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33 <th colspan="3" align="center">Privoxy Frequently Asked
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51 <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="INSTALLATION" id="INSTALLATION">2.
55 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHICHBROWSERS" id="WHICHBROWSERS">2.1. Which
56 browsers are supported by Privoxy?</a></h3>
58 <p>Any browser that can be configured to use a proxy, which should be
59 virtually all browsers, including <span class=
60 "APPLICATION">Firefox</span>, <span class="APPLICATION">Internet
61 Explorer</span>, <span class="APPLICATION">Opera</span>, and
62 <span class="APPLICATION">Safari</span> among others. Direct browser
63 support is not an absolute requirement since <span class=
64 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> runs as a separate application and talks
65 to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web
70 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHICHOS" id="WHICHOS">2.2. Which operating
71 systems are supported?</a></h3>
73 <p>At present, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is known to run
74 on Windows(95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista), GNU/Linux (RedHat, SuSE,
75 Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Slackware and others), Mac OSX, OS/2, AmigaOS,
76 FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, and various other flavors of
79 <p>But any operating system that runs TCP/IP, can conceivably take
80 advantage of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> in a networked
81 situation where <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> would run as a
82 server on a LAN gateway. Then only the <span class=
83 "QUOTE">"gateway"</span> needs to be running one of the above operating
86 <p>Source code is freely available, so porting to other operating
87 systems is always a possibility.</p>
91 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="EMAIL-CLIENT" id="EMAIL-CLIENT">2.3. Can I
92 use Privoxy with my email client?</a></h3>
94 <p>As long as there is some way to set a HTTP proxy for the client,
95 then yes, any application can be used, whether it is strictly speaking
96 a <span class="QUOTE">"browser"</span> or not. Though this may not be
97 the best approach for dealing with some of the common abuses of HTML in
98 email. See <a href="configuration.html#OUTLOOK">How can I configure
99 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> with <span class=
100 "APPLICATION">Outlook</span>?</a> below for more on this.</p>
102 <p>Be aware that HTML email presents a number of unique security and
103 privacy related issues, that can require advanced skills to overcome.
104 The developers recommend using email clients that can be configured to
105 convert HTML to plain text for these reasons.</p>
109 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="FIRSTSTEP" id="FIRSTSTEP">2.4. I just
110 installed Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?</a></h3>
112 <p>All browsers should be told to use <span class=
113 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a proxy by specifying the correct proxy
114 address and port number in the appropriate configuration area for the
115 browser. It's possible to combine <span class=
116 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> with a packet filter to intercept HTTP
117 requests even if the client isn't explicitly configured to use
118 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, but where possible,
119 configuring the client is recommended. See <a href=
120 "../user-manual/startup.html" target="_top">the User Manual for more
121 details</a>. You should also flush your browser's memory and disk cache
122 to get rid of any cached junk items, and remove any stored <a href=
123 "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
124 "_top">cookies</a>.</p>
128 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="LOCALHOST" id="LOCALHOST">2.5. What is the
129 proxy address of Privoxy?</a></h3>
131 <p>If you set up the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to run on
132 the computer you browse from (rather than your ISP's server or some
133 networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on <tt class=
134 "LITERAL">127.0.0.1</tt> (sometimes referred to as <span class=
135 "QUOTE">"localhost"</span>, which is the special name used by every
136 computer on the Internet to refer to itself) and the port will be 8118
137 (unless you used the <a href=
138 "../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS" target=
139 "_top">listen-address</a> config option to tell <span class=
140 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to run on a different port).</p>
142 <p>When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter
143 the word <span class="QUOTE">"localhost"</span> or the IP address
144 <span class="QUOTE">"127.0.0.1"</span> in the boxes next to
145 <span class="QUOTE">"HTTP"</span> and <span class=
146 "QUOTE">"Secure"</span> (HTTPS) and then the number <span class=
147 "QUOTE">"8118"</span> for <span class="QUOTE">"port"</span>. This tells
148 your browser to send all web requests to <span class=
149 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> instead of directly to the Internet.</p>
151 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can also be used to proxy
152 for a Local Area Network. In this case, your would enter either the IP
153 address of the LAN host where <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
154 is running, or the equivalent hostname, e.g. <tt class=
155 "LITERAL">192.168.1.1</tt>. Port assignment would be same as above.
156 Note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> doesn't listen on
157 any LAN interfaces by default.</p>
159 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> does not currently handle
160 any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc.</p>
164 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NOTHING" id="NOTHING">2.6. I just installed
165 Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are there. What's
168 <p>Did you configure your browser to use <span class=
169 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a proxy? It does not sound like it. See
170 above. You might also try flushing the browser's caches to force a full
171 re-reading of pages. You can verify that <span class=
172 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is running, and your browser is correctly
173 configured by entering the special URL: <a href="http://p.p/" target=
174 "_top">http://p.p/</a>. This should take you to a page titled
175 <span class="QUOTE">"This is Privoxy.."</span> with access to
176 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> internal configuration. If
177 you see this, then you are good to go. If you receive a page saying
178 <span class="QUOTE">"Privoxy is not running"</span>, then the browser
179 is not set up to use your <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
180 installation. If you receive anything else (probably nothing at all),
181 it could either be that the browser is not set up correctly, or that
182 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is not running at all. Check
183 the <a href="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE" target="_top">log
184 file</a>. For instructions on starting <span class=
185 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> and browser configuration, see the
186 <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html" target=
187 "_top">chapter on starting <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span></a>
188 in the <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/" target="_top">User
193 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NOTUSED" id="NOTUSED">2.7. I get a
194 <span class="QUOTE">"Privoxy is not being used"</span> dummy page
195 although Privoxy is running and being used.</a></h3>
197 <p>First, make sure that Privoxy is <span class=
198 "emphasis EMPHASIS c2">really</span> running and being used by visiting
199 <a href="http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/</a>. You should see the
200 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> main page. If not, see the
201 <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html" target=
202 "_top">chapter on starting <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span></a>
203 in the <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/" target="_top">User
206 <p>Now if <a href="http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/</a> works for
207 you, but other parts of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s web
208 interface show the dummy page, your browser has cached a redirection it
209 encountered before <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> was being
210 used. You need to clear your browser's cache. Note that shift-reloading
211 the dummy page won't help, since that'll only refresh the dummy page,
212 not the redirection that lead you there.</p>
214 <p>The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser.
215 For example, <span class="APPLICATION">Mozilla/Netscape</span> users
216 would click <span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> --> <span class=
217 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> --> <span class=
218 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Cache</span>
219 and then click both <span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Clear
220 Memory Cache</span>"</span> and <span class="QUOTE">"<span class=
221 "GUIBUTTON">Clear Disk Cache</span>"</span>. In some <span class=
222 "APPLICATION">Firefox</span> versions it's <span class=
223 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Options</span>
224 --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Privacy</span> --> <span class=
225 "GUIBUTTON">Cache</span> and then click <span class=
226 "QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Clear Cache Now</span>"</span>.</p>
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