MSIE for Mac 5.2.3 Not Saving Preferences/Cookies on Mac OS X 10.3.2

January 9, 2004 8:09 AM

Cookie and preference problem with IE 5.2.3 running Panther (10.3.2)...[more inside]

Clamshell iBook DVD Special Edition. 466 MHz, 320 MB RAM. I normally use Safari and Firebird but I'm sometimes forced to jump to IE for certain things. After one of the Jaguar updates I noticed that IE was not saving preferences or cookies after I would quit the app. Sometimes it seems like some cookies are actually expiring during the session. This problem has carried over into my clean install of Panther. I don't run any extremely hincky apps and I've tried reinstalling IE and also trashing .plist files. No luck. Any suggestions?

posted by anathema to computers & internet (7 comments total)

I trust you've heard that Microsoft has permanently stopped development on IE for OSX? Their last release was last June. It hasn't been updated for Panther and never will be. I use IE sometimes because I'm too lazy to log in and out of two Yahoo mail accounts, but that's hardly a necessity. What do you need IE for? I don't mean to sound snarky... there are plenty of apps that I wish I could still use, (Jade, for example) but their lack of OSX development has made this impossible.
posted by squirrel at 8:54 AM on January 9, 2004

Repair permissions? Can't hurt.
posted by sudama at 9:25 AM on January 9, 2004

Another troubleshooting step would be to log in to another account (create one if you don't have one set up) and see if IE behaves properly in that account. If so, this pretty well narrows the problem down to your home directory.
posted by sudama at 9:26 AM on January 9, 2004

squirrel: I have to switch to IE every now and then for websites that won't work in Safari or Mozilla.
posted by jennyb at 11:12 AM on January 9, 2004

This is one of the many "permanent bugs" in IE. (There's also the blank "hang" screen where you have to resize the window to see a page render, etc.) Anyway, IE loves to forget cookie and preference settings. I shouldn't really say it forgets them, it's more often a case that it never saves them to begin with.

The only fix I know of is this: After you've acquired a cookie/preference you want to remember, open up IE preferences, make SOME SORT OF CHANGE (I usually click on the "Allow Looping" checkbox in "Web Content"), close IE preferences, open preferences again (and un-do your change if you wish), then close them again. Note: You may have to do this several times to make a cookie/preference "stick". Very annoying, and I'm sure there's a better method/fix, but I'm not aware of it. As always, your mileage may vary.

As for the Safari sniping: I use IE because I need to see what my web pages look like for 90% of the other Mac users out there who are using IE. As soon as that tide turns to Safari, so will I.
posted by jca at 11:48 AM on January 9, 2004

I have problems with Safari on some sites. Specifically, filing trademark applications online with the USPTO has been quite frustrating. There are some other online forms that I've also had problems with. Safari also doesn't like Westlaw at all.
I have repaired permissions with no success. I'll try jca's suggestion. Thanks.
posted by anathema at 12:53 PM on January 9, 2004

Don't get me wrong, I'm no Safari advocate or apologist. Safari is a pretty good browser, but it's a real shame that it doesn't have more competition. I used IE for years and liked it fine.
posted by squirrel at 1:34 PM on January 9, 2004