Lacking privacy in internet searches

My computer running windows 98 and updates, saves all searches in the
"search" window on Yahoo and Google and any other search I perfrom. How can
I prevent that and clean up the old searches so when someone else uses my
computer at home it is not revealed?
Thanks,
Warren

warren wrote:

My computer running windows 98 and updates, saves all searches in the
"search" window on Yahoo and Google and any other search I perfrom. How can
I prevent that and clean up the old searches so when someone else uses my
computer at home it is not revealed?
Thanks,

You can't delete these saved searches. They are not saved on your
computer but on computers at the companies whose searchengines you use.
They are associated back to your computer through the cookies you
(knowingly?) accepted to be installed on your computer while using these
searchengines.

(Innumerable commercial enterprises are tracking every move you make,
profiling your behaviour for their own benefit. Offline & Online)

Spit out the cookies you have alredy swallowed and decline any new
offers unless you really *really* need them. If you use Internet
Explorer as your web-browser run the Internet Options Control
Panel-applet, look under the General and Privacy tabs and adjust the
settings. Tip: The questionmark-button in the upper right corner of
windows is usefull.

--
Please followup in newsgroup.
E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.

That's just not the case. Any forms entries, including search engine
entries, are only saved by Autocomplete functions in IE/Explorer.

Test it yourself. Go to Yahoo! or Google, with all Autocomplete
functions disabled, do a search, close all IE windows, go back and check
it out.

Cookies do a lot of things, but that isn't usually one of them.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"... et al." wrote in message
...
warren wrote:

My computer running windows 98 and updates, saves all searches in
the
"search" window on Yahoo and Google and any other search I perfrom.
How can
I prevent that and clean up the old searches so when someone else
uses my
computer at home it is not revealed?
Thanks,

You can't delete these saved searches. They are not saved on your
computer but on computers at the companies whose searchengines you
use.
They are associated back to your computer through the cookies you
(knowingly?) accepted to be installed on your computer while using
these
searchengines.

(Innumerable commercial enterprises are tracking every move you make,
profiling your behaviour for their own benefit. Offline & Online)

Spit out the cookies you have alredy swallowed and decline any new
offers unless you really *really* need them. If you use Internet
Explorer as your web-browser run the Internet Options Control
Panel-applet, look under the General and Privacy tabs and adjust the
settings. Tip: The questionmark-button in the upper right corner of
windows is usefull.

--
Please followup in newsgroup.
E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.

Would spyware/tracking oookies be able to do this tracking function, Gary or
would the user have to have a vulnerability in their system through a bad
program or spyware or malware, etc.? Thanks in advance for your reply.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
: That's just not the case. Any forms entries, including search engine
: entries, are only saved by Autocomplete functions in IE/Explorer.
:
: Test it yourself. Go to Yahoo! or Google, with all Autocomplete
: functions disabled, do a search, close all IE windows, go back and check
: it out.
:
: Cookies do a lot of things, but that isn't usually one of them.
:
: --
: Gary S. Terhune
: MS MVP Shell/User
: http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
: http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
:
: "... et al." wrote in message
: ...
: warren wrote:
:
: My computer running windows 98 and updates, saves all searches in
: the
: "search" window on Yahoo and Google and any other search I perfrom.
: How can
: I prevent that and clean up the old searches so when someone else
: uses my
: computer at home it is not revealed?
: Thanks,
:
: You can't delete these saved searches. They are not saved on your
: computer but on computers at the companies whose searchengines you
: use.
: They are associated back to your computer through the cookies you
: (knowingly?) accepted to be installed on your computer while using
: these
: searchengines.
:
: (Innumerable commercial enterprises are tracking every move you make,
: profiling your behaviour for their own benefit. Offline & Online)
:
: Spit out the cookies you have alredy swallowed and decline any new
: offers unless you really *really* need them. If you use Internet
: Explorer as your web-browser run the Internet Options Control
: Panel-applet, look under the General and Privacy tabs and adjust the
: settings. Tip: The questionmark-button in the upper right corner of
: windows is usefull.
:
: --
: Please followup in newsgroup.
: E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.
:

