IE8 won't "remember" Google preferences and/or web site logins

Comodo Internet Security - CIS Defense+ / Sandbox Help - CIS
#1

I assume this belongs in the “Defense+” section only because I can’t imagine which other part of CIS might affect the symptom I’m seeing…

…and, frankly, I’m not certain that CIS could be causing it, either.

But I have to ask because it’s driving me nuts… and I want to ask first before I start doing a huge amount of disabling things and testing. I mean… if someone here knows, then my time is saved… and maybe others reading this will be helped.

Basically, it seems like ever since I upgraded to CIS 3.10.102363.531 (but maybe it was happening before… I can’t remember… but I think just since the most recent, as of this writing, version), my IE8 can’t remember its Google “Preferences” settings; or the login name and/or password of any web site; or even keep me logged-in to web sites which have aggressive session cookies checking procedures.

Yes, of course, I know it’s a cookies-related thing. But, believe me, I’ve got the most liberal cookies settings set in my IE8 that you can imagine… or at least I’m pretty SURE I do.

As long as I remain in the browser session, I can maintain my Google cookies, or stay logged-in to Yahoo Answers or Experts-Exchange as I move from page to page and question to question. However, the minute I close all browser instances – and especially if I reboot Windows – all Google preferences are lost. All memory of my logins at any web site are lost. It’s MADDENING!

Does CIS – specifically the Defense+ part of it, but, really, any part of CIS – ■■■■■ around with, or block, or delete or in any other way fiddle with IE8 cookies in such a manner that it will effectively render it incapbale of holding-on to something as simple as Google preferences?

And though I’d normally be offended if someone came in here and asked me if I’ve set such-and-such in IE in a certain way (because I feel I’ve got it all covered), I’m now wondering if I’ve missed something, or something is going on with IE8 that I’ve just somehow missed out there in my readings… so I’m open to being told just about anything here as long as it’s reaonable.

Any idea? Any at all? Please? Anyone? ??? :-\

#2

As far as I know CIS does not mess with cookies or anything like that. But, I’m not at all clear where Google’s Preferences are stored. However, aside from IE itself, there are many tools that do mess with IE’s stored data… a lot of cleaning tools wipe out IE’s temporary area, including cookies, by default.

But, there is a relatively quick way that you can eliminate IE as being the direct cause… try another web browser (eg. Opera or Firefox). Never hurts to have a second browser as back-up anyway. :slight_smile:

#3

it is ie8’s problem,as microsoft says,security things ,it’s all for your good.
i am using ie8,second lowest in ram and cpu,the best is opera.

#4

hatevirus, this has nothing to do with who’s better.

I would recommend what kail has said. Get an alternative web browser. Most alternatives help you deal with temporary data and get a cleaning utility, like CCleaner (ccleaner.com) or use Windows Disk Cleanup (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup)

Lastly, only if certain settings are incorrect or bad, Defense+ may act upon it. < This prevents browser hijackers.

#5

HarpGuy, I’m having exactly the same problem - & only since IE8. It’s infuriating, isn’t it…

Did you ever resolve this issue, or did you bite the bullet & jump ship to FF (or other)?

Cheers,

zarathustra. =]

#6

Ditch IE 8 and go with a proper browser, in order my choice would be Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and then Dragon Browser (based on Chrome) although Dragon looks promising and could well be the one to use in future (given the tweaks Comodo will give to it and remove all the snooping/privacy concerns!)

#7

Ummm… well… “resolve” is a strong word. It’s not “resolved,” but it’s improved a bit.

The bottom line is that IE8 just doesn’t hold those settings as easily as prior versions; and it’s true that Microsoft has set it that way deliberately, for security reasons. But, because of complaints like mine, Microsoft has, with subsequent updates, improved things a little. That, plus making sure that certain IE configuration settings are correct, will make it so that it’s actually possible to close IE8, and then reboot the machine, and by-golly when it comes back up and you re-launch IE8, it’s still logged-in to Google, and it still remembers its search settings.

But, sadly, not always. One never really knows if that will be the case. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I can reboot and IE8 shows me as still logged-in to Google, GMAIL, Yahoo Answers, Experts Exchange, and whatever else I frequently log-in to; and other times I reboot and launch IE8 and it’s as if it never met me. And I still can’t see any pattern to it.

If the machine crashes or something; or if I don’t do an orderly close of IE8 before a reboot (or a complete power-down, then pause, then restart), then IE8 nearly ALWAYS forgets everything, and I need to re-login to Google and the others, and also reset Google’s search settings. But as long as I do a proper closing of IE8 (and whatever else is open on my machine) before I do a power down, then a fairly good percentage of the time IE8 “remembers” things when the machine comes back up and I relaunch IE8. I can’t see any pattern, though, so I don’t know how to predict when it will and when it won’t.

It’s not really that big of a deal anymore, though. I start-up the machine, launch the email client, then launch a browser window to Google; then I login (if I’m not already) and verify search settings; then I’m ready, at that point, to do whatever I need to do for the day. I’ve given-up being irritated that most of the time IE8 doesn’t even remember and default my username into such as the Yahoo Answers login fields earlier versions of IE used to. Life’s too short. It is what it is, and so I just go with it. What else can I do.

Others suggest changing browsers. And I do have both the last good version of Netscape on my machine (just so I can test things in a fairly old browser), and also the latest and most up-to-date version of Firefox. I actually use Firefox occasionally; but it’s not the end-all and be-all of browsers, either. It has its irritations, believe me. And it forgets things, too (though not NEARLY as much as IE8 does). But I will likely never stop using IE8 as my primary browser, in part because I have BHO’s and other things installed into it which I need, and some of which have no Firefox version; plus, I need to easily access my Windows LIVE account via the browser fairly often, and Firefox just don’t feed the bulldog doing that specific thing. And, finally, since IE is the default browser in Windows, and since so many people don’t even know what Firefox is and just use IE (it remains the most-used browser on the Internet), I always want to use it so that I can make sure I’m seeing web pages (including those of my creation) the same way in my browser as other IE users are seeing them.

It’s very smart to have Firefox on one’s machine, and to keep it up to date, even if one’s using IE as one’s primary browser. But I, for one, am not ready and/or willing to make Firefox my primary browser. I’m just not. And not amount of prodding or even derision from Firefox loyalists will change that.

Hope that helps!