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General discussion

Can't Access My Cookies -- Temporary Internet Files Folder

I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow IE 6.02 changed my Temporary Internet Files folder two days ago and created a brand new folder that doesn't contain any of my previously stored cookies that I had saved to remember my personalized settings for many different websites.

I have found the folder with ALL of the old cookies still there (a relief!), but I cannot find a way to access those cookies again. I cannot reset that folder as the Temporary Internet Files folder.

I tried copying and pasting the old cookies into the new Temporary Internet Files folder, but IE and/or XP-sp2 won't let me do that. I tried copying the ''INDEX.DAT'' file from the folder containing all my old cookies and settings, but I don't know to where I should copy the "INDEX.DAT" file so that IE will once again be able to access ALL of the cookies I've previously stored.

I have also tried the Import/Export Wizard in IE, but when I must choose a file to export, I cannot select more that one file/cookie at at time so that I can import them all at once.

I don't care that much about how or why this happened (although, that would be helpful, tooWink I just want to be able to access all that user information I've carefully and meticulously stored in all those cookies that now I can't access!

Discussion is locked

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Little more information...
Jul 13, 2005 9:25AM PDT

I haven't heard of this happening, but with a little more information I may be able to help. Specifically, what are the directories of the old and new folders? Also, do you have any programs that work with IE (clean out old files, plug-ins, etc)? Finally, when you say XP won't let you copy them over, does it provide a specific error? (Such as file in use, duplicate file, etc.) Post this info and I, or another member, will get back to you as soon as possible.

John

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More Details...

<C:\Documents and Settings\(my name)\Cookies> is where the cookies are that I want to access.

The directory of the new Temporary Internet Files (TIF) directory is <C:\Documents and Settings\(my name)\Cookies\Temporary Internet Files>. (However, I must note that this is a new TIF directory that was created when I was trying to make the directory where my cookies are now, the new TIF directory.) The folder that used to be the TIF directory, I think, was C:\Documents and Settings\(my name)\Temporary Internet Files, which also contains the Content.IE5 folder.

I've looked at the Cookies and TIF folders under ''Administrator,'' ''All Users,'' and ''Default User,'' and none of them contain my old cookies.

As for cleaning programs that work with IE, I use SpybotSD, AdAware, and I recently ran CCleaner (following the advice of several other members here.) I was careful to deselect Cookies before I ran it. I do not have backup files from previous runs of these programs.

What I mean by ''XP won't let me copy'' is that the ''Paste'' function isn't available in the new TIF directory, <C:\Documents and Settings\(my name)\Cookies\Temporary Internet Files>. Also, if I try to drag and drop the old cookies into the same directory, there's just a circle/slash symbol indicating that I can't do that.

There must be a simple solution to load settings and cookies from another directory, shouldn't there be? I hope this info will help with a solution. Thanks!

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This might help...
Jul 15, 2005 12:47PM PDT

Sorry it took me so long to respond back, but my internet has been going down for a few hours at a time, and I haven?t been receiving the Cnet notifications of new posts like I normally do.

First, I?d like to point out that cookies are usually stored in the directory <local drive:\Documents and Settings\username\Cookies>?the Temporary Internet Files folder isn?t the one that?s supposed to contain cookies (although you may find a few in there). It contains things like the images/backgrounds you see, all of the ads, etc. Thus, I?m still confused as to why you are associating cookies with this folder. However, I?ll proceed with advise for temporary internet files/folders, and the moving of such.

I saw Mark?s suggestion under a duplicate post you made. While this will move the folder back to its ?normal? location, it will also erase all of the old files in the folder that is already there. (It will replace that old folder with the new one created in the other location, not the other way around.) Thus, I?d suggest not doing this unless you really need those cookies. That brings me to the question of why this is necessary?most of the cookies aren?t needed, and the few that are can be replaced by entering your personal information onto the site the next time you visit it. Unless you stored a password or something and have forgotten what it was, you can just follow Mark?s instructions and ?go with the flow.?

However, if you really need the files moved back, you can download the free program ?Move On Boot? by clicking here. Use the wizard to create a copy of the old temp folder (containing the desired files) to, say, the ?My Documents? folder in case something goes wrong, and restart you computer. (To copy the entire folder of cookies, drag the folder into the ?file name box? in the wizard?otherwise you?d have to do it one cookie file at a time.) Then drag the old folder into the wizard (as before), and select the parent directory (the folder the new TIF is contained in) of the new folder as the location to move (not copy) it to, then restart again. Check and make sure the files are now in the ?new? folder. Finally, follow Mark?s instructions to move that folder back to where the old folder used to be located. (Open IE and go Tools->internet option->settings->move folder, then use <local drive:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\ > so that the folder?s address is <local drive:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\temporary internet files>.) I hope this makes sense?feel free to ask for clarification.

If Move on Boot fails, you are probably out of luck, as I know of no other method. The programs/utilities that allow you to transfer the settings from one computer to another use the directory IE is currently pointing to, so they won?t work in this case.

Hope this helps,
John