- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: halodude117
Oh yeah I forgot about that duh... oh man I feel stupid now >.<'Now? I would have hung myself the first time I used that emoticon.
Cookies are used to store data on your machine, such as login info, to allow (slightly) more secure data transfer; each time you change the page, the server reloads the information from your machine, rather than transferring it about locally. While this opens the data up to interception, it is generally encrypted, rendering it useless to anyone but the intended receiver, who, presumably, has the data necessary for decryption.
WLID generates these cookies once you login; they store what ID you are using, and will only generate if you input the correct ID-and-password combination.
The 'save my name and password' option is retarded. I really mean that. It is the single, most pathetically stupid thing you can ever do. It saves your login info on the server, tagged with your IP. If you close your browser or otherwise disconnect from the Net without logging out of WLID first, someone else can easily log onto your account, so long as they know what they're doing.
What happened to smac, however, is a very curious bug indeed. I'd contact MS customer support with the details of each account you logged on to, as well as the account you were trying to log on to. Be sure it's actually MS before sending any passwords, though. As Recon noted, peoplez lie on teh Netterwebz.