows NT Uniqueness Database File ULT Ultratracker music module (MOD) file URL Internet shortcut USE MKS Source Integrity file V VBP Visual Basic Project VBW Microsoft Visual Basic workspace VBX Visual Basic custom control VCF Vevi Configuration File; defines objects for use with Sense8's WorldToolKit VDA Targa bitmap VI Virtual Instrument file from National Instruments LABView product VLB Corel Ventura Library VOC Creative Labs Sound Blaster sound VP Ventura Publisher publication VSD Visio drawing (flow chart or schematic) VST Targa bitmap VSW Visio Workspace file VXD Microsoft Windows virtual device driver W WAD Large file for Doom game containing video, player level, and other information WAV Windows Waveform sound WB1 QuattroPro for Windows spreadsheet WB2 QuattroPro for Windows spreadsheet WBK Microsoft Word Backup WBL Argo WebLoad II upload file WCM WordPerfect Macro WDB Microsoft Works database WEB CorelXara Web document WGP Wild Board Games data file WID Ventura width table WIL WinImage file WIZ Microsoft Word Wizard WK1 Lotus 123 versions 1 & 2 spreadsheet WK3 Lotus 123 version 3 spreadsheet WK4 Lotus 123 version 4 spreadsheet WKS Lotus 123 Worksheet spreadsheet WKS Microsoft Works document WLF Argo WebLoad I upload file WLL Microsoft Word Add-In WMF Windows Metafile WOW Grave Composer music module (MOD) file WP WordPerfect document WPW Novel PerfectWorks document WP4 WordPerfect 4 document WP5 WordPerfect 5 document WP6 WordPerfect 6 document WPD WordPerfect Demo WPD WordPerfect Document WPG WordPerfect Graphic WPS Microsoft Works document WPT WordPerfect Template WQ1 QuattroPro/DOS spreadsheet WQ2 QuattroPro/DOS version 5 spreadsheet WRI Write document WRL Virtual Reality model WS1 WordStar for Windows 1 document WS2 WordStar for Windows 2 document WS3 WordStar for Windows 3 document WS4 WordStar for Windows 4 document WS5 WordStar for Windows 5 document WS6 WordStar for Windows 6 document WS7 WordStar for Windows 7 document WSD WordStar 2000 document WVL Wavelet Compressed Bitmap X XAR Corel Xara drawing XLA Microsoft Excel add-in XLB Microsoft Excel toolbar XLC Microsoft Excel chart XLD Microsoft Excel dialogue XLK Microsoft Excel backup XLM Microsoft Excel macro XLS Microsoft Excel worksheet XLT Microsoft Excel template XLV Microsoft Excel VBA module XLW Microsoft Excel workbook / workspace XM FastTracker 2, Digital Tracker music module (MOD) file XR1 Epic MegaGames Xargon data file XTP XTree data file XY3 XYWrite III document XY4 XYWrite IV document XYP XYWrite III Plus document XYW XYWrite for Windows 4.0 document Y YAL Arts & Letters clipart library YBK Microsoft Encarta Yearbook Z Z Unix Gzip ZIP Zip file ZOO An early compressed file format Numbers and symbols Top A B CD E F G H I J K LM N OP Q R S T U V W XY Z No# 000-999 Used to number old versions of files and number related data files 12M Lotus 123 97 Smartmaster file 123 Lotus 123 97 file 2GR and 3GR VGA Graphics driver/configuration files under Windows 386 A file for use in an 80386 or higher microprocessor 669 Composer 669, Unis Composer music mod file #01 and higher A method of numbering picture files for a roll of film that has been scanned $$$ Used by OS/2 to keep track of archived files @@@ Screen files used in the installation and instruction on use of applications Download this info with the link below http://www.mediafire.com/?vn1c7ly1dl7opzd

bro do u buy a premium a/c from that host? if not plz buy first to download file. it also gives the error if the link is dead. if u havn't buy the thereis also a solution. use link generator hosting site like aldebrid type. if still hav problem then plz pm me the link so that i can hav a look to the prob and solve ur prob as early as possible.

bro if u hav a counterfeit os having validation problem daz loader still can make ur copy genuine.just run the daz 2.1.5 loader.

gr8 idea bro. could u do it for me bro or i will upload.

