<!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
<!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
-<!entity p-version "3.0.3">
-<!entity p-status "stable">
-<!entity % p-not-stable "IGNORE">
-<!entity % p-stable "INCLUDE">
+<!entity p-version "3.0.4">
+<!entity p-status "beta">
+<!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
+<!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
<!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
<!entity % p-supp-userman "INCLUDE"> <!-- Include all from supported.sgml -->
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.61.2.41 2004/04/05 13:44:05 oes Exp $
+ $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.15 2006/09/08 23:05:07 hal9 Exp $
- Copyright (C) 2001-2004 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
+ Copyright (C) 2001-2006 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
See LICENSE.
Based partially on the Internet Junkbuster FAQ originally written by and
<subscript>
<!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
<!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
- <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001-2004 by
+ <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001-2006 by
<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
</subscript>
</pubdate>
-<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.61.2.41 2004/04/05 13:44:05 oes Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.15 2006/09/08 23:05:07 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
<!--
<!-- end boilerplate -->
<para>
- Please note that this document is constantly evolving. This copy represents
+ Please note that this document is a work in progress. This copy represents
the state at the release of version &p-version;.
You can find the latest version of the document at <ulink
url="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</ulink>.
<sect1 id="general"><title>General Information</title>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newjb"><title>What is this new version of <application>Privoxy</application>?</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newjb"><title>What is this new version of
+<emphasis>Junkbuster</emphasis>?</title>
<!-- Include history.sgml -->
&history;
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="whyprivoxy">Why <quote>Privoxy</quote>? Why a name change at all?</title>
-<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is the
- <quote><emphasis>Privacy Enhancing Proxy</emphasis></quote>. Also, its content
- modification and junk suppression allow you to browse your
- <quote><emphasis>private</emphasis> edition</quote> of the web.
-</para>
+<title id="whyprivoxy">Why <quote>Privoxy</quote>? Why change the name from
+Junkbuster at all?</title>
<para>
<ulink url="http://junkbusters.com/">Junkbusters Corporation</ulink>
continues to offer their original version of the <application>Internet
share our ideals and goals.
</para>
<para>
- The developers also believed that there are so many changes from the original
+ The developers also believed that there are so many improvements over the original
code, that it was time to make a clean break from the past and make
- a name in their own right<![%p-not-stable;[, especially now with the pending
- release of version 3.0]]>.
+ a name in their own right.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is the
+ <quote><emphasis>Privacy Enhancing Proxy</emphasis></quote>. Also, its content
+ modification and junk suppression gives <emphasis>you</emphasis>, the user, more
+ control, more freedom, and allows you to browse your personal and
+ <quote><emphasis>private</emphasis> edition</quote> of the web.
</para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="differs"><title>How does <application>Privoxy</application> differ
-from the old <application>Junkbuster?</application></title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="differs"><title>How does Privoxy differ
+from the old Junkbuster?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> picks up where
<application>Junkbuster</application> left off. All the old features remain.
The new <application>Privoxy</application> still blocks ads and banners,
still manages cookies, and still helps protect your privacy. But, these are
- all enhanced, and many new features have been added, all in the same vein.
+ all greatly enhanced, and many, many new features have been added, all in the same vein.
</para>
<para>
The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something that
<application>Junkbuster</application> 2.0.x. The <quote>blocklist</quote>
<quote>cookielist</quote>, <quote>imagelist</quote> and much more has been
combined into the <quote>actions</quote> files, with a completely different
- syntax. See the <ulink url="../user-manual/upgradersnote.html">note to
- upgraders</ulink> for details.
+ syntax. See the <ulink url="../user-manual/whatsnew.html">What's New</ulink>
+ page for the latest updates.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application>'s new features include:
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="proxymoron"><title>What is a <quote>proxy</quote>? How does
-<application>Privoxy</application> work? </title>
+Privoxy work? </title>
<para>
A web proxy is a service, based on a software such as <application>Privoxy</application>,
that clients (i.e. browsers) can use instead of connecting directly to the web
to accommodate those needs.
</para>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is a proxy that is solely focused on privacy
- protection and junk elimination. Sitting between your browser(s) and the Internet,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is a proxy that is primarily focused on privacy
+ protection, junk elimination and freeing the user from restrictions placed on his
+ activities. Sitting between your browser(s) and the Internet,
it is in a perfect position to filter outbound personal information that your
browser is leaking, as well as inbound junk. It uses a variety of techniques to do
this, all of which are under your control via the various configuration
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whatsanad">
-<title id="knows">How does <application>Privoxy</application> know what is
+<title id="knows">How does Privoxy know what is
an ad, and what is not?</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application>'s approach to blocking ads is twofold:
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="mistakes">Can <application>Privoxy</application> make mistakes?
+<title id="mistakes">Can Privoxy make mistakes?
