Secret Cookies on your computer that you cannot delete

reply to post by woghd

rem name this nukeflash.bat ============================================ rem :: nuke any existing cookies and subdirectories :: echo off rem c: rem cd "%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects\" rem dir /b/s rem pause rd /q/s "%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects\" md "%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects\" rem cd "%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\macromedia.com\support\flashplayer\sys" rem dir /b/s rem pause rd /q/s "%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\macromedia.com\support\flashplayer\sys" md "%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\macromedia.com\support\flashplayer\sys" rem ======================

For the people who are not completely computer literate, where do you enter all the above to remove these files?

Originally posted by sixswornsermon
reply to post by abecedarian

 

Works on my Xp SP3 even though there is no option to save as any type other than a text format.

Trying to rename a .txt to .bat does not work however.

Go figure.

I'm on 7; it and Vista automatically add the ".txt" in notepad.
I think you might get around it if you surround the filename in quotes, i.e.: "lsoremove.bat"

KFC only found 1 cookie.

reply to post by abecedarian


Open IE, Go to Folder properties, make sure show hidden files is checked and make sure show hidden extentions is checked. You can now name your .txt to .bat when you "Save as".

Originally posted by woghd

Even more insidious is that they are part of a P2P network. That's right, Adobe and other sites can store data on YOUR computer, without your knowledge or permission, and then YOUR computer serves that data to other users on the internet, to take the load off of the web servers of the sites that planted these cookies on your computer. Your computer becomes a robot, sending data to other computers, as part of a giant botnet.

Can you please back this part up with links that provide proof of this? And that this can happen as a direct result of someone installing flash player? Is this something that Adobe purposely put into the flash program?

reply to post by WeRpeons


1. Right click on your desktop - Choose "New Text Document"

2. Copy and paste.

3. "Save as"

4. name the file whatever you want, I named mine NukeCookie.bat Just make sure you end it with .bat

5. Run the .bat

reply to post by WeRpeons


The easy way if your nt sure how to use a batch file is to navigate to the directory they are stored in, then delete the LSO's manually, then set the permissons on the directory to read only so new ones cant be stored, no need for a batch file or browser plugin to stop more.
the link in the first post to wiki has the details on how to do that.

reply to post by SiglenDyn


THANK YOU! Just deleted 1374 LSO cookies. Wow

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


If you click on the Macromedia link in the OP and then the tab furthest to the right, it seems to confirm this.
www.macromedia.com...

reply to post by InvisibleAlbatross



Thanks.. your right.. i hadn't yet gone to the link when i posted that.

I wonder why Adobe would put this functionality into the flash player.. is it necessary for flash to operate?

People lets test the truthfulness of this settings manager. Use the above tools to get rid of all the cookies.. Then use the settings manager to turn off/deny this function.. later.. see if it's working by running the cookie remove tools again.

I want to KNOW this settings manager is really doing it's job and not letting these cookies in.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


If you set the directories permisson to read only once you empty the directory, theres no way new LSO can be written into there, so best to do that, then you know its not going to place new ones.

I'm glad so many have found the info helpful. I'll try to do more like these.

Don't forget to star and flag!

Originally posted by sprocket2cog
reply to post by JohnPhoenix

 

If you set the directories permisson to read only once you empty the directory, theres no way new LSO can be written into there, so best to do that, then you know its not going to place new ones.

According to the Wikipedia article, these are the default locations for the files:

The default storage location for LSO files is operating system-dependent. LSO files are typically stored with a ".SOL" extension, within each User's directory. Note that for self-executing flash applications run on the local machine will show up as being run on a website, in the folder localhost.

Windows:
%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects\\\\ name>.sol
%APPDATA%\Macromedia\Flash Player\macromedia.com\support\flashplayer\sys\#
For AIR Applications: %APPDATA%\\Local Store\#SharedObjects\.swf\ name>.sol
Mac OS X:
~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/#SharedObjects//// name>.sol
~/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/macromedia.com/support/flashplayer/sys/ name>.sol
For AIR Applications: ~/Library/Preferences//Local Store/#SharedObjects/.swf/ name>.sol
Linux/Unix:
~/.macromedia/Flash_Player/#SharedObjects////.swf/ name>.sol

Notes

¹ Flash player can save the file in any path specified by the SWF developer, relative to the current domain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I would have to set the permissions on each of these directories?

Also notice the Note at the bottom. " Flash player can save the file in any path specified by the SWF developer, relative to the current domain." - So you may have these files stored in other directories you do not know about.. you cannot protect these directories with your method - is this right?

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


Im running linux and only had to worry about one file path, but yes you need to lock down the directories that are written to.

But do a search for .sol objects and that will give you the locations of the directories you need to lock. then if you have any issuse you can unlock it if something like flash stops working.
I just locked down the whole macromedia directory so now no sub directories can be used.

Originally posted by woghd
I'm glad so many have found the info helpful. I'll try to do more like these.

Don't forget to star and flag!

Thank you for that,

But.. I don't trust MS to begin with. I remember over 10 years ago when Microsoft got Busted letting the OS Phone Home on every boot up. We just do not know what all the bits and pieces of an Operating System is doing behind our backs. That's the Evil of closed source software.

If I didn't need Win 7 to play my games, I would only use Linux and only Open Source software where everything is documented and the code can be inspected by all.

reply to post by sprocket2cog


Would you give a link or some direction how to do this (lock down the macromedia directory) for linux users? I'm using an Ubuntu variant (Mint). I can do a search later tonight, so no big deal, but if you had it handy, that would be great.

Originally posted by sprocket2cog
reply to post by JohnPhoenix

 

But do a search for .sol objects and that will give you the locations of the directories you need to lock. then if you have any issuse you can unlock it if something like flash stops working.
I just locked down the whole macromedia directory so now no sub directories can be used.

edit on 28-3-2011 by sprocket2cog because: eadded content

Cool that solves the problem with unknown directories hiding these files. Thanks.

I hear that!

I only switched to XP just last year! I ran win98 for as long as I possibly could before upgrading. Prior to that I did the same thing with Win95. Staying as retro as possible ensures the best security and knowledge about your DOS. The trade-off is you can't use certain graphics cards, etc., obviously. But for browsing, I strongly recommend staying retro as long as possible.

This has to be one of the most important threads in a long time....thx OP. I had no clue!