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