This does not sound very scientific.</title>
<para>
Actually, it's a black art ;-) And yes, it is always possible to have a broad
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="configornot">Will I have to configure <application>Privoxy</application>
+<title id="configornot">Will I have to configure Privoxy
before I can use it?</title>
<para>
No, not really. The default installation should give you a good starting
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="browsers2"><title>My browser does the same things as
-<application>Privoxy</application>. Why should I use
-<application>Privoxy</application> at all?</title>
+Privoxy. Why should I use
+Privoxy at all?</title>
<para>
Modern browsers do indeed have <emphasis>some</emphasis> of the same
functionality as <application>Privoxy</application>. Maybe this is
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="jointeam"><title>I would like to help you, what do I do?</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="jointeam"><title>I would like to help you, what can I do?</title>
+
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-work"><title>Would you like to participate?</title>
+<para>
+ Well, we <emphasis>always</emphasis> need help. There is something for
+ everybody who wants to help us. We welcome new developers, packagers,
+ testers, documentation writers or really anyone with a desire to help in
+ any way. You <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> need to be a
+ <quote>programmer</quote>. There are many other tasks available. In fact,
+ the programmers often can't spend as much time programming because of some
+ of the other, more mundane things that need to be done, like checking the
+ Tracker feedback sections.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ So first thing, <ulink
+ url="https://sourceforge.net/account/register.php">get an account on SourceForge.net</ulink>
+ and mail your id to the <ulink url="mailto:ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">developers
+ mailing list</ulink>. Then, please read the <ulink
+ url="../developer-manual/index.html">Developer's Manual</ulink>, at least
+ the pertinent sections.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Once we have added you to the team, you'll have access to the <ulink
+ url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">CVS repository</ulink>, and
+ together we'll find a suitable task for you.
+</para>
+</sect3>
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-money"><title>Money Money Money</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-money"><title>Contribute!</title>
<para>
We, of course, welcome donations and could use money for domain registering,
buying software to test <application>Privoxy</application> with, and, of course,
for regular world-wide get-togethers (hahaha). If you enjoy the software and feel
like helping us with a donation, just <ulink
- url="mailto:developers@privoxy.org">drop us a note</ulink>.
+ url="mailto: ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">drop us a note</ulink>.
</para>
</sect3>
</para>
</sect3>
-<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-work"><title>You want to work with us?</title>
-<para>
- Well, helping the team is always a good idea. We welcome new developers,
- packaging gurus or documentation writers. Simply <ulink
- url="https://sourceforge.net/account/register.php">get an account on SourceForge.net</ulink>
- and mail your id to the <ulink url="mailto:developers@privoxy.org">developers
- mailing list</ulink>. Then read the <ulink
- url="../developer-manual/index.html">Developer's Manual</ulink>.
-</para>
-<para>
- Once we have added you to the team, you'll have write access to the <ulink
- url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">CVS repository</ulink>, and
- together we'll find a suitable task for you.
-</para>
-</sect3>
</sect2>
<sect1 id="installation"><title>Installation</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whichbrowsers">
-<title>Which browsers are supported by <application>Privoxy</application>?</title>
+<title>Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?</title>
<para>
Any browser that can be configured to use a proxy, which
- should be virtually all browsers. Direct browser support is not necessary
- since <application>Privoxy</application> runs as a separate application and
- talks to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web server
+ should be virtually all browsers, including
+ <application>Firefox</application>, <application>Internet
+ Explorer</application>, and <application>Opera</application> among others.
+ Direct browser support is not an absolute requirement since
+ <application>Privoxy</application> runs as a separate application and talks
+ to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web server
does.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="email-client">
-<title>Can I use <application>Privoxy</application> with my email client?</title>
+<title>Can I use Privoxy with my email client?</title>
<para>
As long as there is some way to set a HTTP proxy for the client, then yes,
any application can be used, whether it is strictly speaking a
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newinstall"><title>Can I install
- <application>Privoxy</application> over <application>Junkbuster</application>?</title>
+ Privoxy over Junkbuster?</title>
<para>
We recommend you un-install <application>Junkbuster</application>
first to minimize conflicts and confusion. You may want to
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="firststep">I just installed <application>Privoxy</application>. Is there anything
+<title id="firststep">I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything
special I have to do now?</title>
<para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="localhost"><title>What is the proxy address of <application>Privoxy</application>?</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="localhost"><title>What is the proxy address of Privoxy?</title>
<para>
If you set up the <application>Privoxy</application> to run on
the computer you browse from (rather than your ISP's server or some
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> does not currently handle
- any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc.
+ any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc. Be sure that
+ proxying any of these other protocols is not activated.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="nothing">
-<title>I just installed <application>Privoxy</application>, and nothing is happening.
+<title>I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening.
