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