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5 >Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</TITLE
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33 >Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</A
43 HREF="https://www.privoxy.org/"
45 >Privoxy Developers</A
58 > This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
60 HREF="https://www.privoxy.org/"
64 It is not a substitute for the
66 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
70 >Privoxy User Manual</I
77 > Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities
78 for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling
79 access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
80 flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes.
81 It has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.</P
83 > Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GNU GPLv2.</P
85 > Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest (SPI).</P
87 > Helping hands and donations are welcome:</P
95 HREF="https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE"
97 > https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#PARTICIPATE</A
104 HREF="https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE"
106 > https://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE</A
113 > Please note that this document is a work in progress. This copy represents
114 the state at the release of version 3.0.27.
115 You can find the latest version of the document at <A
116 HREF="https://www.privoxy.org/faq/"
118 >https://www.privoxy.org/faq/</A
124 contact the developers.
136 >Table of Contents</B
141 >General Information</A
147 HREF="general.html#WHO-USES"
148 >Who should give <SPAN
155 HREF="general.html#BESTCHOICE"
156 >Is Privoxy the best choice for
161 HREF="general.html#PROXYMORON"
170 HREF="general.html#OTHERSTUFF"
171 >Does Privoxy do anything more than ad blocking?</A
175 HREF="general.html#NEWJB"
176 >What is this new version of
184 HREF="general.html#WHYPRIVOXY"
188 >? Why change the name from
189 Junkbuster at all?</A
193 HREF="general.html#DIFFERS"
194 >How does Privoxy differ
195 from the old Junkbuster?</A
199 HREF="general.html#WHATSANAD"
200 >How does Privoxy know what is an ad, and what is not?</A
204 HREF="general.html#MISTAKES"
205 >Can Privoxy make mistakes?
206 This does not sound very scientific.</A
210 HREF="general.html#CONFIGORNOT"
211 >Will I have to configure Privoxy
212 before I can use it?</A
216 HREF="general.html#LAN"
217 >Can Privoxy run as a server on a network?</A
221 HREF="general.html#BROWSERS2"
222 >My browser does the same things as
223 Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at all?</A
227 HREF="general.html#WHYTRUST"
228 >Why should I trust Privoxy?</A
232 HREF="general.html#LICENSE"
233 >Is there is a license or fee? What about a
234 warranty? Registration?</A
238 HREF="general.html#SPYWARE"
239 >Can Privoxy remove spyware? Adware? Viruses?</A
243 HREF="general.html#OTHERADS"
244 >Can I use Privoxy with other ad-blocking software?</A
248 HREF="general.html#HELP-THE-DEVELOPERS"
249 >I would like to help you, what can I do?</A
255 HREF="general.html#PARTICIPATE"
256 >Would you like to participate?</A
260 HREF="general.html#DONATE"
261 >Would you like to donate?</A
267 HREF="general.html#SPONSOR"
268 >How can I become a sponsor and get my logo or link on privoxy.org?</A
274 HREF="installation.html"
281 HREF="installation.html#WHICHBROWSERS"
282 >Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?</A
286 HREF="installation.html#WHICHOS"
287 >Which operating systems are supported?</A
291 HREF="installation.html#EMAIL-CLIENT"
292 >Can I use Privoxy with my email client?</A
296 HREF="installation.html#FIRSTSTEP"
297 >I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything
298 special I have to do now?</A
302 HREF="installation.html#LOCALHOST"
303 >What is the proxy address of Privoxy?</A
307 HREF="installation.html#NOTHING"
308 >I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening.
