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41 <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="INSTALLATION" id="INSTALLATION">2.
45 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHICHBROWSERS" id="WHICHBROWSERS">2.1. Which
46 browsers are supported by Privoxy?</a></h3>
48 <p>Any browser that can be configured to use a proxy, which should be
49 virtually all browsers, including <span class=
50 "APPLICATION">Firefox</span>, <span class="APPLICATION">Internet
51 Explorer</span>, <span class="APPLICATION">Opera</span>, and
52 <span class="APPLICATION">Safari</span> among others. Direct browser
53 support is not an absolute requirement since <span class=
54 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> runs as a separate application and talks
55 to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web
60 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHICHOS" id="WHICHOS">2.2. Which operating
61 systems are supported?</a></h3>
63 <p>At present, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is known to run
64 on Windows 95 and later versions (98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7
65 etc.), GNU/Linux (RedHat, SuSE, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Slackware and
66 others), Mac OS X, OS/2, Haiku, DragonFly, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD,
67 Solaris, and various other flavors of Unix.</p>
69 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> used to work on AmigaOS and
70 QNX, too, but the code currently isn't maintained and its status
71 unknown. It might no longer compile, but getting it working again
72 shouldn't be too hard.</p>
74 <p>But any operating system that runs TCP/IP, can conceivably take
75 advantage of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> in a networked
76 situation where <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> would run as a
77 server on a LAN gateway. Then only the <span class=
78 "QUOTE">"gateway"</span> needs to be running one of the above operating
81 <p>Source code is freely available, so porting to other operating
82 systems is always a possibility.</p>
86 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="EMAIL-CLIENT" id="EMAIL-CLIENT">2.3. Can I
87 use Privoxy with my email client?</a></h3>
89 <p>As long as there is some way to set a HTTP proxy for the client,
90 then yes, any application can be used, whether it is strictly speaking
91 a <span class="QUOTE">"browser"</span> or not. Though this may not be
92 the best approach for dealing with some of the common abuses of HTML in
93 email. See <a href="configuration.html#OUTLOOK">How can I configure
94 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> with <span class=
95 "APPLICATION">Outlook</span>?</a> below for more on this.</p>
97 <p>Be aware that HTML email presents a number of unique security and
98 privacy related issues, that can require advanced skills to overcome.
99 The developers recommend using email clients that can be configured to
100 convert HTML to plain text for these reasons.</p>
104 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="FIRSTSTEP" id="FIRSTSTEP">2.4. I just
105 installed Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?</a></h3>
107 <p>All browsers should be told to use <span class=
108 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a proxy by specifying the correct proxy
109 address and port number in the appropriate configuration area for the
110 browser. It's possible to combine <span class=
111 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> with a packet filter to intercept HTTP
112 requests even if the client isn't explicitly configured to use
113 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, but where possible,
114 configuring the client is recommended. See <a href=
115 "../user-manual/startup.html" target="_top">the User Manual for more
116 details</a>. You should also flush your browser's memory and disk cache
117 to get rid of any cached junk items, and remove any stored <a href=
118 "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
119 "_top">cookies</a>.</p>
123 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="LOCALHOST" id="LOCALHOST">2.5. What is the
124 proxy address of Privoxy?</a></h3>
126 <p>If you set up the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to run on
127 the computer you browse from (rather than your ISP's server or some
128 networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on <tt class=
129 "LITERAL">127.0.0.1</tt> (sometimes referred to as <span class=
130 "QUOTE">"localhost"</span>, which is the special name used by every
131 computer on the Internet to refer to itself) and the port will be 8118
132 (unless you used the <a href=
133 "../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS" target=
134 "_top">listen-address</a> config option to tell <span class=
135 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to run on a different port).</p>
137 <p>When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter
138 the word <span class="QUOTE">"localhost"</span> or the IP address
139 <span class="QUOTE">"127.0.0.1"</span> in the boxes next to
140 <span class="QUOTE">"HTTP"</span> and <span class=
141 "QUOTE">"Secure"</span> (HTTPS) and then the number <span class=
142 "QUOTE">"8118"</span> for <span class="QUOTE">"port"</span>. This tells
143 your browser to send all web requests to <span class=
144 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> instead of directly to the Internet.</p>
146 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can also be used to proxy
147 for a Local Area Network. In this case, your would enter either the IP
148 address of the LAN host where <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
149 is running, or the equivalent hostname, e.g. <tt class=
150 "LITERAL">192.168.1.1</tt>. Port assignment would be same as above.
151 Note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> doesn't listen on
152 any LAN interfaces by default.</p>
154 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> does not currently handle
155 any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc.</p>
159 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NOTHING" id="NOTHING">2.6. I just installed
160 Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are there. What's
163 <p>Did you configure your browser to use <span class=
164 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a proxy? It does not sound like it. See
165 above. You might also try flushing the browser's caches to force a full
166 re-reading of pages. You can verify that <span class=
167 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is running, and your browser is correctly
168 configured by entering the special URL: <a href="http://p.p/" target=
169 "_top">http://p.p/</a>. This should take you to a page titled
170 <span class="QUOTE">"This is Privoxy.."</span> with access to
171 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> internal configuration. If
172 you see this, then you are good to go. If you receive a page saying
173 <span class="QUOTE">"Privoxy is not running"</span>, then the browser
174 is not set up to use your <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
175 installation. If you receive anything else (probably nothing at all),
176 it could either be that the browser is not set up correctly, or that
177 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is not running at all. Check
178 the <a href="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE" target="_top">log
179 file</a>. For instructions on starting <span class=
180 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> and browser configuration, see the
181 <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html" target=
182 "_top">chapter on starting <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span></a>
183 in the <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/" target="_top">User
188 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NOTUSED" id="NOTUSED">2.7. I get a
189 <span class="QUOTE">"Privoxy is not being used"</span> dummy page
190 although Privoxy is running and being used.</a></h3>
192 <p>First, make sure that Privoxy is <span class="emphasis"><i class=
193 "EMPHASIS">really</i></span> running and being used by visiting
194 <a href="http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/</a>. You should see the
195 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> main page. If not, see the
196 <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html" target=
197 "_top">chapter on starting <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span></a>
198 in the <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/" target="_top">User
201 <p>Now if <a href="http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/</a> works for
202 you, but other parts of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s web
203 interface show the dummy page, your browser has cached a redirection it
204 encountered before <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> was being
205 used. You need to clear your browser's cache. Note that shift-reloading
206 the dummy page won't help, since that'll only refresh the dummy page,
207 not the redirection that lead you there.</p>
209 <p>The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser.
210 For example, <span class="APPLICATION">Mozilla/Netscape</span> users
211 would click <span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> --> <span class=
212 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> --> <span class=
213 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Cache</span>
214 and then click both <span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Clear
215 Memory Cache</span>"</span> and <span class="QUOTE">"<span class=
216 "GUIBUTTON">Clear Disk Cache</span>"</span>. In some <span class=
217 "APPLICATION">Firefox</span> versions it's <span class=
218 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Options</span>
219 --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Privacy</span> --> <span class=
220 "GUIBUTTON">Cache</span> and then click <span class=
221 "QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Clear Cache Now</span>"</span>.</p>
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