Can I update to a 1.5 TB internal HDD on a 6 year old Dell xps9000

Itaregid said:

Actually, cookies do have something to do with it, kindasorta. The website does need the IP addy to find you but uses the cookie to store the data on you. When they harvest the data for a compilation, report, whatever, they retrieve some or all the data from the cookie.

We are talking different things here. Cookies are dropped on our computers and they really have nothing to do the websites "logging" your connection to the website, or your ISP tracking you which is what I was commenting on. If you clear your cookies, the website is still going to know you were there, just like your ISP is going to know you went there too.

True but they won't glean much from you because there won't be any data on a cookie to collect it from if there is no cookie. One purpose of cookies is to contain login info, financial info, addresses, etc. and are needed to automatically log into a website, conduct financial transactions, etc. Others can log the number of times you have visited a site, etc. They aren't always the big bad monsters people make them out to be (though they can be, such as some of the tracking cookies) but, again, it's my darned computer and I want a say on what is put on it (or taken off).

Itaregid said:

True but they won't glean much from you because there won't be any data on a cookie to collect it from if there is no cookie.

That depends on who "they" are. Again, I was commenting on your ISP being a much greater threat than Microsoft.

Your IP address is tied to the MAC address of your gateway device (typically a cable/DSL modem). And that gateway device/IP/MAC is tied to your ISP account. So it does not matter one iota if you save or purge your cookies. Your ISP already knows your full name, billing address/physical location, SSN/IN and other personally identifiable information. PLUS, your ISP knows every single site you visit, when you visited it, and how long you were there.

And any site you visit knows your IP address, when you were there, what you did while there, and how long you were there, without ever looking at a single cookie.

Cookies really don't provide much to anyone looking for your personal information if they have half a clue for what they are doing. So again, there is HUGE difference between privacy and security.

"They" are the ones who drop the cookies on your computer. Cookies can be used to track you (yes, so do the ISPs but why let everyone and their dog also do it when it's so easy to prevent much of it). Some are used for advertising purposes (those are the ones I especially do not want on my computer). Some can carry malware piggybacked on them (not all that common but it does happen). I've already said cookies are not a huge problem but why not just block those that are not needed when all it takes is a simple keystroke when a website tries to drop an unneeded one onto my computer? Granted, it's a thin layer of protection but a little here and a little there can add up.

Again, it's my computer and I will determine what goes on it whenever possible. When a website, program company, whatever, offers to pay for my computers, internet connection, etc., then I will let them have free reign over my computers. Otherwise, they get to deal with a cranky, anal, old Irish bi...broad!

Answers in bold again (I didn't get my nap out and need to go back to bed)

Itaregid said:

"They" are the ones who drop the cookies on your computer. Cookies can be used to track you (yes, so do the ISPs but why let everyone and their dog also do it when it's so easy to prevent much of it).

You really are arguing a point I am NOT and have not been disputing.

I am going to summarize my position then step out of here because this thread no longer even remotely resembles anything about the OP's topic.

You said you were "more concerned about monitoring and regulating outbound transmissions". Cookies don't phone home.

"What we've got here is a failure to communicate." I never said (or meant to say) that the cookies themselves phone home. The entity (polite word) that placed the cookie has to "phone" the cookie to extract data from it. The unwanted outbound communications would be from programs that phone home for various reasons, some harmless and some not so much, and from malware (monitoring and regulating outbound traffic is just another thin layer of security).

And you can block programs that do easily with WF, just as you can with ZA. I don't care which firewall anyone uses. Firewall technologies are not new or complex, proprietary or unique to any given program. They all work the same way by blocking access to ports. The point is, use a firewall.

Agreed. I just find ZA to be so much easier to use.

Another poster said ISP's don't keep track of our web-surfing. That is not true. They log all traffic going through their networks. That is NOT done by cookies.

I've never disputed that.

Lady Fitzgerald correctly points out if you delete a cookie, there will be no login data to collect from it. But again, that does not matter to your ISP (because they are already logging your traffic) or the next site you visit. Both will see your IP whether you log in or not. And the next time you log into any site, you will just have to enter your login credentials in again anyway - and then they will see and likely track what you are doing while connected, and maybe beyond.

That poster also said it is website's cookies that keep track an anyone who enter the website. They can, but they don't need cookies on your computer to track you while you are on their site. The website tracks you when you connect to them because they can see your IP and then log your activity on their systems. They don't need cookies on your system for that.

