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How to delete cookies, cache and history in all major browsers

17 points| pkrumins | 15 years ago |catonmat.net | reply

11 comments

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[+] Andrenid|15 years ago|reply
This also doesn't get rid of Flash Cookies / LSO's. The wiping of LSO's badly needs to be part of standard browser functionality. When I click "Clear All History & Cookies" it should actually clear ALL history and cookies... not all local cookies while leaving all the flash stuff tracking me.
[+] pkrumins|15 years ago|reply
Oh snap, I totally forgot about these. Writing a script to clear those and updating the blog post. Thanks!
[+] morgantwenty|15 years ago|reply
Agreed. Better Privacy for Firefox is pretty good for this but I would like to see secure deletion of user data for plugins be a core part of the browser and not an extension. They added stupid "personas" before deleting secure history deletion :(
[+] morgantwenty|15 years ago|reply
Good post but two things I would change.

Firstly I would use sdelete from Microsoft (formally Winternals). It is a free command line secure delete utility. Just replace

del /q /s /f in the Firefox example with sdelete -p 2 -s and it will securly delete the files with 2 passes (although 1 should be fine for everyone to be honest).

Secondly there is no need to compile the OPs regdelete app as you can use the built in reg.exe to do this

Just do

reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\TypedURLs" /f

And the same job is done :)

[+] pkrumins|15 years ago|reply
I couldn't get that reg working for some reason. But awesome tip on sdelete!
[+] CGamesPlay|15 years ago|reply
I feel like it's important to note that this is actually obliterating the entire user profile. Bookmarks, saved passwords, and extensions included. Unless I'm mistaken, which is certainly possible.
[+] e40|15 years ago|reply
Doesn't this delete bookmarks, too? I have a file called "bookmarks" in the directory that is deleted by the script.
[+] substack|15 years ago|reply
Which browser are you using?