All the ads are there. What's wrong?</title>
<para>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="notused">
<title>I get a <quote>Privoxy is not being used</quote> dummy page although
-<application>Privoxy</application> is running and being used.</title>
+Privoxy is running and being used.</title>
<para>
First, make sure that Privoxy is <emphasis>really</emphasis> running and
</para>
<para>
- The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser. As an
- example, <application>Mozilla</application> users would click
+ The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser. For
+ example, <application>Mozilla/Netscape</application> users would click
<guibutton>Edit</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -->
<guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
then click both <quote><guibutton>Clear Memory Cache</guibutton></quote>
and <quote><guibutton>Clear Disk Cache</guibutton></quote>.
+ And, <application>Firefox</application> users would click
+ <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -->
+ <guibutton>Privacy</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
+ then click <quote><guibutton>Clear Cache Now</guibutton></quote>.
+
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newconfig"><title>Can I use my old config files?</title>
<para>
- The syntax, number, and purpose of configuration files has substantially
- changed from <application>Junkbuster</application> and earlier versions
- of <application>Privoxy</application>. The old files, like <filename>blocklist</filename>
- will not work at all. If you are upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will
- need to port your configuration data to the new format. Note that even the
- pattern syntax has changed! Even configuration files from the 2.9.x versions
- will need to be adapted, as configuration syntax has been very much in flow
- in the 2.9.x series.
+ The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained the same
+ throughout the 3.x series. Although each release contains updated,
+ <quote>improved</quote> versions and it is recommended to use the newer
+ configuration files.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ But all configuration files have substantially
+ changed from the <application>Junkbuster</application> days, and early
+ versions of <application>Privoxy 2.x</application>. The old files, like
+ <filename>blocklist</filename> will not work at all.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Refer to the <ulink url="../user-manual/whatsnew.html">What's New</ulink>
+ page for information on configuration changes that may occur from one release to another.
</para>
</sect2>
<para>
<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">Actions files</ulink>
are where various <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS">actions</ulink>
- that <application>Privoxy</application> might take while processing a certain
+ that <application>Privoxy</application> could take while processing a certain
request, are configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions
that apply to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.
+ There is a wide array of actions available that give the user a high degree
+ of control and flexibility on how to process each and every web page.
</para>
<para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="yahoo"><title>How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/GMX account work?</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="yahoo"><title>How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</title>
<para>
The default configuration shouldn't impact the usability of any of these services.
It will, however, make all cookies temporary, so that your browser will forget your
general, the more aggressive your default settings are, the more exceptions
you will have to make later. See the <ulink
url="../user-manual/index.html"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>
- for a more deatiled discussion.
+ for a more detailed discussion.
</para>
<para>
<title id="filterfile">What is the <filename>default.filter</filename> file? What is a <quote>filter</quote>?</title>
<para>
The <ulink url="../user-manual/filter-file.html"><filename>default.filter</filename></ulink>
- file is where <emphasis>filters</emphasis> are defined, which can be used to modify or
+ file is where <emphasis>filters</emphasis> as supplied by the developers are defined.
+ Filters are a special subset of actions that can be used to modify or
remove, web page content on the fly. Filters apply to <emphasis>anything</emphasis>
- in the page source, including HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used
- to accomplish this. There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common
- annoyances. The filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the
+ in the page source (and optionally both client and server headers), including
+ HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish this.
+ There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common annoyances. The
+ filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the
<ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER"><literal>filter</literal>
action</ulink> in one of the actions files. Filtering is automatically
If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at
the provided <filename>default.filter</filename> with a text editor and define
your own filters. This is potentially a very powerful feature, but
- requires some expertise in both regular expressions and HTML/HTTP.
+ requires some expertise in both regular expressions and HTML/HTTP. You should
+ place any modifications to the default filters, or any new ones you create
+ in a separate file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>, so they won't
+ be overwritten during upgrades. The ability to define multiple filter files
+ in <filename>config</filename> is a new feature as of v. 3.0.4.
</para>
<para>
- Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
+ There is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the included
<filename>default.filter</filename> file with the <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions file editor</ulink>.
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="lanconfig">How can I set up <application>Privoxy</application> to act as a proxy for my
+<title id="lanconfig">How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my
LAN?</title>
<para>
By default, <application>Privoxy</application> only responds to requests
is rather smart, it can and will make errors. The checkerboard image is visually
decent, but it shows you that and where images were blocked, which can be very
helpful in case some navigation aid or otherwise innocent image was
- erraneously blocked. Some people might also enjoy seeing how many banners
+ erroneously blocked. Some people might also enjoy seeing how many banners
they <emphasis>don't</emphasis> have to see..
</para>
</sect2>
-<!-- This has changed with the adaptive "blocked" page
-
-<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="blockedisugly">I see large red banners on some pages that say
-<quote>Blocked</quote>. Why and how do I get rid of this?</title>
-<para>
- These are URLs that match something in one of
- <application>Privoxy's</application> block actions
- (<ulink
- url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>).