Yes, malicious software (adware/spyware) might use cookies to store this
knowledge, but they would *not* typically also auto-complete anything in
forms. Instead, if you entered a search request at some search engine,
the adware might pop up an advertisement related to what you are
currently searching for--or it may even replace the search engine with
its own.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"Dan" wrote in message
...
Would spyware/tracking oookies be able to do this tracking function,
Gary or
would the user have to have a vulnerability in their system through a
bad
program or spyware or malware, etc.? Thanks in advance for your
reply.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
: That's just not the case. Any forms entries, including search engine
: entries, are only saved by Autocomplete functions in IE/Explorer.
:
: Test it yourself. Go to Yahoo! or Google, with all Autocomplete
: functions disabled, do a search, close all IE windows, go back and
check
: it out.
:
: Cookies do a lot of things, but that isn't usually one of them.
:
: --
: Gary S. Terhune
: MS MVP Shell/User
: http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
: http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
:
: "... et al." wrote in message
: ...
: warren wrote:
:
: My computer running windows 98 and updates, saves all searches
in
: the
: "search" window on Yahoo and Google and any other search I
perfrom.
: How can
: I prevent that and clean up the old searches so when someone
else
: uses my
: computer at home it is not revealed?
: Thanks,
:
: You can't delete these saved searches. They are not saved on your

: computer but on computers at the companies whose searchengines you
: use.
: They are associated back to your computer through the cookies you
: (knowingly?) accepted to be installed on your computer while using
: these
: searchengines.
:
: (Innumerable commercial enterprises are tracking every move you
make,
: profiling your behaviour for their own benefit. Offline & Online)
:
: Spit out the cookies you have alredy swallowed and decline any new
: offers unless you really *really* need them. If you use Internet
: Explorer as your web-browser run the Internet Options Control
: Panel-applet, look under the General and Privacy tabs and adjust
the
: settings. Tip: The questionmark-button in the upper right corner
of
: windows is usefull.
:
: --
: Please followup in newsgroup.
: E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.
:

Great, thank you.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
...
: Yes, malicious software (adware/spyware) might use cookies to store this
: knowledge, but they would *not* typically also auto-complete anything in
: forms. Instead, if you entered a search request at some search engine,
: the adware might pop up an advertisement related to what you are
: currently searching for--or it may even replace the search engine with
: its own.
:
: --
: Gary S. Terhune
: MS MVP Shell/User
: http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
: http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
:
: "Dan" wrote in message
: ...
: Would spyware/tracking oookies be able to do this tracking function,
: Gary or
: would the user have to have a vulnerability in their system through a
: bad
: program or spyware or malware, etc.? Thanks in advance for your
: reply.
:
: "Gary S. Terhune" wrote in message
: ...
: : That's just not the case. Any forms entries, including search engine
: : entries, are only saved by Autocomplete functions in IE/Explorer.
: :
: : Test it yourself. Go to Yahoo! or Google, with all Autocomplete
: : functions disabled, do a search, close all IE windows, go back and
: check
: : it out.
: :
: : Cookies do a lot of things, but that isn't usually one of them.
: :
: : --
: : Gary S. Terhune
: : MS MVP Shell/User
: : http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
: : http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm
: :
: : "... et al." wrote in message
: : ...
: : warren wrote:
: :
: : My computer running windows 98 and updates, saves all searches
: in
: : the
: : "search" window on Yahoo and Google and any other search I
: perfrom.
: : How can
: : I prevent that and clean up the old searches so when someone
: else
: : uses my
: : computer at home it is not revealed?
: : Thanks,
: :
: : You can't delete these saved searches. They are not saved on your
:
: : computer but on computers at the companies whose searchengines you
: : use.
: : They are associated back to your computer through the cookies you
: : (knowingly?) accepted to be installed on your computer while using
: : these
: : searchengines.
: :
: : (Innumerable commercial enterprises are tracking every move you
: make,
: : profiling your behaviour for their own benefit. Offline & Online)
: :
: : Spit out the cookies you have alredy swallowed and decline any new
: : offers unless you really *really* need them. If you use Internet
: : Explorer as your web-browser run the Internet Options Control
: : Panel-applet, look under the General and Privacy tabs and adjust
: the
: : settings. Tip: The questionmark-button in the upper right corner
: of
: : windows is usefull.
: :
: : --
: : Please followup in newsgroup.
: : E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.
: :
:
:
:

Gary S. Terhune wrote:

That's just not the case. Any forms entries, including search engine
entries, are only saved by Autocomplete functions in IE/Explorer.

Test it yourself. Go to Yahoo! or Google, with all Autocomplete
functions disabled, do a search, close all IE windows, go back and check
it out.

Nowadays i have both Firefox's 'Saved Form Information' and IE's
AutoComplete disabled and my cookie handling set to disabled or to a
per-session basis in both programs.


Cookies do a lot of things, but that isn't usually one of them.

I am certain, err.., i *was* certain that once upon a time i disabled
some site from remembering my past searches by purging my cookies. Maybe
i plain misremember or perhaps i purged my saved forminfo at the same
time without realising what did what...

Keeping cookies disabled and testing with the 'Saved Form Information'
option in Firefox, and doing a few searches at Google quickly shows that
you are right and i was wrong.
In IE then, that info can then be enabled/disabled and saved history
cleared under Internet Options: Content Tab : AutoComplete... button.

