Why forms get different color backgrounds

Ever wonder why online forms sometimes have some text boxes with a white background and others with yellow backgrounds...

This has been driving me batty and has been something I had given up on as a stupid fact of life.
Tonight I found my answer. Some toolbars offer auto fill tools to help reduce the effort of filling in online forms. To signal which forms they work with they change the background color and appearance of the form.

I happen to use Google Toolbar (which I love) but don't use the auto fill feature. After trying to a few things I realized that only specific text boxes where being highlighted.

Resolution was simple enough, I turned off auto fill and that was the end of it. now my form looks right... well, it looks right for me, but not for anyone else using the auto fill tools.

Some people like the online tools to block adds and to alter the page after the fact. As a designer I don't care for them. Those people fall into the category of users who refuse to use cookies and/or javascript. Generally speaking I don't design my pages for them. I do use nice css and html standards that are still viewable/readable by just about anyone, but that is more an seo rational. That and designing is easier when there are some standards to it.

It is possible to be overly paranoid. Really, being cautious and educated (with good antivirus software and regular backups) and you should be safe from most online threats.

There is a reason I payout a fair sum every few years for norton system works. It has saved my computer several times over. The software may be rather bloated but I can spare the extra resources for piece of mind.