Personal Computer 101 - learn about your PC computer4 Free

What are "cookies"

and how do I Enable/Disable them?

Cookies are little files of information that are stored on your computer about you or your web surfing actions. They can contain information to help you log-in to a website, or any special customization you wanted on a website, or what you did on a specific website, or possibily just information on where you go on the web and what you might be interested in buying.
Sites on the web that you visit create the cookie files on your computer (if you allow them) and generally they use that information to facilitate what they do or sell.

Via your browser (and/or Control Panel / Internet Options), you can completely disable the creation of cookies on your system, fully allow it, or restrict it to set values.

To prevent the abuse of cookie creation, yet allow you the most access to websites, it is suggested you Enable cookies but also Restrict their creation.

Below is the NetscapeⓇ (version 7.1) Edit / Preferences... options for controlling cookie creation. This option gives you complete control over cookies on your system, i.e. you can selectively by website control who can put cookies on your system, and via the option at the top: Enable, yet restrict cookie creation (View option). After clicking View you can set your Level of Privacy to Low, Medium, High or Custom. If you are not well-versed or this stuff then just check the Medium level and then OK and you are done.

You can set your cookie settings for Internet ExplorerⓇ via the Start / Settings / Control Panel / Internet Options / General. You will find that this utility gives you extensive options for customizing your level of security and internet connection options. Again, unless you know what you're doing, just set the Privacy tab level to Medium, and do not use the automatic cookie override (Advanced...).

Internet Explorer cookie options

If you should later have security problems or concerns you can always increase your security level by moving the slider bar up higher, and/or restrict specific website from creating cookies on your system via the bottom Edit... option.