Document number: 19012

 

Cookies are small files left  in the "Cookies" folder on your hard disk.  The files can serve a variety of purposes including tracking whether you have visited a particular web site before, how many times, what pages you viewed etc.   Many of our internal applications that use the Internet Explorer browser require that you accept cookies or you will be unable to use them.

Sometimes the existence of the cookie can prevent the application from operating properly.  If that happens deleting the cookie will usually restore normal operation.For general information on modifying how cookies are accepted see document 18121 — How to change Internet Explorer cookie settings. Note: Consider carefully before deleting cookies. You may want to see if just deleting the cache works. If you delete cookies you will lose some information you might find convenient - such as information that means you don't have to log in. Delteing cookies is never fatal, but sometimes it can be a minor inconvenience.

 

Find and delete cookies using the Tools menu in Internet Explorer. This method is the simplest.

Find and delete cookies using the Internet Options in Control Panel. This method is bascially the same as using the Tools menu but doesn't require opening up Internet Explorer.

Clear cookies and page cache manually in Windows 2000 This method is the most complete and always works even when you can't open Internet Explorer.

 

 

 

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To find and delete a cookies file using the Tools menu ::

1. Open Internet Explorer.

2. Select Tools from the menu bar.

3. Select Internet Options ... from the drop down menu. 

   • The Internet Options box will open to the General tab which is where you will be working.

4. In the Temporary Internet files section, click the Settings... button.

5. A Settings box will open. In the Temporary Internet files folder section click the View files . . . button.

6. A new window will open. Drag the scroll bar down until you find the beginning of the Cookie: files.

7. Look for the cookie file called (your username)@(application)[x].txt  Note: the x in the brackets is a number.
   For example: the NorthStar cookie for user fflintst would look like this fflinst@northstar[1].txt
   The Customer Connection or Planet PeopleSoft cookie for user flinst would look like this fflinst@peoplesoft[2].txt
   If you can't figure out which cookie file is causing the problem, click here.

8. Delete that file.  Close the window. Click OK to close the "Settings" window, and OK to close the "Internet Options" window.

9. Try again.

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If deleting that cookie did not resolve  the problem or if you can't figure out which cookie file is causing the problem you can delete the contents of your cookies folder.  Note: in deleting the contents of your cookies folder you will need to "re-identify" yourself with some sites, and you may see introductory scripts or movies that show only to new visitors.

To delete the contents of your cookies folder:

1. Open Internet Explorer.

2. Select Tools from the menu bar.

3. Select Internet Options ... from the drop down menu. 

   • The Internet Options box will open to the General tab which is where you will be working.

 

4. In the Temporary Internet files section, click the Settings... button.

5. A Settings box will open. In the Temporary Internet files folder section click the View files . . . button.

6. A new window will open.

7. Hold down the { Ctrl} key then press the letter { a}.   All files in the folder should be highlighted. Press the { Delete} key, and confirm deleting all files.

• It may not appear that all the files have been deleted.  Click on View then Refresh.

• You will probably get an error in deleting the file index.dat. It is OK to leave this file without deleting it.
  

8. Close the window. Click OK to close the "Settings" window, and OK to close the "Internet Options" window.

9. Try again.

 

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To find and delete a cookies file using the Internet Options in Control Panel ::

1. Click on Start, then select Settings, then Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Internet Options icon to open it.

3. The Internet Options box will open to the General tab which is where you will be working.

4. In the Temporary Internet files section, click the Settings... button.

5. A Settings box will open. In the Temporary Internet files folder section click the View files . . . button.

6. A new window will open. Drag the scroll bar down until you find the beginning of the Cookie: files.

7. Look for the cookie file called (your username)@(application)[x].txt  Note: the x in the brackets is a number.
   For example: the NorthStar cookie for user fflintst would look like this fflinst@northstar[1].txt
   The Customer Connection or Planet PeopleSoft cookie for user flinst would look like this fflinst@peoplesoft[2].txt
   If you can't figure out which cookie file is causing the problem, click here.

8. Delete that file.  Close the window. Click OK to close the "Settings" window, and OK to close the "Internet Options" window.

Return to top

If deleting that cookie did not resolve  the problem or if you can't figure out which cookie file is causing the problem you can delete the contents of your cookies folder.  Note: in deleting the contents of your cookies folder you will need to "re-identify" yourself with some sites, and you may see introductory scripts or movies that show only to new visitors.

To delete the contents of your cookies folder:

1. Click on Start, then select Settings, then Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Internet Options icon to open it.

3. The Internet Options box will open to the General tab which is where you will be working.

4. In the Temporary Internet files section, click the Settings... button.

6. A Settings box will open. In the Temporary Internet files folder section click the View files . . . button.

7. A new window will open.

8. Hold down the { Ctrl} key then press the letter { a}.   All files in the folder should be highlighted. Press the { Delete} key, and confirm deleting all files.

• It may not appear that all the files have been deleted.  Click on View then Refresh.
• You will probably get an error in deleting the file index.dat. It is OK to leave this file without deleting it.
  

9. Close the window. Click OK to close the "Settings" window, and OK to close the "Internet Options" window.

 

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Clear cookies and page cache manually in Windows 2000 This method is the most complete, and works when you can't open Internet Explorer..

1. Right click on your start button.

2. Select Explore to open Windows Explorer

3. From the menu bar select Tools

4. Select Folder Options

5. Click on the View tab.

6. Select show hidden files and folders

7. Click OK

8. Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings{ yourname}\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

9. Click once in the right hand panel to activate it.

10. Press { Ctrl} + { a} to select everything in the folder.

11. Press { Delete} and confirm the delete.

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Created by the PeopleSoft Knowledge Management Team.
Copyright © 2001-2003 All rights reserved.
Created: db 01/29/2001
Revised: db 01/28/2003