Why does Yahoo now ask me for my password so frequently?

Question

It didn't use to, but now it seems to practially every time I open or move between their services. So for example when using the Yahoo Toolbar and saving a site to "My Web", Yahoo always asks me for my password. Really becoming annoying. I use a lot of Google services, and it nevers asks me. Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

I assume you might have tabbed browsing. If you do keep on tab open to something Yahoo all day when in use. Don`t close the browser unless you`re done. I do that tab in Yahoo Mail/my Yahoo/Answers/etc. Also don`t delete your  login cookies. Unless your done for the day. You can set your login and cookie setting  >>>>>>>>>>> I get the message "your login session has expired." Why?

You'll see this message if it has been at least 24 hours since you last signed into Yahoo! Mail and you did not click the "Sign Out" link at the end of your session. We display this message and ask that you log in again as a safeguard for Yahoo! Mail users, specifically ones who use public or shared computers.

You may also want to check your account information. If you've chosen to be prompted for a password more frequently than every eight hours, your session will expire after the specified amount of time. To change this, follow these steps:

Sign into your account.

Click "Mail Options" in the upper right-hand area of the page.

Click on "Account Information" in the far left-hand column of the Mail Options page.

Enter your password to verify your account on the following page.

On the "Review My Account Information" page, click on the "Edit" button to the right of Member Information.

Under General Preferences toward the bottom of the page, select your "Prompt for Password" setting in the pull-down menu.

Click the "Finish" button to save your changes.

Please note that opening another browser window and logging into a second Yahoo! Mail account will automatically sign you out of the first. When you return to the first account, clicking on any link will give you the "your login session has expired" message.

If you repeatedly receive the message "your login session has expired" or are repeatedly cycled back to the sign-in screen with no error message after entering your ID and password, then the problem you're having may be caused by a difficulty setting your user cookie.

A cookie is a small piece of information stored by your browser to help identify who you are. Yahoo! Mail uses cookies to keep you logged into your account as you move from page to page. If your cookie isn't being accepted correctly, you'll be logged out of your account as soon as you move to a different page. This is will block you from signing in or staying signed in.

There are a number of reasons why your cookie may not be set properly. We have listed the possible reasons and their solutions below. We recommend trying the steps in order as they are listed from easiest to fix to most difficult.

The date on your computer is set incorrectly. Since cookies rely on dates, a computer with an incorrect date may mislead your browser into forgetting about your cookie. To fix this, set the correct time and date on your computer.

You have installed an application that monitors/blocks cookies from being sent. These include virus protection software, etc. To remedy this, simply disable the monitoring application before logging in.

You are behind a firewall that doesn't allow you to receive cookies. This is sometimes the case for users connecting from a business intranet that limits cookie acceptance for security reasons. Contact your system administrator to see if this is the case.

Your browser is not set to accept cookies. Most browsers have the option of accepting all cookies, showing an alert before accepting a cookie, or not accepting cookies at all. In order to use Yahoo! Mail, your browser must be set to accept all cookies without alerts. Don't select the option that will display an alert before accepting cookies.

Below are the setting instructions for several popular browser types. When making adjustments, be sure to confirm any changes you make by clicking the "OK" button in the Options windows.

Internet Explorer 6.x: Click "Tools," "Internet Options," and then select the "Privacy" tab. Move the slider up or down depending upon the desired level of security you would like.

Internet Explorer 5.x: Click "Tools," then "Internet Options." Select the "Security" tab and click the button labeled "Custom Level" Scroll down to Cookies and make sure that the box next to "Accept cookies" is checked.

Netscape 7.x: Select the "Edit" menu and then click "Preferences." Scroll down to "Advanced" and click "Scripts and Plugins". Check the boxes next to "Create or change cookies" and "Read cookies" are checked.

Netscape 4.x: Click "Edit," "Preferences," and then "Advanced." Make sure the setting "Accept all cookies" is checked.

Internet Explorer 5.x for Mac: Click "Edit" and select the "Preferences" option. Under "Receiving Files," select "Cookies." Next to "When receiving cookies:" select the level of cookie acceptance. Click "OK" to finish.

Netscape 4.x for Mac: Select the "Edit" menu and then click "Preferences." Scroll down to "Advanced" and make sure that the box next to "Accept cookies" is checked.

Your browser's cookie files are corrupted. Sometimes corrupted cookie files won't support Yahoo! Mail. Try shutting all of your browser's windows, and then deleting the cookie files in your browser's directories. Usually, these files will be called simply "Cookies." As always, be sure that you have selected the proper files before actually deleting them.

Answer 2

If you recently downloaded Messenger, it could be doing this.  I had the same problem until I disabled the 'Yahoo! Pager' in my system startup tray.