Spybot 1.5 still does not detect cookies in Vista and IE7

[doomer]

Hello. I have installed the new Spybot 1.5 hoping that it would be able to detect and remove cookies in Vista, IE7 during an on-demand scan. Unfortunately it just does not detect anything. I am not willing to use resident utilities like teatimer. Spybot used to detect and remove cookies just fine in XP but does not seem to handle that part in Vista. What could be the problem?

[spybotsandra]

Hello,

Please run Spybot - Search & Destroy and switch to "Advanced mode" via the menu bar item "Mode" and select "Settings" --> "File Sets" in the left bar. There, please right-click somewhere into the list and choose "select all available checks".

Best regards
Sandra
Team Spybot

[doomer]

I did as you suggested but still no cookies are detected. In addition, cookies check was selected by default so I don't think that is the problem.

If that can help when spybot finishes the first long check and reaches the tracking/favorites/ie check it just completes it in an instant which leads me to believe it somehow ignores it. On the other hand, the last three checks took some time in XP.

[PepiMK]

Are you speaking about Cookies as part of Usage Tracks, or Cookies as part of the malware scan?

I just tried the first one of those, and cookies were immediately found on Vistas IE7. You can download our BrowserCI tool (somewhere here on the forum, just use the search function) to see what exactly Spybot-S&D detects (hmmm that reminds me tjaz I need to upload an updated BrowserCI version).

[doomer]

Cookies as in tracking cookies. Spybot Detects zero on Vista/IE7. I was running ad-watch on XP/IE6 and Spybot still detected one or two cookies every month.

Now I am using Windows Defender. I am sure there should be at least several cookies because tools like Spy Sweeper detected the cookies but caused other severe issues and that's why I uninstalled it.

What I am saying is that currently Spybot cannot handle IE7/Vista as part of the last three checks during which it detected cookies in XP. The bottom line is that it somehow cannot detect cookies in Vista.

[PepiMK]

What I am saying is that currently Spybot cannot handle IE7/Vista as part of the last three checks during which it detected cookies in XP. The bottom line is that it somehow cannot detect cookies in Vista.

As I said, please test BrowserCI

Also, regarding tracking cookies, see our FAQ or any of a dozen posts each week probably In our opinion, detection of tracking cookies is something that many anti-spywares use to scare users only (you know, the "usual" "A DOZEN BAD THINGS DETECTED, YOU NEED TO BUY OUR SOFTWARE" message by rogues) - if you would set your browser to not accept third party cookies at all, the problem would be gone anyway

[doomer]

But disabling third-party cookies would mean that all my forum and other websites logins would be gone. No way I am doing this.

So you are saying that tracking cookies are negligible? Why does spybot detect them on XP then? You decided that they are no more an issue in Vista?

This all seems strange to me, that's all. I am sorry but I only wanted to point to a problem that seems relevant to me. I am also not sure if spybot checks for browser hijacks because I don't know if it checks IE7 at all as it just blazes through the browser tests which didn't happen on IE6. Thanks for your replies.

[PepiMK]

Please provide information whether BrowserCI sees those cookies are not! I'm asking the third time now!
(edit: that's vey important because it has exactly the same code as Spybot-S&D, so it's a clear indicator whether our code is able to see these cookies or not)

I also told you I tested it on Vista and it still works, and now you're putting words into my mouth that we would have decided they're not an issue there? I did already say that it's all in the FAQ (#37)...

[md usa spybot fan]

doomer:

But disabling third-party cookies would mean that all my forum and other websites logins would be gone. No way I am doing this.

Third-party cookies, also referred to as Tracking Cookies, are cookies stored on your computer by a third-party not directly related to the web site you're currently viewing. The intention of this type of cookie is to profile the user's surfing habits by tracking your movement as you surf between sites. If any transaction occurs where the user gives any personal info, then the tracking becomes personally identifiable. While tracking cookies may not be as insidious type of malware, they are definitely spies.

Blocking third-party cookies should not affect the cookies that you store containing forum pointers nor will it affect the AutoComplete password function.

[PepiMK]

Yes, md usa spybot fan is absolutely right - if you're visiting forum.example.com, all the cookies for example.com would still be allowed, but if example.com had advertisement from annoyingadserver.com, any cookie from annoyingadserver.com would be blocked for this website (annoyingadserver.com is a third party for example.com - example.com itself is NOT a third party for itself ).