Member Avatar for Thanh-BKK

Hello :)

I am new here, and i hope i did post this in the correct section of the forum.

I have a strange little problem which bugs me since about three months, persistant and a little annoying.

My problem is, i can't log into my hotmail account! It comes up "your browser is currently set to disable cookies..." but that is not true, it is in fact set to "Allow all cookies"!

My machine is a Duron 1000, 768 MB RAM. Windows XP pro, no service pack but all the other updates/patches installed. I use Netscape 7.1 as primary/default browser, IE 6.0 as secondary. Mail application is Outlook Express 6.0 (and no problem with that same hotmail account there!). Anti Virus is Norton 2003 professional edition, with latest updates, and firewall is also Norton 2003 professional with all the latest updates. My ISP is KSC Internet via dialup, 56k, but the problem also occurs when i use any other ISP such as CS or Asianet.

The problem occured first about three months ago, a little while after i re-installed the Norton stuff. Netscape just opens the main page, then when i typed in my login details, it comes with that cookie-warning site.

ONLY when i delete the history (!!), i can log in - for one session! When i then close the browser, restart it - can't log in again. OR, alternatively, after a few days of not-trying, i will again let me in for one single session.

Deleting cookies did, surprisingly, NOT help.

Also turning off, even completely uninstalling both Norton applications, did not do any help, just cause a lot of lost time after reinstalling them and having to re-download all those updates.

And, at any given time, i can get into hotmail via IE 6.0! So i guess neither the firewall nor Anti Virus are to blame. I in fact have IE only for the damn hotmail.... since i can get with no problem into just about ANY other website with no problems, using the Netscape browser. Even other MSN sites! Only hotmail makes me the heawdache.

Does anyone have any idea how to solve that?

Oh, btw... when the problem started, i was then on Netscape 7.0. Last week i uninstalled it completely (inclusive deleting all it's folders and cleaning the registry) and then installed the new version 7.1 - just to face the very same problem again... it's haunting me.

Many thanks in advance for any help.....

Kind regards...
Thanh, from Bangkok

  • 4 Contributors
  • 6 Replies
  • 238 Views
  • 11 Months Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

Generated

Brief recap tied to the thread: this turned out to be a cache/cookie interaction in the Netscape 7.x family. ’s change to Netscape’s cache revalidation behavior fixed the Hotmail “cookies disabled” message; later reported the same result in 7.2 and pointed readers to that post as the solution.

Why that fix makes sense: webmail logins normally require a fresh round trip so the server can issue session cookies and short‑lived tokens. If the browser serves a cached copy or skips revalidation, the necessary Set‑Cookie exchange or token handshake can be missed, and the server will behave as if the client isn’t accepting cookies. That also explains the “works once after clearing history” symptom — clearing forces a fresh fetch until the cache preference causes the browser to reuse cached content again.

Extra troubleshooting and prevention (beyond the cache tweak): isolate the problem with a clean profile (create or rename the existing profile folder) instead of repeatedly reinstalling the application; disable toolbars/HTTP‑intercepting add‑ons and retest; temporarily disable any web‑scanning feature in security suites; verify the system clock; and remove the browser’s cache/cookie files in the profile so the client rebuilds them. If a preference repeatedly reverts, suspect profile corruption or an add‑on rather than the core install. Export bookmarks before creating a fresh profile so settings can be restored safely.

Longer‑term advice: Netscape 7.x is obsolete and unmaintained. For predictable cookie/login behavior and much better security, move to a current, supported browser or use a mail client with POP/IMAP. The cache‑revalidation workaround is useful, but upgrading avoids similar hard‑to‑diagnose quirks in legacy code.

Recommended Answers

All 6 Replies

Member Avatar for Thanh-BKK

k folks......

got it running again! Still wonder how that happened.....

If anyone faces the same problem, here's what i did:

In NS 7.1, click "Edit" then "preferences". Go to "Advanced", then "Cache". Check if there is a checkmark under "Compare page in the cache with page on the network" in the field "Every time i view the page".

Mine was set to "never"!

I tried it now a few dozen times, it works fine again.

Kind regards....
Thanh

Member Avatar for Zachery

Your problem is Netscape 7. in the long run.

Member Avatar for vauni57

Hi,

I have just had this exact same problem with Netscape 7.2

Did you ever get a solution?
Cjeers,
Vaughan

Member Avatar for caperjack

the fix is in post #2

In NS 7.1, click "Edit" then "preferences". Go to "Advanced", then "Cache". Check if there is a checkmark under "Compare page in the cache with page on the network" in the field "Every time i view the page".

Mine was set to "never"!

I tried it now a few dozen times, it works fine again.

Member Avatar for vauni57

Thanks.
That does indeed appear to have fixed the problem for me with 7.2.

Does anyone know why my preferences changed in the first place? I had been using 7.2 for quite a few months successfully and then suddenly the Cookies issue arose.

Vaughan

Member Avatar for caperjack

Thanks.
That does indeed appear to have fixed the problem for me with 7.2.

Does anyone know why my preferences changed in the first place? I had been using 7.2 for quite a few months successfully and then suddenly the Cookies issue arose.

Vaughan

Not I ,Computers are funny like that !:)

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.