There are indeed "tracking cookies" that some sites dump on our systems. Most are benign. Some are used to track your activities and send a log of those activities to third parties (Newegg, Amazon, Jet, etc.). Most of those are just nosey. Some may be malicious so cleaning out cookies periodically is a good idea.

Exactly what I've been saying.

Layback Bear says he deletes cookies several times a day. That is probably overly cautious, but certainly not harmful. If you have multiple users of your computers (especially invincible, "it can't happen to me" teens), then frequent cleaning would be a prudent.

Lady Fitzgerald says she doesn't delete cookies all that often, she just makes the site ask permission, then typically denies it. That's probably fine if you are very disciplined, "security aware", and the only user of the computer.

I'm the only user. It's easy to be disciplined when you have a pop-up staring you in the face. If I kneejerk and respond without thinking, it will be to deny the cookie which is a failsafe for me since I can always reset my browser to accept that cookie should it turn out I do need it.

I am somewhere in the middle. I clean out the "clutter" on my computers, including cookies, every couple days with CCleaner. Only I have told CCleaner to keep the cookies for those sites I regularly visit, like SevenForums. In this way, I keep my systems clean of ALL unwanted cookies, but keep SevenForum cookies so I don't have to keep entering my username and password every time. This is one of CCleaner's greatest features.

While most people swear by CCleaner, I'm more likely to swear at it. I have found it to be a bit more intrusive than I care for and it occasionally doesn't play well with some of my programs. I only install it on my computer to wipe HDDs, such as when I get a new one (which I will no longer do since I'm going all SSD soon) and want to torture test it to see if it will fail or not during the vendor's return window (I would then get a new replacement rather than the refurb the manufacturer would send). Once done, I uninstall it. I find Spybot S&D (yes, it's not as good as it used to be but it's still pretty good) and Glary Utilities work just fine for "decluttering".

Most search providers will track EVERYTHING you do if you have their toolbar installed in your browser. If no toolbar, they will still track EVERYTHING you do after doing a search. They also use cookies. This is how Newegg, Amazon, Jet, and others can toss up an ad for the items you were searching for with a search engine next time you visit their sites. If you don't want your search provider tracking you, do what I do and change your default search engine to DuckDuckGo. If you don't search for illegal, nefarious or risqué content and want to earn money for your searches, use Bing to earn Microsoft Rewards.

Ixquick is another search engine that doesn't track your searches. I don't trust or even like Bing and couldn't care less about MS Rewards. I also do not allow toolbars in my browser.

My apologies to provlima for my part in running this thread so far OT.

Itaregid said:

While most people swear by CCleaner, I'm more likely to swear at it. I have found it to be a bit more intrusive than I care for and it occasionally doesn't play well with some of my programs.

I and many of my friends, colleagues and clients have been using CCleaner on all literally 100s of systems for over 10 years and I have never seen or heard of it ever being described as intrusive. And only in recent versions has there been a real-time component used for monitoring (which can easily be disabled) so I don't see how it could have been intrusive or "play" with any program, well or otherwise.

The only complaint (if the right word) I have heard is that it is "not" aggressive enough when cleaning the Registry. But IMO, that's what puts it head and shoulders above all other cleaners - including Glary's which I have used too.

The only other clutter cleaner I ever recommend to anyone is Windows own Disk Cleanup. But of course, that will delete all your cookies, including those you might want to keep.

So not sure what happened in your case, but I would not hesitate to recommend you try it again.

BTW, there is no harm, in fact it wise to "wipe" a SSD before getting rid of it. But there is no need to use a setting that uses more than one pass. One pass will truly delete your data (instead of just marking the locations as available), but not put unnecessary writes to the drive. CCleaner has a nice "Drive Wiper" feature that lets you select a simple 1 pass overwrite option.

If tossing an SSD, wiping it with a single pass would be fine (so far all my SSDS I've put into service so far are still in service) but, if selling it or giving it to someone, secure erasing it would probably be better. For modern HDDs (SATA drives), you are correct; a single pass is quite sufficient for "deleting" data before parting with the drive. CCleaner's drive wiper is excellent for that and is what I use. The only time I use the multiple wipe options is when I'm torture testing a new HDD.

I know I can turn off the monitoring component in CCleaner but I have seen it turn itself back on. I have only a few programs it interferes with (or vice versus), maybe two or three—I don't remember which ones now. Rather than try to remember which combinations to avoid, I just eliminate one of the offenders.