309 All the ads are there. What's wrong?</A
313 HREF="installation.html#NOTUSED"
316 >"Privoxy is not being used"</SPAN
317 > dummy page although
318 Privoxy is running and being used.</A
324 HREF="configuration.html"
331 HREF="configuration.html#ACTIONSFILE"
332 >What exactly is an <SPAN
339 HREF="configuration.html#ACTIONSS"
343 > concept confuses me. Please list
351 HREF="configuration.html#ACTCONFIG"
352 >How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
357 HREF="configuration.html#AEN419"
358 >There are several different <SPAN
366 HREF="configuration.html#GETUPDATES"
367 >Where can I get updated Actions Files?</A
371 HREF="configuration.html#NEWCONFIG"
372 >Can I use my old config files?</A
376 HREF="configuration.html#DIFFICULT"
377 >Why is the configuration so complicated?</A
381 HREF="configuration.html#YAHOO"
382 >How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</A
386 HREF="configuration.html#CONFIGFILES"
387 >What's the difference between the
401 HREF="configuration.html#BROWSECONFIG"
402 >Why can I change the configuration
403 with a browser? Does that not raise security issues?</A
407 HREF="configuration.html#FILTERFILE"
411 > file? What is a <SPAN
418 HREF="configuration.html#LANCONFIG"
419 >How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my
424 HREF="configuration.html#NOSEEUM"
425 >Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</A
429 HREF="configuration.html#WHYSEEUM"
430 >Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</A
434 HREF="configuration.html#BLOCKEDBYTEXT"
435 >I see some images being replaced with text
436 instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</A
440 HREF="configuration.html#SRVANY"
441 >Can Privoxy run as a service
446 HREF="configuration.html#OTHERPROXY"
447 >How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies?</A
451 HREF="configuration.html#PORT-80"
452 >Can I just set Privoxy to use port 80
453 and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</A
457 HREF="configuration.html#TRANSPARENT"
458 >Can Privoxy run as a <SPAN
465 HREF="configuration.html#INTERCEPTING"
466 >Can Privoxy run as a <SPAN
468 >"intercepting"</SPAN
473 HREF="configuration.html#OUTLOOK"
474 >How can I configure Privoxy for use with Outlook?</A
478 HREF="configuration.html#OUTLOOK-MORE"
479 >How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?</A
483 HREF="configuration.html#SNEAKY-COOKIES"
484 >I sometimes notice cookies sneaking through. How?</A
488 HREF="configuration.html#EVIL-COOKIES"
489 >Are all cookies bad? Why?</A
493 HREF="configuration.html#ALLOW-COOKIES"
494 >How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</A
498 HREF="configuration.html#MULTIPLES"
499 >Can I have separate configurations for different users?</A
503 HREF="configuration.html#WHITELISTS"
504 >Can I set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of
512 HREF="configuration.html#NO-ADBLOCK"
513 >How can I turn off ad-blocking?</A
517 HREF="configuration.html#TEMPLATES"
518 >How can I have custom template pages, like the
529 HREF="configuration.html#BLOCKALL"
530 >How can I remove the <SPAN
532 >"Go There Anyway"</SPAN
553 HREF="misc.html#SLOWSME"
554 >How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This
555 has to add extra time to browsing.</A
559 HREF="misc.html#LOADINGTIMES"
560 >I notice considerable
561 delays in page requests. What's wrong?</A
565 HREF="misc.html#CONFIGURL"
566 >What are "http://config.privoxy.org/" and
571 HREF="misc.html#NEWADS"
572 >How can I submit new ads, or report
577 HREF="misc.html#NEWADS2"
578 >If I do submit missed ads, will
579 they be included in future updates?</A
583 HREF="misc.html#NOONECARES"
584 >Why doesn't anyone answer my support
590 >How can I hide my IP address?</A
594 HREF="misc.html#ANONFORSURE"
595 >Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?</A
599 HREF="misc.html#PROXYTEST"
600 >A test site says I am not using a Proxy.</A
605 >How do I use Privoxy
606 together with Tor?</A
610 HREF="misc.html#SITEBREAK"
611 >Might some things break because header information or
612 content is being altered?</A
616 HREF="misc.html#CACHING"
617 >Can Privoxy act as a <SPAN
621 speed up web browsing?</A
625 HREF="misc.html#FIREWALL"
626 >What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?</A
630 HREF="misc.html#WASTED"
631 >I have large empty spaces / a checkerboard pattern now where
632 ads used to be. Why?</A
637 >How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?</A
641 HREF="misc.html#HTTP2"
642 >Does Privoxy support HTTP/2?</A
646 HREF="misc.html#SECURE"
647 >Privoxy runs as a <SPAN
651 secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions?</A
655 HREF="misc.html#TURNOFF"
656 >Can I temporarily disable Privoxy?</A
660 HREF="misc.html#REALLYOFF"
665 out of the picture?</A
669 HREF="misc.html#TURNOFF2"
670 >How can I tell Privoxy to totally ignore certain sites?</A
674 HREF="misc.html#CRUNCH"
675 >My logs show Privoxy <SPAN
679 ads, but also its own internal CGI pages. What is a <SPAN
686 HREF="misc.html#DOWNLOADS"
687 >Can Privoxy affect files that I download
688 from a webserver? FTP server?</A
692 HREF="misc.html#DOWNLOADS2"
693 >I just downloaded a Perl script, and Privoxy
694 altered it! Yikes, what is wrong!</A
698 HREF="misc.html#HOSTSFILE"
699 >Should I continue to use a <SPAN
702 > file for ad-blocking?</A
706 HREF="misc.html#SEEALSO"
707 >Where can I find more information about Privoxy
708 and related issues?</A
712 HREF="misc.html#MICROSUCK"
713 >I've noticed that Privoxy changes <SPAN
720 >! Why are you manipulating my browsing?</A
724 HREF="misc.html#VALID"
725 >Does Privoxy produce <SPAN
728 > HTML (or XHTML)?</A
732 HREF="misc.html#SURPRISE-PRIVOXY"
733 >How did you manage to get Privoxy on my computer without my consent?</A
746 HREF="trouble.html#REFUSED"
747 >I cannot connect to any websites. Or, I am getting
750 >"connection refused"</SPAN
751 > message with every web page. Why?</A
755 HREF="trouble.html#ERROR503"
756 >Why am I getting a 503 Error (WSAECONNREFUSED) on every page?</A
760 HREF="trouble.html#FLUSHIT"
761 >I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is
762 still getting through. How?</A
766 HREF="trouble.html#BADSITE"
767 >One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy.