- It is meant to be a warning so that you know something has been blocked and
- an easy way for you to see why. These are handled differently than what has
- been defined explicitly as <quote>images</quote> (e.g. ads that are GIF image
- files). Depending on the URL itself, it is sometimes hard for
- <application>Privoxy</application> to really know whether there is indeed an
- ad image there or not. And there are limitations as to what
- <application>Privoxy</application> can do to <quote>fool</quote> the
- browser.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- For instance, if the ad is in a frame, then it is embedded in the separate
- HTML page used for the frame. In this case, you cannot just substitute an
- aribitrary image (like we would for a <quote>blank</quote> image), for an HTML
- page. The browser is expecting an HTML page, and that is what it must have
- for frames. Such situations can be a little trickier to deal with, and
- <application>Privoxy</application> may show the <quote>Blocked</quote> page,
- despite your best efforts.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- If you want these to be treated as if they were images, so that they can be
- made invisible, you can try moving the offending URL from the
- <quote>+block</quote> section to the <quote>+imageblock</quote> section of
- your actions file. Just be forewarned, if any URL is made
- <quote>invisible</quote>, you may not have any inkling that something has
- been removed from that page, or why. If this approach does not work, then you are
- probably dealing with a frame (or <quote>ilayer</quote>), and the only thing
- that can go there is an HTML page of some sort.
-</para>
-<para>
- To deal with this situation, you could modify the
- <quote><filename>block</filename></quote> HTML template that is used by
- <application>Privoxy</application> to display this, and make it something
- more to your liking. Currently, there is no configuration option for this.
- You will have to modify, or create your own page, and use this to replace
- <filename>templates/blocked</filename>, which is what
- <application>Privoxy</application> uses to display the <quote>Blocked</quote>
- page.
-</para>
-<para>
- Another way to deal with this is find why and where
- <application>Privoxy</application> is blocking the frame, and
- diable this. Then let the <quote>+set-image-blocker</quote> action
- handle the ad that is embedded in the frame's HTML page.
-</para>
-
-</sect2>
-
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="alliseeisred">
-<title>I cannot see all of the <quote>Blocked</quote> page banner. Help.</title>
-<para>
- There is not enough available space to fit the entire Blocked page. Try right
- clicking on the visible portion, and select <quote>Show Frame</quote>,
- or equivalent. This will usually allow you to see the entire Privoxy
- <quote>Blocked</quote> page, and from there you can see just what is being
- blocked, and why.
-</para>
-<para>
- As of Privoxy 2.9.14, the Blocked banner page is re-sizeable, and tries
- to adjust to the allotted space. There may be occassions where there
- just isn't enough room to display much of anything useful though.
-
-</para>
-</sect2>
-
--->
-
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="blockedbytext">I see some images being replaced by a text
instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="srvany">
-<title>Can <application>Privoxy</application> run as a service
-on Win2K/NT?</title>
+<title>Can Privoxy run as a service
+on Win2K/NT/XP?</title>
<para>
- Yes, it can run as a system service using <command>srvany.exe</command>.
+ Yes. Version 3.0.4 introduces full <application>Windows</application> service
+ functionality. See <ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html#installation-pack-win">
+ the User Manual</ulink> for details on how to install and configure
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as a service.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Earlier versions could run as a system service using <command>srvany.exe</command>.
See the discussion at <ulink
url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</ulink>,
for details, and a sample configuration.
</para>
-<para>
- Version 3.0.1 fixes the problem where the icon and menu where not available
- in the taskbar for this usage.
-</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherproxy">
-<title>How can I make <application>Privoxy</application> work with other
-proxies like <application>Squid</application>?</title>
+<title>How can I make Privoxy work with other
+proxies like Squid or Tor?</title>
<para>
This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
- <application>Privoxy</application> with those of a caching proxy.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> with those of a another proxy.
See the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding chapter</ulink>
in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">user manual</ulink> which
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="port-80">
-<title>Can I just set <application>Privoxy</application> to use port 80
+<title>Can I just set Privoxy to use port 80
and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</title>
<para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="transparent">
-<title>Can <application>Privoxy</application> run as a <quote>transparent
+<title>Can Privoxy run as a <quote>transparent
</quote> proxy?</title>
<para>
No, <application>Privoxy</application> currently does not have this ability,
- though it is planned for a future release. Transparent proxies require
+ though it may be added in a future release. Transparent proxies require
special handling of the request headers beyond what
<application>Privoxy</application> is now capable of.
</para>
url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding chapter</ulink>
in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">user manual</ulink>. As
a transparent proxy to be used for chaining we recommend Transproxy
- (<ulink url="http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/">http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/</ulink>).
+ (<ulink url="http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/">http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/</ulink>).