Very gorgeous text effect

Cookie Basics In April of 2000 I read an in-depth article on Internet privacy in a large, respected newspaper, and that article contained a definition of cookies. Paraphrasing, the definition went like this: Quote Cookies are programs that Web sites put on your hard disk. They sit on your computer gathering information about you and everything you do on the Internet, and whenever the Web site wants to it can download all of the information the cookie has collected. [wrong] Definitions like that are fairly common in the press. The problem is, none of that information is correct. Cookies are not programs, and they cannot run like programs do. Therefore, they cannot gather any information on their own. Nor can they collect any personal information about you from your machine. Here is a valid definition of a cookie: A cookie is a piece of text that a Web server can store on a user's hard disk. Cookies allow a Web site to store information on a user's machine and later retrieve it. The pieces of information are stored as name-value pairs. For example, a Web site might generate a unique ID number for each visitor and store the ID number on each user's machine using a cookie file. * *Internet Explorer and other browsers store cookies on your computer. * If you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer to browse the Web, you can see all of the cookies that are stored on your machine. The most common place for them to reside is in a directory called c:windowscookies. When I look in that directory on my machine, I find 165 files. Each file is a text file that contains name-value pairs, and there is one file for each Web site that has placed cookies on my machine. You can see in the directory that each of these files is a simple, normal text file. You can see which Web site placed the file on your machine by looking at the file name (the information is also stored inside the file). You can open each file by clicking on it. For example, I have visited goto.com, and the site has placed a cookie on my machine. The cookie file for goto.com contains the following information: UserID A9A3BECE0563982D www.goto.com/Goto.com has stored on my machine a single name-value pair. The name of the pair is UserID, and the value is A9A3BECE0563982D. The first time I visited goto.com, the site assigned me a unique ID value and stored it on my machine. (Note that there probably are several other values stored in the file after the three shown above. That is housekeeping information for the browser.) Amazon.com stores a bit more information on my machine. When I look at the cookie file Amazon has created on my machine, it contains the following: session-id-time 954242000 amazon.com/ session-id 002-4135256-7625846 amazon.com/ x-main eKQIfwnxuF7qtmX52x6VWAXh@Ih6Uo5H amazon.com/ ubid-main 077-9263437-9645324 amazon.com/It appears that Amazon stores a main user ID, an ID for each session, and the time the session started on my machine (as well as an x-main value, which could be anything). The vast majority of sites store just one piece of information -- a user ID -- on your machine. But a site can store many name-value pairs if it wants to. A name-value pair is simply a named piece of data. It is not a program, and it cannot "do" anything. A Web site can retrieve only the information that it has placed on your machine. It cannot retrieve information from other cookie files, nor any other information from your machine. How does cookie data move? As you saw in the previous section, cookie data is simply name-value pairs stored on your hard disk by a Web site. That is all cookie data is. The Web site stores the data, and later it receives it back. A Web site can only receive the data it has stored on your machine. It cannot look at any other cookie, nor anything else on your machine. When you type a URL into a web browser, a web server might look in your cookie file. The data moves in the following manner: •If you type the URL of a Web site into your browser, your browser sends a request to the Web site for the page (see How Web Servers Work for a discussion). For example, if you type the URL http://www.amazon.com into your browser, your browser will contact Amazon's server and request its home page. •When the browser does this, it will look on your machine for a cookie file that Amazon has set. If it finds an Amazon cookie file, your browser will send all of the name-value pairs in the file to Amazon's server along with the URL. If it finds no cookie file, it will send no cookie data. •Amazon's Web server receives the cookie data and the request for a page. If name-value pairs are received, Amazon can use them. •If no name-value pairs are received, Amazon knows that you have not visited before. The server creates a new ID for you in Amazon's database and then sends name-value pairs to your machine in the header for the Web page it sends. Your machine stores the name-value pairs on your hard disk. •The Web server can change name-value pairs or add new pairs whenever you visit the site and request a page. There are other pieces of information that the server can send with the name-value pair. One of these is an expiration date. Another is a path (so that the site can associate different cookie values with different parts of the site). You have control over this process. You can set an option in your browser so that the browser informs you every time a site sends name-value pairs to you. You can then accept or deny the values. How do Web sites use cookies? Cookies evolved because they solve a big problem for the people who implement Web sites. In the broadest sense, a cookie allows a site to store state information on your machine. This information lets a Web site remember what state your browser is in. An ID is one simple piece of state information -- if an ID exists on your machine, the site knows that you have visited before. The state is, "Your browser has visited the site at