1 <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN""http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
5 >Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</TITLE
8 CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.79"><LINK
10 TITLE="General Information"
11 HREF="general.html"><LINK
14 HREF="../p_doc.css"></HEAD
30 >Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</A
40 HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/"
42 >Privoxy Developers</A
48 >$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.34 2007/11/19 02:38:11 hal9 Exp $<BR></P
58 > This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
60 HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/"
64 It is not a substitute for the
66 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
70 >Privoxy User Manual</I
78 > Privoxy is a non-caching
80 HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server"
84 with advanced filtering capabilities for enhancing privacy,
85 modifying web page data, managing HTTP
87 HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie"
91 controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious
92 Internet junk. Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be
93 customized to suit individual needs and tastes. Privoxy has application for
94 both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.</P
96 > Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).</P
98 > Please note that this document is a work in progress. This copy represents
99 the state at the release of version 3.0.7.
100 You can find the latest version of the document at <A
101 HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/"
103 >http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</A
109 contact the developers.
121 >Table of Contents</B
126 >General Information</A
132 HREF="general.html#WHO-USES"
133 >Who should use Privoxy?</A
137 HREF="general.html#BESTCHOICE"
138 >Is Privoxy the best choice for
143 HREF="general.html#PROXYMORON"
152 HREF="general.html#OTHERSTUFF"
153 >Does Privoxy do anything more than ad blocking?</A
157 HREF="general.html#NEWJB"
158 >What is this new version of
166 HREF="general.html#AEN78"
170 >? Why change the name from
171 Junkbuster at all?</A
175 HREF="general.html#DIFFERS"
176 >How does Privoxy differ
177 from the old Junkbuster?</A
181 HREF="general.html#WHATSANAD"
182 >How does Privoxy know what is
183 an ad, and what is not?</A
187 HREF="general.html#AEN150"
188 >Can Privoxy make mistakes?
189 This does not sound very scientific.</A
193 HREF="general.html#AEN156"
194 >Will I have to configure Privoxy
195 before I can use it?</A
199 HREF="general.html#LAN"
200 >Can Privoxy run as a server on a network?</A
204 HREF="general.html#BROWSERS2"
205 >My browser does the same things as
206 Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at all?</A
210 HREF="general.html#WHYTRUST"
211 >Why should I trust Privoxy?</A
215 HREF="general.html#LICENSE"
216 >Is there is a license or fee? What about a
217 warranty? Registration?</A
221 HREF="general.html#SPYWARE"
222 >Can Privoxy remove spyware? Adware? Viruses?</A
226 HREF="general.html#OTHERADS"
227 >Can I use Privoxy with other ad-blocking software?</A
231 HREF="general.html#JOINTEAM"
232 >I would like to help you, what can I do?</A
238 HREF="general.html#JOINTEAM-WORK"
239 >Would you like to participate?</A
243 HREF="general.html#JOINTEAM-MONEY"
248 HREF="general.html#JOINTEAM-SOFTWARE"
257 HREF="installation.html"
264 HREF="installation.html#WHICHBROWSERS"
265 >Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?</A
269 HREF="installation.html#WHICHOS"
270 >Which operating systems are supported?</A
274 HREF="installation.html#EMAIL-CLIENT"
275 >Can I use Privoxy with my email client?</A
279 HREF="installation.html#FIRSTSTEP"
280 >I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything
281 special I have to do now?</A
285 HREF="installation.html#LOCALHOST"
286 >What is the proxy address of Privoxy?</A
290 HREF="installation.html#NOTHING"
291 >I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening.
