Cookies
What They Are
A "cookie" is a small piece of information which a web server can store temporarily with your web browser. This is useful for having your browser remember some specific information which the web server can later retrieve.
What They Are Not
A cookie file is NOT a secret way for a web server to find out everything about you and what you have on your hard drive. The ONLY way that any private information could be in your cookie file would be if you personally gave that information to a web server in the first place and it decided to put that information into your cookie file for some reason. Also, each cookie is marked with information about what web server it's for; your web browser does not send any cookies to any web server they're not for. There is absolutely no way for a web server to get access to any private information about you or your system through cookies. Also, there is no possible way that a virus could be spread through the use of cookies.
For more information about cookies, visit the
Microsoft web site.