How do you check to see if the cookies on a computer is enabled or disabled? Which option should a person have it on?

If you're using Firefox for a browser, in the menu, click Tools : Options : Privacy, then select the Cookies tab. There you have the ability to choose whether to enable cookies, from where, how long to keep them and even options to view them (fairly useless) and delete them. There are many opinions on cookies, but they do serve a useful (and often necessary) purpose on many web sites. They are not evil and do not typically contain private information. They are simply a method web sites use to remember your preferences to save time and effort on return visits. I would recommend leaving them enabled, unless you are extremely paranoid about the 0.001% of sites that may use them for malicious purposes. If you prwactise 'safe surfing', you shouldn't have anything to worry about.