Norton Antivirus just reported a “tracking cookie” detected on my comput. What is “co

[markrunbox]

As I am browsing the internet on my computer now, I got the above message. What is cookie? How could a cookie be tracking my computer and what for?
The antivirus also reported that, it requires attention. How do I take care of it?
I even noticed that, my computer just became much slower than usual, could it be responsible? What should I do?

 

[tcsenter]

Microsoft Security Essentials and Malware Bytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) Free Edition. Security Essentials for real-time automatic protection and MBAM for manual second-opinion scans.

 

[CFP]

Haha I read that as ATIvirus

Comodo.

 

[smakme7757]

I'd say Microsoft Security Essentials for a free AV and Eset Nod 32 if you want to pay. As strated above Mbam is also a nice investment.

 

[Lemon law]

To start out, Avast version 6 is already out. Right now, I think the free Avast is the best of our OP's list of AV's. As for the rest of the security system, that is debatable also.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

of those 3 i'd pick Avast but i also like MSE and Malwarebytes

 

[MustISO]

I use Avast, MSE and Malwarebytes.

 

[Scouzer]

MSE is terrible, easily the worst of the major free antivirus scanners.

NOD32 is terrible as well, and has been for years.

Avast is an excellent program. Bitdefender is very good but it's very heavy on system resources. I'd choose Avast.

 

[tcsenter]

MSE is terrible, easily the worst of the major free antivirus scanners.

Well, except that it isn't.

 

[Scouzer]

Well, except that it isn't.

Oh really?

http://www.av-comparatives.org/
http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/25/0,1425,sz=1&i=250545,00.jpg
http://www.dennistechnologylabs.com/reports/s/a-m/symantec/DTL_PCVP2011_SYMC.pdf
http://community.norton.com/norton/...feedback/3371/1/Real_World_Testing_Report.pdf

 

[Lemon law]

I use Avast, MSE and Malwarebytes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ut Oh, spaghetti O's, that is a no no, in terms of an active anti virus, one can use one and only active antivirus at one time and no more. Or the two will start fighting each other for control of your computer. And in that battle, your computer and its speed always loses.

Some layers in a multiple layer computer system can be filled with multiple programs, but the two main exceptions are in your AV and firewall layers.

 

[tcsenter]

Oh really?

http://www.av-comparatives.org/
http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/25/0,1425,sz=1&i=250545,00.jpg
http://www.dennistechnologylabs.com/reports/s/a-m/symantec/DTL_PCVP2011_SYMC.pdf
http://community.norton.com/norton/...feedback/3371/1/Real_World_Testing_Report.pdf

Thanks for proving that Microsoft SE is not "easily the worst of the major free virus scanners" (since according to your own links, it is clearly NOT the worst. And also shows ESET NOD32 ranking fairly high and comparably to both AVAST and BitDefender, which you recommend). Nicely done, sir!

 

[donaldcarter55]

Basically a cookie is tracking device that gets stored on your computer after you visit a website usually cookies are harmless but they can also be used to track your browsing history.

Think of it this way, when you login to yahoo, there is the "remember me" option, if you select that and continue, you now have a cookie from yahoo telling them that you want to be remembered, so the next time you go to yahoo the cookie tells them them that since you selected that option you don't have to manually login because of the cookie tells them of your choice so you get logged in automatically in the background. But in two weeks the cookie expires, meaning that it is now defunct, and then you start the process all over again.

This is from Wikipedia: Cookies are also subject to a number of misconceptions, mostly based on the erroneous notion that they are computer programs. In fact, cookies are simple pieces of data unable to perform any operation by themselves. In particular, they are neither spyware nor viruses, despite the detection of cookies from certain sites by many anti-spyware products.

Most modern browsers allow users to decide whether to accept cookies, but rejection makes some websites unusable. For example, shopping carts implemented using cookies do not work if cookies are rejected.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

Download firefox it's way more secure the IE,http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/. After you download firefox download Adblock https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox… then download all of these, I guarantee you that your computer performance will be much better, I use all of these myself,.

1 Ad-Aware 2008, Much more effective than previous versions and faster, does not suck up system resources like the previous versions, also there various skins to suit your preferences.
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/30…

2 Spybot - Search & Destroy, its a little out of date but it works.
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-De…

3 SpywareBlaster, blocks potentially damaging applications and programs from running.
http://www.download.com/SpywareBlaster/3…

4 Simple File Shredder, it isn't an anti spy, but it shreds unnecessary files including cookies and it speeds up system performance.
http://www.download.com/Simple-File-Shre…

5 MRU-Blaster, detects and cleans MRU (most recently used) lists on your computer. By looking at these MRU lists, someone could determine what files you opened/saved/looked at, what their file names were, and much more! (And, in many cases, the lists are displayed in drop-down menus automatically.) (From website.)
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/mrublast…

I personally don't like AVG, it screwed up my computer after I Un-Installed it, and avast didn't work for me.

Hope this explained what a cookie is, what it does. and I hope the anti-virus programs help you.

Bitdefender Coupons

 

[Scouzer]

Thanks for proving that Microsoft SE is not "easily the worst of the major free virus scanners" (since according to your own links, it is clearly NOT the worst. And also shows ESET NOD32 ranking fairly high and comparably to both AVAST and BitDefender, which you recommend). Nicely done, sir!

So who exactly is the worst of the free, then? MSE is at the bottom of the free in nearly every test.

I disagree with your interpretation of the NOD32 results... why would you settle for a lesser product? To me a product that costs the same yet is even 1% less effective is pointless. "Fairly high" = useless.

I don't recommend BitDefender, but the OP implies he already owns it. If it's paid for and done with, it's not bad enough to be worth purchasing something else for a year.

 

[bruceb]

I have Avast 6 Free on my old Dell 8200 with XP Pro .. works excellent and does not take up a lot of RAM .. and it has a Sandbox mode to run files if you so desire

 

[E411]

The original question asked "what is a tracking cookie?" but the responses are all debates over which AV solution is better.....

I'm at a loss here.

A tracking cookie is just a text file that is put on your computer. Websites use cookies all the time. That's how Anandtech Forums knows to keep you logged in as you visit various pages in the site. You can't disable them or most of the web breaks.

But some companies use a cookie, not to track your login session, but to track your behaviour across a range of websites. These don't damage your computer, nor do they slow it down. They can't. They're just a text file.

BUT, your browser will happily load them up and return the requested information to the companies, which can be a privacy or security risk, depending on what your web surfing habits are and what they're tracking.

Overall, a tracking cookie is a good thing to delete, but it can't DIRECTLY affect your computer's performance or security.