cookie issues

[tofushop]

hi to all.
i'm using windows xp, and i can't seem to log in to a number of sites like hotmail, photobucket, friendster, etc etc. They keep looping me back at the sign in page, stating cookies are not enabled.

but they are. and i tried with both firefox1.0.1 and IE 6.0. i also changed settings to accept cookies manually, and realised those sites that refused entry/login don't ask to accept cookies. weird. anyone experienced this before?

i cleaned out my browsers, reinstalled, scanned for viruses/ad/spyware online and offline, used registry mechanic. nothing really out of the blue.

i'm also using a DI 624+ router, rebooted and renewed IP address.

please help if you can, advice appreciated.

last resort, a reformat? [ugh]

 

[daniel49]

on internet exploder usually you get that little red icon on the lower portion of the browser on the right hand dise. When you click on it it shows you whats been blocked and allows you to change your settings.

For activex you usually get the long skinny bar across the top that gives you the option to allow or block.

I dunno bout firefox I downloaded it once and it wouldn't work for so many sites I got rid of it.

 

[tofushop]

ok thanks anyways

 

[meltdown75]

Hi there tofushop, & welcome to the AT forums

Just curious - what type of security software do you have installed / running? I'm wondering if something is blocking cookies. I am going to assume you have all the latest update offerings from Microsoft even though that might not be part of the problem. When did this start happening?

 

[tofushop]

hi meltdown75...
thanks for the welcome!

well. i started having the problems beginning of this week. now that you've mentioned it, i uninstalled my norton antivirus 2005 + internet security on sunday or monday (around the 13th of March). and then switched to zonealarm firewall + avast 4.6.

for a few days from monday i had problems viewing pictures on my blog, and only my blog, nowhere else. then suddenly few days later they came back displayed as normal. all these happened on my PC alone. can isolate the problem not being with the router (and hence IP addresses potentially blocked???), because i've another PC set up which works fine.

and now i'm faced with the cookie issue. sigh.

i've checked ZA settings, no blocking for mozilla firefox at least.
whaddaya think...windows is weird sometimes i guess.

 

[tofushop]

btw is it safe/a good idea to even disable firewall/AV for a bit and then try accessing the websites concerned....?

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: tofushop
btw is it safe/a good idea to even disable firewall/AV for a bit and then try accessing the websites concerned....?

If you're connected to the net via high speed or any connection in which you are constantly connected, I wouldn't. Recent findings indicate it only takes a matter of seconds of unprotected web surfing to contract spyware / adaware / viruses or worse - a complete hijack of your connection.

I see no concern with disabling your AV software though. Personally I turn mine off unless updating or performing scans, which I do once a week.

 

[tofushop]

thanks muchos for the advice.
haha it's kinda dumb, but it turns out zonealarm's firewall may have something/all to do with the problem.
at first i restored the system to a week ago, right after my norton uninstall. everything worked fine.
i unrestored it back to today cos i didn't wanna lose my settings.

then. i thought why not reinstall the firewall? which solved the problem, finally.

have a good weekend!