least one time," and the site knows your ID from that visit. Web sites use cookies in many different ways. Here are some of the most common examples: •Sites can accurately determine how many people actually visit the site. It turns out that because of proxy servers, caching, concentrators and so on, the only way for a site to accurately count visitors is to set a cookie with a unique ID for each visitor. Using cookies, sites can determine: •How many visitors arrive •How many are new versus repeat visitors •How often a visitor has visited The way the site does this is by using a database. The first time a visitor arrives, the site creates a new ID in the database and sends the ID as a cookie. The next time the user comes back, the site can increment a counter associated with that ID in the database and know how many times that visitor returns. •Sites can store user preferences so that the site can look different for each visitor (often referred to as customization). For example, if you visit msn.com, it offers you the ability to "change content/layout/color." It also allows you to enter your zip code and get customized weather information. When you enter your zip code, the following name-value pair gets added to MSN's cookie file: WEAT CC=NC%5FRaleigh%2DDurham®ION= www.msn.com/Since I live in Raleigh, N.C., this makes sense. Most sites seem to store preferences like this in the site's database and store nothing but an ID as a cookie, but storing the actual values in name-value pairs is another way to do it (we'll discuss later why this approach has lost favor). •E-commerce sites can implement things like shopping carts and "quick checkout" options. The cookie contains an ID and lets the site keep track of you as you add different things to your cart. Each item you add to your shopping cart is stored in the site's database along with your ID value. When you check out, the site knows what is in your cart by retrieving all of your selections from the database. It would be impossible to implement a convenient shopping mechanism without cookies or something like them. * In all of these examples, note that what the database is able to store is things you have selected from the site, pages you have viewed from the site, information you have given to the site in online forms, etc. All of the information is stored in the site's database, and in most cases, a cookie containing your unique ID is all that is stored on your computer. Problems with Cookies Cookies are not a perfect state mechanism, but they certainly make a lot of things possible that would be impossible otherwise. Here are several of the things that make cookies imperfect. •People often share machines - Any machine that is used in a public area, and many machines used in an office environment or at home, are shared by multiple people. Let's say that you use a public machine (in a library, for example) to purchase something from an online store. The store will leave a cookie on the machine, and someone could later try to purchase something from the store using your account. Stores usually post large warnings about this problem, and that is why. Even so, mistakes can happen. For example, I had once used my wife's machine to purchase something from Amazon. Later, she visited Amazon and clicked the "one-click" button, not realizing that it really does allow the purchase of a book in exactly one click. On something like a Windows NT machine or a UNIX machine that uses accounts properly, this is not a problem. The accounts separate all of the users' cookies. Accounts are much more relaxed in other operating systems, and it is a problem. If you try the example above on a public machine, and if other people using the machine have visited HowStuffWorks, then the history URL may show a very long list of files. •Cookies get erased - If you have a problem with your browser and call tech support, probably the first thing that tech support will ask you to do is to erase all of the temporary Internet files on your machine. When you do that, you lose all of your cookie files. Now when you visit a site again, that site will think you are a new user and assign you a new cookie. This tends to skew the site's record of new versus return visitors, and it also can make it hard for you to recover previously stored preferences. This is why sites ask you to register in some cases -- if you register with a user name and a password, you can log in, even if you lose your cookie file, and restore your preferences. If preference values are stored directly on the machine (as in the MSN weather example above), then recovery is impossible. That is why many sites now store all user information in a central database and store only an ID value on the user's machine. If you erase your cookie file for HowStuffWorks and then revisit the history URL in the previous section, you will find that HowStuffWorks has no history for you. The site has to create a new ID and cookie file for you, and that new ID has no data stored against it in the database. (Also note that the HowStuffWorks Registration System allows you to reset your history list whenever you like.) •Multiple machines - People often use more than one machine during the day. For example, I have a machine in the office, a machine at home and a laptop for the road. Unless the site is specifically engineered to solve the problem, I will have three unique cookie files on all three machines. Any site that I visit from all three machines will track me as three separate users. It can be annoying to set preferences three times. Again, a site that allows registration and stores preferences centrally may make it easy for me to have the same account on three machines, but the site developers must plan for this when designing the site. If you visit the history URL demonstrated in the previous section from one machine and then try it again from another, you will find that your history lists are different. This is because the