Clear browser cookies between offers

Every time you visit an advertiser's web site to complete an offer, tracking cookies are stored on your computer to allow the advertiser to tell you apart from other users, know which pages and offers to show you, and remember that an approval must be sent to Points2Shop.

The problem is that a lot of offers use the same systems for displaying ads (think "eltpath" or "eversave"). When you hit one of these systems, if you haven't cleared your cookies they immediately think you are doing the previous offer that you just completed. This means that for the majority of the offers, you will not receive credit if you do not clear your cookies between offers.

CCleaner

CCleaner is a simple tool for Windows which will clear your cookies (and other temporary/junk files) across your entire computer. It also has convenient options for cookies that you want to keep, which is especially useful for web sites like Points2Shop which keep you logged in.

Benefits

• Easy to use and configure
• Clears cookies from all browsers
• Ability to preserve specific cookies

Shortcomings

• Must close browser to clear cookies/cache
• Slower than cookies-only cleaners
• Windows-only
  

1. Visit ccleaner.com/download and click Alternative Download to get the free and safe program.
2. During the install you have the option to enable or disable desktop shortcuts, automatic updates, etc. The only important thing is to disable the Yahoo Toolbar checkbox.
3. Run CCleaner, you will see something like this:
   

   
   

4. First, let's configure the options, you will not need to do this every time (just skip to step 9).
5. Go to Options and find the Cookies page:
   

   
   

6. In the Cookies to delete column, select the names of any web sites that you use frequently (hold down the Ctrl key to select more than one). Points2Shop.com is a good choice.
   
7. Press the -> button between the two lists to move these sites to the Cookies to keep list. Now these specific cookies will be preserved.
8. Now click the Cleaner button and ensure that "Cookies" is checked under Internet Explorer. Firefox and other browsers will appear on the Applications tab, make sure their Cookies entries are checked as well.
1. I suggest checking Cookies, Download History, and Internet Cache.
2. If you use the browser a lot you probably do not want to check History or Saved Form Information.
9. Close your web browsers to ensure that everything can be cleaned.
   
10. Click the Run Cleaner button and wait for the CLEANING COMPLETE message.

Now you're ready to do another offer. You can leave CCleaner open if you're doing multiple offers and just follow steps 9 and 10 between offers.

CCleaner will also clear other useless files from your computer to free up space. If you're interested in tinkering, you can change other options to remove even more junk, just make sure you know what each option means before changing it.


CookieCuller
CookieCuller is a Firefox plugin which can be used to clear your cookies between offers without closing your browser. It also allows specific cookies to be preserved so you don't have to log in again to frequently-used sites.

Benefits

• No need to close the browser
  
• Works on any computer
• Ability to preserve specific cookies
  

Shortcomings

• Only works in Firefox
• No keyboard shortcut
• Cannot select entire sites, only specific cookies
  

1. Visit addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/82 in Firefox and click Add to Firefox to get the free and safe program.
2. Follow the installation prompts, restart Firefox.
3. In the Firefox Tools menu, click CookieCuller.
4. You will see a list of all cookies in Firefox, this may seem daunting at first but once you follow the steps below, the "Remove All Cookies" button is the only important part:

   
   

5. Find a web site that you use frequently, like points2shop.com and click on the first cookie from that site.
6. Holding down the Shift key, click the last cookie from that site. This will select all cookies from the site.
7. Click the Protect Cookies button to prevent these cookies from being deleted.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 for any other sites that you use frequently.
9. When you have done this, click Remove All Cookies and everything you haven't protected (most importantly, cookies from offers sites) will be removed instantly. See "Semi-automatic cookie and cache cleaning" below for an even easier way to use CookieCuller.
10. Go back to Points2Shop and find another offer!

In-Browser Settings
It is also possible to delete your cookies from within the browser itself, and this may be the only option if do not have a computer running Windows. This is, in my opinion, far inferior because it only deletes cookies in one browser and there is no way to specify which cookies to keep.

If you're using Firefox you can go to Tools then Clear Private Data and select Cookies and Cache. This will delete all of your cookies, so for any sites like Points2Shop which keep you logged in, you will need to log in again every time you clear the cookies in this manner.


Semi-automatic cookie and cache cleaning!
If you use Firefox and think it would be convenient to just close and restart your browser to clear your cookies and cache between offers, CookieCuller and in-browser settings to the rescue!

First, install CookieCuller using the instructions above.

In Firefox, go to Tools > Add-ons then select CookieCuller and click the Preferences button. Select the checkbox next to "Delete Unprotected Cookies on Startup" and then close the options and Add-ons windows.

Next, to enable cache deleting, go to Tools > Options > Privacy and then take a look at the Private Data section. Check "Always clear my private data when I close Firefox" and un-check "Ask me before clearing private data." Finally - this is important - click Settings and ensure that only the Cache option is checked (or if you want to clear other things as well that's up to you). Click OK a couple times to get back to Firefox.

Now you can just close the browser and open it again between offers!

If you want to get really slick, install the QuickRestart add-on which will restart Firefox and allow you to - once you have followed the steps above - do all this by clicking a toolbar icon or pressing Ctrl + Alt + R! After installing the addon, go to View > Toolbars > Customize and drag the Restart button wherever you want it.