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="outlook">
-<title>How can I configure <application>Privoxy</application> for use with <application>Outlook
- Express</application>?</title>
+<title>How can I configure Privoxy for use with Outlook
+ Express?</title>
<para>
<application>Outlook Express</application> uses <application>Internet Explorer</application>
components to both render HTML, and fetch any HTTP requests that may be embedded in an HTML email.
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="multiples">
+<title>Can I have separate configurations for different users?</title>
+<para>
+ Each instance of <application>Privoxy</application> has its own
+ configuration, including such attributes as the TCP port that it listens on.
+ What you can do is run multiple instances of <application>Privoxy</application>, each with
+ a unique <literal>listen-address</literal> and configuration path, and then
+ each of these can have their own configurations. Think of it as per-port
+ configuration.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Simple enough for a few users, but for large installations, consider having
+ groups of users that might share like configurations.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whitelists">
+<title>Can I set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of
+<quote>good</quote> sites?</title>
+<para>
+ Sure. There are a couple of things you can do for simple whitelisting.
+ Here's one real easy one:
+</para>
+ <screen>
+ ############################################################
+ # Blacklist
+ ############################################################
+ { <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">+block</ulink> }
+ / # Block *all* URLs
+
+ ############################################################
+ # Whitelist
+ ############################################################
+ { <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> }
+ kids.example.com
+ toys.example.com
+ games.example.com</screen>
+<para>
+ This allows access to only those three sites.
+</para>
+<para>
+ A more interesting approach is <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ <literal>trustfile</literal> concept, which incorporates the notion of
+ <quote>trusted referrers</quote>. See the <ulink
+ url="../user-manual/config.html#TRUSTFILE">User Manual Trust</ulink>
+ documentation.
+</para>
+<para>
+ These are fairly simple approaches and are not completely foolproof. There
+ are various other configuration options that should be disabled (described
+ elsewhere here and in <ulink url="../user-manual/">the User Manual</ulink>)
+ so that users can't modify their own configuration and easily circumvent the
+ whitelist.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<sect1 id="misc"><title>Miscellaneous</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="slowsme">How much does <application>Privoxy</application> slow my browsing down? This
+<title id="slowsme">How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This
has to add extra time to browsing.</title>
<para>
- It should not slow you down any in real terms, and may actually help
- speed things up since ads, banners and other junk are not being displayed.
+ How much of an impact depends on many things, including the CPU of the host
+ system, how aggressive the configuration is, which specific actions are being triggered,
+ the size of the page, etc.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Overall, it should not slow you down any in real terms, and may actually help
+ speed things up since ads, banners and other junk are not typically being displayed.
The actual processing time required by <application>Privoxy</application>
itself for each page, is relatively small in the overall scheme of things,
and happens very quickly. This is typically more than offset by time saved
- not downloading and rendering ad images.
+ not downloading and rendering ad images (if ad blocking is being used).
</para>
<para>
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER">filter</ulink></literal> or
<literal><ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</ulink></literal>
- actions may cause a perceived slowdown, since the entire document needs to be buffered
- before displaying. See below.
+ actions will certainly cause a perceived slowdown, since the entire document
+ needs to be buffered before displaying. And on very large documents, there may be
+ some impact. How much depends on the page size, the actual definition of the
+ filter(s), etc. See below. Most other actions have little to no impact on
+ speed.
</para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="loadingtimes"><title>I noticed considerable
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="loadingtimes"><title>I notice considerable
delays in page requests compared to the old Junkbuster. What's wrong?</title>
<para>
If you use any <literal><ulink
mechanism to work, and nothing is sent to the browser during this time.
</para>
<para>
- The loading time does not really change in real numbers, but the feeling is
- different, because most browsers are able to start rendering incomplete
- content, giving the user a feeling of "it works". This effect is especially
- noticeable on slow dialup connections.
+ The loading time typically does not really change much in real numbers, but
+ the feeling is different, because most browsers are able to start rendering
+ incomplete content, giving the user a feeling of "it works". This effect is
+ more noticeable on slower dialup connections. Extremely large documents
+ may have some impact on the time to load the page where there is filtering
+ being done. But overall, the difference should be very minimal. If there is a
+ big impact, then probably some other problem is contributing.
</para>
<para>
Filtering is automatically disabled for inappropriate MIME types. But note
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="slowcrawl">
+<title>I just installed Privoxy, and all my
+browsing has slowed to a crawl. What gives? </title>
+<para>
+ This should not happen, and for the overwhelming number of users world-wide,
+ it does not happen. I would suspect some inadvertent interaction of software
+ components such as anti-virus software, spyware protectors, personal
+ firewalls or similar components. Try disabling (or uninstalling) these one
+ at a time and see if that helps.
+</para>
+</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="configurl"><title>What are "http://config.privoxy.org/" and
"http://p.p/"?</title>
</sect2>
<!--
-FIXME: commented out until we have data. HB 03/18/02.