292 All the ads are there. What's wrong?</A
296 HREF="installation.html#NOTUSED"
299 >"Privoxy is not being used"</SPAN
300 > dummy page although
301 Privoxy is running and being used.</A
307 HREF="configuration.html"
314 HREF="configuration.html#AEN335"
315 >What exactly is an <SPAN
322 HREF="configuration.html#ACTIONSS"
326 > concept confuses me. Please list
334 HREF="configuration.html#AEN358"
335 >How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
340 HREF="configuration.html#AEN367"
341 >There are several different <SPAN
349 HREF="configuration.html#GETUPDATES"
350 >Where can I get updated Actions Files?</A
354 HREF="configuration.html#NEWCONFIG"
355 >Can I use my old config files?</A
359 HREF="configuration.html#DIFFICULT"
360 >Why is the configuration so complicated?</A
364 HREF="configuration.html#YAHOO"
365 >How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</A
369 HREF="configuration.html#CONFIGFILES"
370 >What's the difference between the
384 HREF="configuration.html#BROWSECONFIG"
385 >Why can I change the configuration
386 with a browser? Does that not raise security issues?</A
390 HREF="configuration.html#AEN465"
394 > file? What is a <SPAN
401 HREF="configuration.html#LANCONFIG"
402 >How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my
407 HREF="configuration.html#AEN512"
408 >Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</A
412 HREF="configuration.html#AEN529"
413 >Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</A
417 HREF="configuration.html#AEN535"
418 >I see some images being replaced with text
419 instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</A
423 HREF="configuration.html#SRVANY"
424 >Can Privoxy run as a service
429 HREF="configuration.html#OTHERPROXY"
430 >How can I make Privoxy work with other
431 proxies like Squid or Tor?</A
435 HREF="configuration.html#PORT-80"
436 >Can I just set Privoxy to use port 80
437 and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</A
441 HREF="configuration.html#TRANSPARENT"
442 >Can Privoxy run as a <SPAN
449 HREF="configuration.html#INTERCEPTING"
450 >Can Privoxy run as a <SPAN
452 >"intercepting"</SPAN
457 HREF="configuration.html#OUTLOOK"
458 >How can I configure Privoxy for use with Outlook
463 HREF="configuration.html#OUTLOOK-MORE"
464 >How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?</A
468 HREF="configuration.html#SNEAKY-COOKIES"
469 >I sometimes notice cookies sneaking through. How?</A
473 HREF="configuration.html#EVIL-COOKIES"
474 >Are all cookies bad? Why?</A
478 HREF="configuration.html#ALLOW-COOKIES"
479 >How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</A
483 HREF="configuration.html#MULTIPLES"
484 >Can I have separate configurations for different users?</A
488 HREF="configuration.html#WHITELISTS"
489 >Can I set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of
497 HREF="configuration.html#NO-ADBLOCK"
498 >How can I turn off ad-blocking?</A
502 HREF="configuration.html#TEMPLATES"
503 >How can I have custom template pages, like the
514 HREF="configuration.html#BLOCKALL"
515 >How can I remove the <SPAN
517 >"Go There Anyway"</SPAN
538 HREF="misc.html#AEN707"
539 >How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This
540 has to add extra time to browsing.</A
544 HREF="misc.html#LOADINGTIMES"
545 >I notice considerable
546 delays in page requests. What's wrong?</A
550 HREF="misc.html#CONFIGURL"
551 >What are "http://config.privoxy.org/" and
556 HREF="misc.html#NEWADS"
557 >How can I submit new ads, or report
562 HREF="misc.html#NEWADS2"
563 >If I do submit missed ads, will
564 they be included in future updates?</A
568 HREF="misc.html#NOONECARES"
569 >Why doesn't anyone answer my support
575 >How can I hide my IP address?</A
579 HREF="misc.html#AEN773"
580 >Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?</A
584 HREF="misc.html#AEN791"
585 >A test site says I am not using a Proxy.</A
590 >How do I use Privoxy
591 together with Tor?</A
595 HREF="misc.html#AEN847"
596 >Might some things break because header information or
597 content is being altered?</A
601 HREF="misc.html#AEN861"
602 >Can Privoxy act as a <SPAN
606 speed up web browsing?</A
610 HREF="misc.html#AEN871"
611 >What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?</A
615 HREF="misc.html#AEN876"
616 >I have large empty spaces / a checkerboard pattern now where
617 ads used to be. Why?</A
621 HREF="misc.html#AEN884"
622 >How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?</A
