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