-
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="badfiledesc"><title>I get the message 'Bad File Descriptor', why?</title>
-<para>
- Fill me.
-</para>
-</sect2>
-
--->
-
+ out of date 09/02/06 HB
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blocklist"><title>Do you still maintain the blocklists?</title>
<para>
No. The patterns for blocking now reside (among other things) in the <ulink
url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">actions files</ulink>, which are
actively maintained instead. See next question ...
</para>
+</sect2>
+-->
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newads"><title>How can I submit new ads, or report
+problems?</title>
+<para>
+Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> for
+various ways to interact with the developers.
+</para>
+
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newads"><title>How can I submit new ads?</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="noonecares"><title>Why doesn't anyone answer my support
+request?</title>
<para>
-Yes, absolutely! Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> for
-how to do that. Please note that you (technically) need the latest
-<application>Privoxy</application> version for this to work.
+Rest assured that it has been read and considered. Why it is not answered,
+could be for various reasons, including no one has a good answer for it, no
+one has had time to yet investigate it thoroughly, it has been reported
+numerous times already, or because not enough information was provided to help
+us help you. Your efforts are not wasted, and we do appreciate them.
</para>
</sect2>
+
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="ip"><title>How can I hide my IP address?</title>
<para>
If you run both the browser and the proxy locally, you cannot hide your IP
- address with <application>Privoxy</application> or any other software. The
- server needs to know your IP address to send the answers back to you.
+ address with <application>Privoxy</application> or ultimately any other
+ software. The server needs to know your IP address so that it knows where to
+ send the responses back.
</para>
<para>
- Fortunately there are many publicly usable anonymous proxies out there, which
- solve the problem by providing a further level of indirection between you and
- the web server, shared by many people, and thus letting your requests "drown"
- in white noise of unrelated requests as far as user tracking is concerned.
+ There are many publicly usable "anonymous" proxies out there, which
+ provide a further level of indirection between you and the web server.
</para>
<para>
- Most of them will, however, log your IP address and make it available to the
- authorities in case you abuse that anonymity for criminal purposes. In fact
+ However, these proxies are called "anonymous" because you don't need
+ a password, not because they would offer any real anonymity.
+ Most of them will log your IP address and make it available to the
+ authorities in case you violate the law of the country they run in. In fact
you can't even rule out that some of them only exist to *collect* information
on (those suspicious) people with a more than average preference for privacy.
</para>
<para>
- You can find a list of anonymous public proxies at <ulink
- url="http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm">multiproxy.org</ulink> and many
- more through Google. A particularly interesting project is the JAP service
- offered by the Technical University of Dresden (<ulink
- url="http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html">http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html</ulink>).
+ Your best bet is to chain <application>Privoxy</application>
+ with <ulink url="http://tor.eff.org/">Tor</ulink>,
+ an <ulink url="http://www.eff.org/">EFF</ulink> supported onion routing system.
+ The configuration details can be found in
+ <ulink url="#TOR">How do I use <application>Privoxy</application> together with <application>Tor</application>?</ulink>.
</para>
+<!--
<para>
There is, however, even in the single-machine case the possibility to make the
- server believe that your machine is in fact a shared proxy serving a whole big
+ server believe that your machine is in fact a shared proxy serving a large
LAN, and we are looking into that.
</para>
+ I assume this is about sending fake forward IP addresses?
+ David and I looked into it and considered it a waste of time to implement.
+ Fabian 2006-09-04
+-->
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="anonforsure">Can <application>Privoxy</application> guarantee I am anonymous?</title>
+<title id="anonforsure">Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?</title>
<para>
No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are greatly improved, but unless you
- are an expert on Internet security it would be safest to assume that
- everything you do on the Web can be traced back to you.
+ <ulink url="#TOR">chain <application>Privoxy</application> with <application>Tor</application></ulink>
+ or a similar system and know what you're doing when it comes to configuring
+ the rest of your system, it would be safest to assume that everything you do
+ on the Web can be traced back to you.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> can remove various information about you,
and allows <emphasis>you</emphasis> more freedom to decide which sites
- you can trust, and what details you want to reveal. But it's still possible
- that web sites can find out who you are. Here's one way this can happen.
+ you can trust, and what details you want to reveal. But it neither
+ hides your ip address, nor can it guarantee that the rest of the system
+ behaves correctly. There are several possibilities how a web sites can find
+ out who you are, even if you are using a strict <application>Privoxy</application>
+ configuration and chained it with <application>Tor</application>.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Most of <application>Privoxy's</application> protection can be easily subverted
+ by an insecure browser configuration, therefore you should use a browser that can
+ be configured to only execute code from trusted sites, and be careful which sites you trust.
+ For example there is no point in having <application>Privoxy</application>
+ modify the User-Agent header, if websites can get all the information they want
+ through JavaScript, ActiveX, Flash, Java etc.
