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From: franklin-xy on 5 Aug 2010 18:45
Windows XP Home Edition, version 2002, Service Pack 3
Internet Explorer 8

Hello:

Currently all the cookies generated by Internet Explorer include my family
name in the username section before the "@", e.g. Smith(a)microsoft.txt. I
assume that is because my family name was used as the Windows account name,
which now shows beside "Registered To: when you right-click My Computer>
Properties> General.

I want to remove that family name from future cookies. What do I have to do?
If I simply use the User Accounts Control Panel to change the account name
that is displayed, will that change future cookies?

Or, does the username in cookies come from the <user> directory name?

If it's the latter, from the <user> directory name, then is the best method
to create a new Windows user profile, and then copy user data from the old
user profile to the new
profile as detailed here?:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151

I read about that method, and another method that involves editing the
registry key "RegisteredOwner" at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion, so I'm
seeking to know the best method.

And, if I then do copy over the user data from the old user profile to the new
profile, will my applications all work afterwards retaining my prefs,
settings, etc., or will I need to edit any paths anywhere?

Thanks!

From: VanguardLH on 6 Aug 2010 16:25
franklin-xy wrote:

> Currently all the cookies generated by Internet Explorer include my family
> name in the username section before the "@", e.g. Smith(a)microsoft.txt. I
> assume that is because my family name was used as the Windows account name,
> which now shows beside "Registered To: when you right-click My Computer>
> Properties> General.

The cookie (a text file) contains info you used at the site, for login.
If you want to change what the site records in their cookie saved on
your host, change your login or account on that site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_cookie
From: franklin-xy on 6 Aug 2010 17:55


"VanguardLH" wrote:

> franklin-xy wrote:
>
> > Currently all the cookies generated by Internet Explorer include my family
> > name in the username section before the "@", e.g. Smith(a)microsoft.txt. I
> > assume that is because my family name was used as the Windows account name,
> > which now shows beside "Registered To: when you right-click My Computer>
> > Properties> General.
>
> The cookie (a text file) contains info you used at the site, for login.
> If you want to change what the site records in their cookie saved on
> your host, change your login or account on that site.

You have missed the point. The issue is not the contents of the cookie. The
filename of each cookie file contains my Windows username in the section
before the "@", e.g. user(a)microsoft.txt, comes from the Windows account name.
That username is identical for every cookie produced from my browsing, and
as it has my family name I wish to change it as that information is visible
to http traffic. So, I will await someone who knows how Windows user profiles
work to snswer the real questions:

I want to remove that family name from future cookies. What do I have to do?
If I simply use the User Accounts Control Panel to change the account name
that is displayed, will that change future cookies?

Or, does the username in cookies come from the <user> directory name?

If it's the latter, from the <user> directory name, then is the best method
to create a new Windows user profile, and then copy user data from the old
user profile to the new profile as detailed here?:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811151

I read about that method, and another method that involves editing the
registry key "RegisteredOwner" at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion, so I'm
seeking to know the best method.

And, if I then do copy over the user data from the old user profile to the
new profile, will my applications all work afterwards retaining my prefs,
settings, etc., or will I need to edit any paths anywhere?

From: VanguardLH on 6 Aug 2010 20:11
franklin-xy wrote:

> The filename of each cookie file contains my Windows username in the
> section before the "@", e.g. user(a)microsoft.txt, comes from the
> Windows account name. That username is identical for every cookie
> produced from my browsing, and as it has my family name I wish to
> change it as that information is visible to http traffic. So, I will
> await someone who knows how Windows user profiles work to snswer the
> real questions:
>
> I want to remove that family name from future cookies. What do I have
> to do? If I simply use the User Accounts Control Panel to change the
> account name that is displayed, will that change future cookies?
>
> Or, does the username in cookies come from the <user> directory name?

The filename for a cookie is defined by the web browser and is
typically:

<username>@<domain>.txt

Your *local* web browser is using that naming convention. See:

http://www.brenz.net/cookies/

under "About the Cookie" regarding IE's convention. Javascript can use
HttpCookie.Name to set the name of the cookie *object* to reference it
within the code but the web browser decides what filename to use for
that cookie. Obviously the web browser is a local program that can find
out under what Windows account it is running.

The username is the one assigned to your account, not the name of your
user profile's folder. You can actually change the path to your user
profile folder but the account's username remains the same. To see what
usernames are assigned to each Windows account that you have defined
(assuming you have admin rights), just run "net users" from a DOS
prompt. Or you could run "echo %username%".

To see what is the current path to the user profile folder for the
account under which you are logged under, run "echo %userprofile%".
That does NOT have to use your username as the path for your profile
folder but the default is to do so. That folder is the path to your
profile (of data files/folders). It is NOT your username for your
Windows account.

Your user profile probably has your account's username in its path (but
it may not). The name of your profile folder is NOT your username. Go
read:

http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq/
section 2.10

If you need more help, hopefully someone else joins in that will ignore
your attitude. Bye.
From: franklin-xy on 6 Aug 2010 22:32
"VanguardLH" wrote:

> If you need more help, hopefully someone else joins in that will ignore
> your attitude. Bye.

That's the trouble with text-only communications: you cannot see tone or
intent. I intended no attitude. I'm grateful for the insights, thanks.

> The filename for a cookie is defined by the web browser and is
> typically:
>
> <username>@<domain>.txt

Exactly.

> Your *local* web browser is using that naming convention.

Yes, I'm talking about my local web browser running on my PC.

> See:
>
> http://www.brenz.net/cookies/
>
> under "About the Cookie" regarding IE's convention. Javascript can use
> HttpCookie.Name to set the name of the cookie *object* to reference it
> within the code but the web browser decides what filename to use for
> that cookie. Obviously the web browser is a local program that can find
> out under what Windows account it is running.
>
> The username is the one assigned to your account, not the name of your
> user profile's folder.

Okay, that answers one of my main questions, thanks.

> You can actually change the path to your user
> profile folder but the account's username remains the same.

The reverse is also true. You may easily change the user profile name
(username), and the new one will be displayed and used for login, but the
actual user profile directory will remain unchanged.

> To see what
> usernames are assigned to each Windows account that you have defined
> (assuming you have admin rights), just run "net users" from a DOS
> prompt. Or you could run "echo %username%".
>
> To see what is the current path to the user profile folder for the
> account under which you are logged under, run "echo %userprofile%".
> That does NOT have to use your username as the path for your profile
> folder but the default is to do so.

Right, it is the default unless it has been changed. In my case, the default
remains, as I never changed the username nor the user profile directory name.

> That folder is the path to your
> profile (of data files/folders). It is NOT your username for your
> Windows account.
>
> Your user profile probably has your account's username in its path (but
> it may not). The name of your profile folder is NOT your username. Go
> read:
>
> http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq/
> section 2.10

You answered the central question, of where the username portion of the
cookie filename is taken from. Your answer that it comes from the user
profile username makes my job easier, since that is relatively simple to
change. Changing the user profile directory or creating an entirely new
profile and then copying over the data from the old user profile directory
(and making any necessary pathname changes in certain applications and
shortcuts) would have been more work.

Thanks! And, have a good weekend.
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