How to create/moderate financial message board?

How would a message board remember links & messages you've visited after signing out and restarting computer?

• I visit a business/financial message board, and despite the fact I clear cookies, files, history, and also sign out and restart my computer, when I re-visit the board, it remembers what links and messages I've visited, without my having to sign in. The unread messages are in bold, and the read messages are no longer bold. Also, my ip address changes each time I restart my computer, so that couldn't be it. Does this mean that message board has placed spyware on my computer? Most message boards do not retain information after visitors have done all the above. As described above, after signing out, I go to internet options, clear cookies, files, and history, and have restarted my computer, which changes my ip addy, and then returned to the board, and the website still remembers what messages I've read. This is a financial message board, so I'm concerned that some type of spyware may be placed on the computers of people who join the site.

• Answer:

  That is rather odd! You would think it would clear the links after you cleared your cookies. I think there is something else you are overlooking or some other reason for this occurrence. 99.9% of the time a forum is not going to put spy ware on your computer. Besides, do you remember installing any software to access this forum? If not, these forums don't have any special power over your computer and spyware would be almost impossible to have been installed in your computer (unless you did it). I can't tell you why, althought just re-assure you that your not infected with any spyware from that site. Besides there would be no finacial gain for a forum/msg board to install such software to strickly track what you click on.