</para>
<para>
A few browsers disclose the user's email address in certain situations, such
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="tor"><title>How do I use Privoxy
+ together with Tor?</title>
+<para>
+ Before you configure <application>Privoxy</application> to use <application>Tor</application>
+ (<ulink url="http://tor.eff.org/">http://tor.eff.org/</ulink>),
+ please follow the User Manual chapters
+ <ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html">2. Installation</ulink> and
+ <ulink url="../user-manual/startup.html">5. Startup</ulink> to make sure
+ <application>Privoxy</application> itself is setup correctly.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If it is, refer to <ulink url="http://tor.eff.org/documentation.html.en">Tor's
+ extensive documentation</ulink> to learn how to install <application>Tor</application>,
+ and make sure <application>Tor</application>'s logfile says that
+ <quote>Tor has successfully opened a circuit</quote> and it
+ <quote>[l]ooks like client functionality is working</quote>.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If either <application>Tor</application> or <application>Privoxy</application>
+ isn't working, their combination most likely will neither. Testing them on their
+ own will also help you to direct problem reports to the right audience.
+ If <application>Privoxy</application> isn't working, don't bother the
+ <application>Tor</application> developers. If <application>Tor</application>
+ isn't working, don't send bug reports to the <application>Privoxy</application> Team.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If you verified that <application>Privoxy</application> and <application>Tor</application>
+ are working, it is time to connect them. As far as <application>Privoxy</application>
+ is concerned, <application>Tor</application> is just another proxy that can be reached
+ by socks4 or socks4a. Most likely you are interested in <application>Tor</application>
+ to increase your anonymity level, therefore you should use socks4a,
+ to make sure <application>Privoxy's</application> DNS requests are
+ done through <application>Tor</application> and thus invisible to your local network.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Since <application>Privoxy</application> 3.0.4, its configuration (section 5.2)
+ is already prepared for <application>Tor</application>, if you are using a
+ default <application>Tor</application> configuration and run it on the same
+ system as Privoxy, you just have to uncomment the line:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# forward-socks4a / 127.0.0.1:9050 .
+ </screen>
+</para>
+<para>
+ This is enough to reach the Internet, but additionally you should
+ uncomment the following forward rules, to make sure your local network is still
+ reachable through Privoxy:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# forward 192.168.*.*/ .
+# forward 10.*.*.*/ .
+# forward 127.*.*.*/ .
+ </screen>
+</para>
+<para>
+ Unencrypted connections to systems in these address ranges will
+ be as (un)secure as the local network is, but the alternative is
+ that you can't reach the network at all.
+ If you also want to be able to reach servers in your local
+ network by using their names, you will need additional
+ exceptions that look like this:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# forward localhost/ .
+ </screen>
+</para>
+<para>
+ Save the modified configuration file and open
+ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status/</ulink>
+ in your browser, confirm that <application>Privoxy</application> has reloaded its configuration
+ and that there are no other forward lines, unless you know that you need them. I everything looks good,
+ refer to
+ <ulink url="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#head-0e1cc2ac330ede8c6ad1ac0d0db0ac163b0e6143">Tor
+ Faq 4.2</ulink> to learn how to verify that you are really using <application>Tor</application>.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Afterward, please take the time to at least skim through the rest
+ of <application>Tor's</application> documentation. Make sure you understand
+ what <application>Tor</application> does, why it is no replacement for
+ application level security, and why you shouldn't use it for unencrypted logins.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="sitebreak">Might some things break because header information or
content is being altered?</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="caching">Can <application>Privoxy</application> act as a <quote>caching</quote> proxy to
+<title id="caching">Can Privoxy act as a <quote>caching</quote> proxy to
speed up web browsing?</title>
<para>
No, it does not have this ability at all. You want something like
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="firewall">What about as a firewall? Can <application>Privoxy</application> protect me?</title>
+<title id="firewall">What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?</title>
<para>
Not in the way you mean, or in the way a true firewall can.
<application>Privoxy</application> can help protect your privacy, but not
</para>
</sect2>
-<!-- No longer needed
-<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="logo">The <application>Privoxy</application> logo that replaces ads is very blocky
-and ugly looking. Can't a better font be used?</title>
-
-<para>
- This is not a font problem. The logo is an image that is created by
- <application>Privoxy</application> on the fly. So as to not waste
- memory, the image is rather small. The blockiness comes when the
- image is scaled to fill a largish area. There is not much to be done
- about this, other than to use one of the other
- <quote>imageblock</quote> directives: <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>,
- <emphasis>blank</emphasis>, or a URL of your choosing.
-</para>
-<para>
-Given the above problem, we have decided to remove the logo option entirely
-[as of v2.9.13].