626 HREF="misc.html#AEN898"
627 >Privoxy runs as a <SPAN
631 secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions?</A
635 HREF="misc.html#TURNOFF"
636 >How can I temporarily disable Privoxy?</A
640 HREF="misc.html#REALLYOFF"
645 out of the picture?</A
649 HREF="misc.html#TURNOFF2"
650 >How can I tell Privoxy to totally ignore certain sites?</A
654 HREF="misc.html#CRUNCH"
655 >My logs show Privoxy <SPAN
659 ads, but also its own internal CGI pages. What is a <SPAN
666 HREF="misc.html#DOWNLOADS"
667 >Can Privoxy effect files that I download
668 from a webserver? FTP server?</A
672 HREF="misc.html#DOWNLOADS2"
673 >I just downloaded a Perl script, and Privoxy
674 altered it! Yikes, what is wrong!</A
678 HREF="misc.html#HOSTSFILE"
679 >Should I continue to use a <SPAN
682 > file for ad-blocking?</A
686 HREF="misc.html#SEEALSO"
687 >Where can I find more information about Privoxy
688 and related issues?</A
692 HREF="misc.html#MICROSUCK"
693 >I've noticed that Privoxy changes <SPAN
700 >! Why are you manipulating my browsing?</A
704 HREF="misc.html#VALID"
705 >Does Privoxy produce <SPAN
708 > HTML (or XHTML)?</A
721 HREF="trouble.html#AEN1064"
722 >I cannot connect to any websites. Or, I am getting
725 >"connection refused"</SPAN
726 > message with every web page. Why?</A
730 HREF="trouble.html#ERROR503"
731 >Why am I getting a 503 Error (WSAECONNREFUSED) on every page?</A
735 HREF="trouble.html#AEN1087"
736 >I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is
737 still getting through. How?</A
741 HREF="trouble.html#BADSITE"
742 >One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy.
747 HREF="trouble.html#DUN"
748 >After installing Privoxy, I have to log in
749 every time I start IE. What gives?</A
753 HREF="trouble.html#FTP"
754 >I cannot connect to any FTP sites. Privoxy
759 HREF="trouble.html#OSXIE"
760 >In Mac OSX, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
761 Privoxy as the HTTP proxy.</A
765 HREF="trouble.html#OSXUNINSTALL"
766 >In Mac OSX, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to
767 uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
772 HREF="trouble.html#OSXIMAGES"
773 >In Mac OSX Panther (10.3), images often fail to load and/or I
774 experience random delays in page loading. I'm using
778 > as my browser's proxy setting.</A
782 HREF="trouble.html#BLANKPAGE"
783 >I get a completely blank page at one site. <SPAN
789 ><html><body></body></html></SPAN
791 Privoxy the page loads fine.</A
795 HREF="trouble.html#NOHOSTNAME"
796 >My logs show many <SPAN
798 >"Unable to get my own hostname"</SPAN
804 HREF="trouble.html#INUSE"
805 >When I try to launch Privoxy, I get an
808 >"port 8118 is already in use"</SPAN
809 > (or similar wording).
814 HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER"
815 >Pages with UTF-8 fonts are garbled.</A
819 HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER2"
820 >Why are binary files (such as images) corrupted when Privoxy
825 HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER3"
829 > and why is it there?</A
833 HREF="trouble.html#WINDOWOPEN"
834 >Why do I keep seeing <SPAN
836 >"PrivoxyWindowOpen()"</SPAN
837 > in raw source code?</A
841 HREF="trouble.html#DNSERRORS"
842 >I am getting too many DNS errors like <SPAN
844 >"404 No Such Domain"</SPAN
846 can't Privoxy do this better?</A
850 HREF="trouble.html#ALLCPU"
851 >At one site Privoxy just hangs, and starts taking
852 all CPU. Why is this?</A
856 HREF="trouble.html#SLOWCRAWL"
857 >I just installed Privoxy, and all my
858 browsing has slowed to a crawl. What gives?</A
862 HREF="trouble.html#PREVENTCOMP"
863 >Why do my filters work on some sites but not on others?</A
870 >Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests</A
876 HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-SUPPORT"
881 HREF="contact.html#REPORTING"
882 >Reporting Problems</A
888 HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-ADS"
889 >Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems</A
893 HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-BUGS"
900 HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-FEATURE"
901 >Request New Features</A
905 HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-OTHER"
912 HREF="copyright.html"
913 >Privoxy Copyright, License and History</A
919 HREF="copyright.html#AEN1377"
924 HREF="copyright.html#AEN1393"
937 SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
978 >General Information</TD