I'm sorry for forwarding my confusion regarding cookies on the matter.

--
Please followup in newsgroup.
E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.

Weirdly enough, you're right about the Address bar list. That list is
actually a function of History in IE, and all the Autocomplete option of
"Save Web Addresses" does is control whether or not it autocompletes,
either using the drop-down list or "inline autocomplete" if "Use Inline
Autocomplete" is enabled in Advanced settings.

That particular Autocomplete function is one of the more disjointed
settings in IE. Typical result of idiot-proofing run amok.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"... et al." wrote in message
...
Gary S. Terhune wrote:

That's just not the case. Any forms entries, including search engine
entries, are only saved by Autocomplete functions in IE/Explorer.

Test it yourself. Go to Yahoo! or Google, with all Autocomplete
functions disabled, do a search, close all IE windows, go back and
check
it out.

Nowadays i have both Firefox's 'Saved Form Information' and IE's
AutoComplete disabled and my cookie handling set to disabled or to a
per-session basis in both programs.


Cookies do a lot of things, but that isn't usually one of them.

I am certain, err.., i *was* certain that once upon a time i disabled
some site from remembering my past searches by purging my cookies.
Maybe
i plain misremember or perhaps i purged my saved forminfo at the same
time without realising what did what...

Keeping cookies disabled and testing with the 'Saved Form Information'
option in Firefox, and doing a few searches at Google quickly shows
that
you are right and i was wrong.
In IE then, that info can then be enabled/disabled and saved history
cleared under Internet Options: Content Tab : AutoComplete... button.

I'm sorry for forwarding my confusion regarding cookies on the matter.

--
Please followup in newsgroup.
E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.

Gary S. Terhune wrote:

Weirdly enough, you're right about the Address bar list.

Not sure i was right about anything. ;-/
I wrote about cookies involvment with history lists [in web-forms] and
was shown that that wasn't so.

... about the Address bar list. That list is
actually a function of History in IE, and all the Autocomplete option of
"Save Web Addresses" does is control whether or not it autocompletes,
either using the drop-down list or "inline autocomplete" if "Use Inline
Autocomplete" is enabled in Advanced settings.

That particular Autocomplete function is one of the more disjointed
settings in IE. Typical result of idiot-proofing run amok.


Ok, thanks for explaining .. and FYI it seems that the Address bar list
functions similarly in Firefox. It's a function of the 'History' option,
and not disabled by disabling 'Saved Form Information'.

I really hate this drop-down list popping up every time i start typing
an URL in the address bar. (Places i want to go to often i already have
bookmarked and have accessible through the Bookmarks-menu.) The only way
to disable this annoyance is a hack to make the file the addresses are
saved into, 'history.dat' iirc, to read-only. But when using that hack i
noted i couldn't 'Clear' my Firefox cache, and i want to be able to to
that as well on occasion.

--
Please followup in newsgroup.
E-mail address is invalid due to spam-control.

You could use a pair of BAT files to remove and then restore the R/O
attribute for that DAT file. More complicated BAT file would simply
toggle the attribute. I don't know BAT file commands as well as I do
scripting, so I'd use script. I don't know the location of that
particular DAT file, so I'll use a bogus path. You'll have to replace
"C:\Program Files\Test\Test.dat" with the correct path, making sure to
retain the double-quotation marks.

++++++++++++++++++
' Begin Copy here
Option Explicit
Dim f, x
With CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set f = .GetFile("C:\Program Files\Test\test.dat")
x = f.Attributes
Do Until x = 0 Or x = 1
x = x - 2
Loop
If x = 1 Then
f.Attributes = f.Attributes - 1
Else:
f.Attributes = f.Attributes + 1
End If
End With
'End copy here
+++++++++++++++++++++

Copy *between* the ++++++ lines and paste into a new text file, then
name it whatever you want with VBS extension. Strangely enough, there is
no straight manner in which to determine if a number is even or odd in
VB Scripting. There is in VBA.

If the Firefox cache is anything like IE's cache, you don't want to
directly delete the cache files (screws up the DAT file.) But if there
is a command line that will do the job, that could be added to the
script, plus some changes in the above logic, to do it all in one click
from the Quick Launch toolbar.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS MVP Shell/User
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://www.grystmill.com/articles/security.htm

"... et al." wrote in message
...
I really hate this drop-down list popping up every time i start typing
an URL in the address bar. (Places i want to go to often i already
have
bookmarked and have accessible through the Bookmarks-menu.) The only
way
to disable this annoyance is a hack to make the file the addresses are
saved into, 'history.dat' iirc, to read-only. But when using that hack
i
noted i couldn't 'Clear' my Firefox cache, and i want to be able to to
that as well on occasion.