How to delete cookies, clear your cache, empty temporary files

[Erin]

Sometimes members try to log in, but keep getting returned to another log-in screen. The member keeps entering his username and password, and still can't log in. This is more often than not a cookie issue.

Here's a quick test: since browser cookies see http://www.urch.com/forums and http://urch.com/forums as two different sites, try logging into the one that you don't normally log into (most likely http://urch.com/forums) to see whether you can enter the forums normally. If you can, great. You're in. Now delete those cookies.

Here's another quick test: After you log in, try hitting CTRL+F5. Sometimes that (a hard refresh) will cause your page to load properly.

It takes just a few clicks to fix a cookie problem, and it's good to do from time to time anyway for privacy reasons. Keep in mind that you may need to log in again to other sites you visit, so make sure you know your passwords for those sites.

If you already know that you want to delete your cookies, here are the steps to do so:

In Internet Explorer:

Go to the Tools menu. From there, go down to and click Internet Options... From there, the General tab should be the first one you see.

In the middle of that dialog box, under the part that says Temporary Internet files, you will see two buttons:

• Delete Cookies
• Delete Files

Click each of those buttons, and click OK to delete what you need to delete.

In Firefox:

Click: Ctrl + Shift + Del. Or, go to the Tools menu. From there, go down to and click Clear Private Data...

Now you see a box (called Clear Private Data) with some options pop up. Try checking Cookies first (and nothing else). Then click the button Clear Private Data Now. Now try logging in. If that doesn't work, repeat the process, checking Cache this time, and for good measure, Cookies again (just to make sure it worked properly the first time). Now try logging in again.

That should do the trick. If not, the next thing to try is deleting your TestMagic Forum cookies using the forum. This isn't usually necessary on new browsers, but if you're using an older browser, you can do that here: Delete TestMagic Forum cookies

Finally, feel free to read the rest of the article below. Or just contact TestMagic, and somebody will try to help you.

Continued: How to delete your cookies, cache, and temporary files

Clearing your cookies or your cache will make websites think you haven't visited their sites before. If you follow the recommendations below, you very well may have to log in again to a website that had previously logged you in automatically.

Sometimes the cookies on your computer can get mixed up and cause problems when you visit a website. I've put together some tips to help you with your cookie problems, which are unfortunately quite common if you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer. While I do use IE myself for some of my browsing, I have found that I have many fewer cookie problems if I use Firefox. Firefox is free, too.

If you're having trouble logging into or logging out of the TestMagic forums, you can clear your cookies quickly and easily by logging out. Just look for the Log Out link at the top of the page (it's currently near the top on the right). That usually works, but some uses have reported that they are still logged in, even after they log out.

The next thing to try is deleting your TestMagic Forum cookies. You can do that by clicking this link:

• Delete TestMagic Forum cookies

Finally, if that doesn't work, you may need to try deleting all your cookies from IE. If you're an advanced user, you can find your TestMagic cookies by searching your hard drive, but for most people, it's easier just to delete all your cookies (it's a good idea to do it every now and then anyway, since some cookies track your Internet usage). Here's how to do this (courtesy of Bill Gates):

In your Internet Explorer, just go to the Tools menu. From there, go down to Internet Options... From there, the General tab should be the first one you see.

In the middle of that dialog box, under the part that says Temporary Internet files, you will see two buttons:

• Delete Cookies
• Delete Files

Click each of those buttons, and click OK to delete what you need to delete.

This action is pretty much harmless, but you will probably notice that when you return to different sites, you may need to log in again.

If you want to learn more about cookies, check out this link:

• What is a cookie?