Kat -

You don't have to sign in at mudcat each time, as long as your "sign in cookie" remains on your machine, and there's no "sign in invitation" when you come here. There's no real reason to keep a sign in and password in your browser, to log in each time you come here, if you allow your "permanent cookie" to stay in place. As long as the cookie is there, mudcat recognizes you and your browser doesn't get an opportunity to sign you in each time you come back.

If you delete cookies, you do of course have to sign in again to get a fresh new cookie here.

Given that the "permanent cookie" is all you need here, your massive and multitudinous defenses may not have been working here until an old cookie got lost or crumbled. Most of the defenses you've got won't delete a cookie existing at the time the program was installed or updated (AdAware being the possible exception) but once one is lost any of them may block getting a new one. You're settings may always have been to reject cookies from "uncertificated sites." (?) [Mudcat doesn't have a certificate, and doesn't need one since no "personal information" that needs one needs to be exchanged here.]

I don't recall needing to get a "new cookie" at mudcat more than about 3 times in the 8 or 10 years I've been coming here, hence I haven't "signed in" more than about 3 times.

A "permission" in your browser should be all that's required, but any of your "defensive systems" could possibly be overriding the permission you set there.

Additionally, any "toolbars" you've added could be blocking things (the Google toolbar has an option to block cookies(I think?) and popups(definitely!), as an example).

If you're using a Windows version that still gets "updates" the Microsoft "Guardian" can also cause blocking of new cookies, and may have been turned back on by a recent(?) update.

Norton turns off the Microsoft firewall "gracefully" and allows Guardian to run only during updates; but I don't know whether AVG does that automatically.

Too many possibles to pick just one with any real confidence.

John