What's a Cookie then?

In this context, it's not a baked dough biscuit (which is a pity). An internet cookie is actually a very simple piece of text (like the message in a Chinese fortune cookie, from which they got their name) that a web site can send to your web browser, which may then store it on your system. Cookies cannot contain virus or program code and, despite some internet rumours to the contrary, have never posed any kind of threat to either your computer system or your personal privacy. You can, if you want, get your web browser to tell you when it receives a cookie from a web site, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to accept it. The simple fact remains that almost every web site log-in requires a cookie to keep you logged in as you move from page to page. Here is how to get the most common web browsers to accept cookies:

Internet Explorer 7.x
1. Go to the Tools menu
2. Select "Internet options"
3. Select the "Privacy" tab
4. Click the "Advanced" button
5. Check the "Override automatic cookie handling" box
6. For 'First-party Cookies', select "Accept"
7. For 'Third-party Cookies', select "Block" if you wish
8. Check the "Always allow session cookies" box
9. Click OK, then click OK again to finish.

Internet Explorer 6.x
1. Go to the Tools menu
2. Select "Internet options"
3. Select the "Security" tab
4. Select the "Internet" zone
5. Click the "Custom Level" button
6. Scroll down to the "Cookies" section
7. Enable both stored and per-session cookies
8. Click OK (then "Yes" when asked to confirm)

Internet Explorer 5.x
1. Go to the Tools menu
2. Select "Internet options"
3. Select the "Privacy" tab
4. Set privacy level to "Medium"
5. Click OK
6. If you still have problems, try the "Low" setting.

Mozilla Firefox 1.x
1. Go to the Tools menu
2. Select "Options"
3. Select "Cookies"
4. Check the "Allow sites to set cookies" box.
5. Select "until they expire" for "Keep cookies"
6. Click OK

Netscape 6.x or 7.x
1. Go to the Edit menu
2. Select "Preferences"
3. Select the "Advanced" category
4. Select the "Cookies" category
5. Select the "Enable all cookies" option
6. Click OK

Earlier Netscape browsers
1. Go to the Edit menu
2. Select "Preferences"
3. Select the "Advanced" category
4. In the "Cookies" section, click "Accept all cookies"
5. Click OK

Other web browsers
1. Find 'configuration', 'options', 'settings' or 'preferences'.
2. Find the 'Cookies' section.
3. Make sure the browser accepts 'permanent cookies'.
4. If you can't find this, contact your browser software vendor.