server created two IDs for you, one on each machine. There are probably not any easy solutions to these problems, except asking users to register and storing everything in a central database. When you register with the HowStuffWorks registration system, the problem is solved in the following way: The site remembers your cookie value and stores it with your registration information. If you take the time to log in from any other machine (or a machine that has lost its cookie files), then the server will modify the cookie file on that machine to contain the ID associated with your registration information. You can therefore have multiple machines with the same ID value. Cookies on the Internet: Privacy Issues If you have read the article to this point, you may be wondering why there has been such an uproar in the media about cookies and Internet privacy. You have seen in this article that cookies are benign text files, and you have also seen that they provide lots of useful capabilities on the Web. There are two things that have caused the strong reaction around cookies: •The first is something that has plagued consumers for decades. Let's say that you purchase something from a traditional mail order catalog. The catalog company has your name, address and phone number from your order, and it also knows what items you have purchased. It can sell your information to others who might want to sell similar products to you. That is the fuel that makes telemarketing and junk mail possible. On a Web site, the site can track not only your purchases, but also the pages that you read, the ads that you click on, etc. If you then purchase something and enter your name and address, the site potentially knows much more about you than a traditional mail order company does. This makes targeting much more precise, and that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Different sites have different policies. HowStuffWorks has a strict privacy policy and does not sell or share any personal information about our readers with any third party except in cases where you specifically tell us to do so (for example, in an opt-in e-mail program). We do aggregate information together and distribute it. For example, if a reporter asks me how many visitors HowStuffWorks has or which page on the site is the most popular, we create those aggregate statistics from data in the database. •The second is unique to the Internet. There are certain infrastructure providers that can actually create cookies that are visible on multiple sites. DoubleClick is the most famous example of this. Many companies use DoubleClick to serve banner ads on their sites. DoubleClick can place small (1x1 pixels) GIF files on the site that allow DoubleClick to load cookies on your machine. DoubleClick can then track your movements across multiple sites. It can potentially see the search strings that you type into search engines (due more to the way some search engines implement their systems, not because anything sinister is intended). Because it can gather so much information about you from multiple sites, DoubleClick can form very rich profiles. These are still anonymous, but they are rich. DoubleClick then went one step further. By acquiring a company, DoubleClick threatened to link these rich anonymous profiles back to name and address information -- it threatened to personalize them, and then sell the data. That began to look very much like spying to most people, and that is what caused the uproar. DoubleClick and companies like it are in a unique position to do this sort of thing, because they serve ads on so many sites. Cross-site profiling is not a capability available to individual sites, because cookies are site specific. Cookie in a nutshell A message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them. When you enter a Web site using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a welcome page with your name on it. The name cookie derives from UNIX objects called magic cookies. These are tokens that are attached to a user or program and change depending on the areas entered by the user or program. Cookie by Question and Answer This infomation is compiled from all over the web. What is a Cookie? A cookie is a text-only string 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. What are the purposes of cookies? Cookies make the interaction between users and web sites faster and easier. Without cookies, it would be very difficult for a web site to allow a visitor to fill up a shopping cart or to remember the user's preferences or registration details for a future visit. Web sites use cookies mainly because they save time and make the browsing experience more efficient and enjoyable. Web sites often use cookies for the purposes of collecting demographic information about their users. Cookies enable web sites to monitor their users' web surfing habits and profile them for marketing purposes (for example, to find out which products or services they are interested in and send them targeted advertisements). Are cookies dangerous? In a nutshell the answer is no. Cookies are small pieces of text. They are not computer programs, and they can't be executed as code. Also, they cannot be used to disseminate viruses, and versions of Internet Browsers such as IE, Firefox etc.. allow users to set their own limitations to the number of cookies saved on their hard drives. However, as i said in the previous paragraph, some cookies do track internet browsing and provide a certain level of infomation that the user may not warm to. The truth is that revealing any kind of personal information opens the door for that information to be spread, but we are talking about primitive internet usage and not your bank details. How do Browsers handle Cookies? •Most browsers offer the following cookie choices: •Accept all cookies •Accept only cookies that get sent back to originating server •Disable all cookies •Warn me before accepting a cookie.