772 HREF="trouble.html#DUN"
773 >After installing Privoxy, I have to log in
774 every time I start IE. What gives?</A
778 HREF="trouble.html#FTP"
779 >I cannot connect to any FTP sites. Privoxy
784 HREF="trouble.html#MACOSXIE"
785 >In Mac OS X, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
786 Privoxy as the HTTP proxy.</A
790 HREF="trouble.html#MACOSXUNINSTALL"
791 >In Mac OS X, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to
792 uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
797 HREF="trouble.html#MACOSXIMAGES"
798 >In Mac OS X Panther (10.3), images often fail to load and/or I
799 experience random delays in page loading. I'm using
803 > as my browser's proxy setting.</A
807 HREF="trouble.html#MACOSXACCOUNTDELETION"
808 >I just upgraded to Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) and now <SPAN
816 HREF="trouble.html#NOHOSTNAME"
817 >My logs show many <SPAN
819 >"Unable to get my own hostname"</SPAN
825 HREF="trouble.html#INUSE"
826 >When I try to launch Privoxy, I get an
829 >"port 8118 is already in use"</SPAN
830 > (or similar wording).
835 HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER"
836 >Pages with UTF-8 fonts are garbled.</A
840 HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER2"
841 >Why are binary files (such as images) corrupted when Privoxy
846 HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER3"
850 > and why is it there?</A
854 HREF="trouble.html#WINDOWOPEN"
855 >Why do I keep seeing <SPAN
857 >"PrivoxyWindowOpen()"</SPAN
858 > in raw source code?</A
862 HREF="trouble.html#DNSERRORS"
863 >I am getting too many DNS errors like <SPAN
865 >"404 No Such Domain"</SPAN
867 can't Privoxy do this better?</A
871 HREF="trouble.html#ALLCPU"
872 >At one site Privoxy just hangs, and starts taking
873 all CPU. Why is this?</A
877 HREF="trouble.html#SLOWCRAWL"
878 >I just installed Privoxy, and all my
879 browsing has slowed to a crawl. What gives?</A
883 HREF="trouble.html#PREVENTCOMP"
884 >Why do my filters work on some sites but not on others?</A
888 HREF="trouble.html#SSL-WARNINGS"
889 >On some HTTPS sites my browser warns me about unauthenticated content,
890 the URL bar doesn't get highlighted and the lock symbol appears to be broken.
895 HREF="trouble.html#SE-LINUX"
896 >I get selinux error messages. How can I fix this?</A
900 HREF="trouble.html#GENTOO-RICERS"
904 > with Gentoo's portage and it appears to be very slow. Why?</A
908 HREF="trouble.html#TAINTED-SOCKETS"
909 >What are tainted sockets and how do I prevent them?</A
913 HREF="trouble.html#PCRE-STACK-LIMIT"
914 >After adding my custom filters, <SPAN
917 > crashes when visitting certain websites</A
921 HREF="trouble.html#FILE-PERMISSIONS"
922 >What to do if editing the config file of privoxy is access denied?</A
929 >Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests</A
935 HREF="contact.html#SUFFICIENT-INFORMATION"
936 >Please provide sufficient information</A
940 HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-SUPPORT"
945 HREF="contact.html#REPORTING"
946 >Reporting Problems</A
952 HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-ADS"
953 >Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems</A
957 HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-BUGS"
964 HREF="contact.html#SECURITY-CONTACT"
965 >Reporting security problems</A
969 HREF="contact.html#MAILING-LISTS"
974 HREF="contact.html#SF-TRACKERS"
975 >SourceForge support trackers</A
981 HREF="copyright.html"
982 >Privoxy Copyright, License and History</A
988 HREF="copyright.html#AEN1501"
993 HREF="copyright.html#AEN1510"
1006 SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
1047 >General Information</TD