Why do I lose my cookies when Internet Explorer is not shut down correctly?

Question

I'm using Internet Explorer 9 in a "normal" way, i.e. not doing InPrivate browsing, not having it configured to delete cookies on exit etc.

If Internet Explorer is open when my computer shuts down unexpectedly (either as a result of a BSOD or because it is being automatically updated) the next time I start Internet Explorer it seems to have lost many login cookies (i.e. for Facebook etc.)

I did some googling and found a thread on Technet forums describing the problem. User Snowknight26 wrote a detailed analysis of the problem in the thread:

From what I can gather, the index.dat file in the %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies directory contains a list of websites and corresponding cookie files. After a successful shutdown, the index.dat file is populated with entries, but after a failed shutdown, those entries are missing.

Further reading his analysis it seems that after a failed shutdown the cookies are present but the index file pointing to these cookies is empty resulting in the cookies not being used.

Is there any solution to this problem?

Answer 1

Yes, there's a quick solution, actually a number of them:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera
• Apple Safari

And others, such as Maxthon, or you could even set up Konqueror on Windows.

I'll quote a quote on FireFTP's homepage:

If you're havin' IE problems, I feel bad for you, son - I got 99 problems but a browser ain't one.

Answer 2

I have a solution:

You can use Linux.
It does not let you run IE*.
_{* Unless you install wine.}

It's also a good cure if Windows > XP is corrupting your files.

<edit>That was sarcasm</edit>

The real reason is these sites probably use session cookies.
Session cookies expire when the browser process is closed/restarted.
The browser deletes these cookies before starting, so they're gone after a crash.
Intended behaviour of a session cookie.