June Drazenovich called to ask if it's possible to create a Shortcut for deleting cookies. Well, one can be created that takes you to the "cookies" folder, but deleting them may require another couple of clicks.

First, though, what are cookies? They are small text files placed on your computer that can tell a commercial site on a return visit something about your previous visit. Cookies are usually benign, but can contain spyware, depending on the kinds of sites you visit.

Cookies are sent to a folder named "Temporary Internet Files," which also contains other items seen on visited sites, such as copies of images and music files. Most folks, when deleting cookies, also delete the other files by choosing Edit>Select All, and File>Delete.

A more traditional method is to click Start>Control Panel and follow the prompts for deleting cookies and/or files. These prompts also appear if you open Internet Explorer and click Tools>Internet Options.

Some programs, such as Yahoo Mail, will store your password as a cookie in case you want to access your email without typing it in each time. Deleting all cookies, however, means having to retype it. Similarly, Google stores various search options as cookies, thus requiring one to reset them if the cookies are deleted.

Regarding June's "shortcut" question, you may have multiple folders named "Temporary Internet Files" on your PC, so you need to find the right one. Click Start>Search>All Files & Folders and type "Temporary Internet Files" into the Name field. Also, click "More Advanced Options" and be sure that "Search System Folders" and "Search Subfolders" are checked. Then click "Search" and wait till all so-named folders are found.

Now double-click each to examine its contents. Most will be nearly empty, but one will contain hundreds of items, including the target cookies. You can pick and choose what to delete, or zap everything as described above.

Now you can make a shortcut to this folder by right-clicking it and choosing Send to: Desktop (Create Shortcut).

As mentioned above, online songs you listen to are stored in "Temporary Internet Files" and can subsequently be dragged onto your Desktop if you want your own copies. The same is true for images that might not otherwise be downloadable.

However, finding a particular item in this folder can be difficult because of its huge quantity of files. You can simplify a search by clicking on View>Arrange Icons by>Type. This will group together, as an example, all the MP3s. You can also click Search>All Files & Folders, and type *.MP3 into the "Name" field to locate all such music files.

If you try to play a song by double-clicking it within the folder you'll be warned that doing so might be unsafe. However, dragging a copy onto your Desktop (or into another folder) works just fine.