-</para>
-</sect2>
--->
-
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
<title id="wasted">I have large empty spaces / a checkerboard pattern now where
ads used to be. Why?</title>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="ssl">How can <application>Privoxy</application> filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?</title>
+<title id="ssl">How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?</title>
<para>
Since secure HTTP connections are encrypted SSL sessions between your browser
and the secure site, and are meant to be reliably <emphasis>secure</emphasis>,
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="secure"><application>Privoxy</application> runs as a <quote>server</quote>. How
+<title id="secure">Privoxy runs as a <quote>server</quote>. How
secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions?</title>
<para>
There are no known exploits that might affect
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="turnoff">
-<title>How can I temporarily disable <application>Privoxy</application>?</title>
+<title>How can I temporarily disable Privoxy?</title>
<para>
The easiest way is to access <application>Privoxy</application> with your
browser by using the remote toggle URL: <ulink
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="reallyoff">
-<title>When <quote>disabled</quote> is <application>Privoxy</application> totally
+<title>When <quote>disabled</quote> is Privoxy totally
out of the picture?</title>
<para>
No, this just means all filtering and actions are disabled.
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="crunch">
-<title>My logs show <application>Privoxy</application> <quote>crunches</quote>
-ads, but also its own CGI pages. What is a <quote>crunch</quote>?</title>
+<title>My logs show Privoxy <quote>crunches</quote>
+ads, but also its own internal CGI pages. What is a <quote>crunch</quote>?</title>
<para>
A <quote>crunch</quote> simply means <application>Privoxy</application> intercepted
<emphasis>something</emphasis>, nothing more. Often this is indeed ads or
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="downloads">
-<title>Can <application>Privoxy</application> effect files that I download
+<title>Can Privoxy effect files that I download
from a webserver? FTP server?</title>
<para>
From the webserver's perspective, there is no difference between
altered by filtering, will be saved too, for these (probably rare) cases.
</para>
<para>
- Note that versions later than 3.0.2 do NOT filter document types of
+ Note that versions later than 3.0.2 do NOT filter document types reported as
<quote>text/plain</quote>. Prior to this, <application>Privoxy</application>
did filter this document type.
</para>
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> does not do FTP at all, only HTTP
- protocols, so please don't even try.
+ protocols, so please don't try.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="downloads2">
-<title>I just downloaded a Perl script, and <application>Privoxy</application>
+<title>I just downloaded a Perl script, and Privoxy
altered it! Yikes, what is wrong!</title>
<para>
Please read above.
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="hostsfile">
+<title>Should I continue to use a <quote>HOSTS</quote> file for ad-blocking?</title>
+<para>
+ One time-tested technique to defeat common ads is to trick the local DNS
+ system by giving a phony IP address for the ad generator in the local
+ <filename>HOSTS</filename> file, typically using <literal>127.0.0.1</literal>, aka
+ <literal>localhost</literal>. This effectively blocks the ad.
+</para>
+<para>
+ There is no reason to use this technique in conjunction with
+ <application>Privoxy</application>. <application>Privoxy</application>
+ does essentially the same thing, much more elegantly and with much more
+ flexibility. A large <filename>HOSTS</filename> file, in fact, not only
+ duplicates effort, but may get in the way. It is recommended to remove
+ such entries from your <filename>HOSTS</filename> file. If you think
+ your hosts list is neglected by <application>Privoxy's </application>
+ configuration, consider adding your list to your <filename>user.action</filename> file:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ { +block }
+ www.ad.example1.com
+ ad.example2.com
+ ads.galore.example.com
+ etc.example.com</screen>
+</para>
+</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="seealso">
-<title>Where can I find more information about <application>Privoxy</application>
+<title>Where can I find more information about Privoxy
and related issues?</title>
<!-- Include seealso.sgml boilerplate: -->
&seealso;
in the default configuration as shipped. You have either manually
activated the <quote><literal>fun</literal></quote> filter which
is clearly labeled <quote>Text replacements for subversive browsing
- fun!</quote> or you have implicitly activated it by choosing the
- <quote>Adventuresome</quote> profile in the web-based editor (formerly known
- as the <application>Advanced</application> profile).
+ fun!</quote> or you are using an older Privoxy version and have implicitly
+ activated it by choosing the <quote>Adventuresome</quote> profile in the
+ web-based editor.
</para>
</sect2>
<title>Troubleshooting</title>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="refused">I just upgraded and am getting <quote>connection refused</quote>
+<title id="refused">I am getting <quote>connection refused</quote>
with every web page?</title>
<para>
Either <application>Privoxy</application> is not running, or your
</para>
<para>
- The old <application>Privoxy</application> (and also
+ Early <application>Privoxy</application> 2.x versions (and also
<application>Junkbuster</application>) used port 8000 by
default. This has been changed to port 8118 now, due to a conflict
with NAS (Network Audio Service), which uses port 8000. If you haven't,
If this doesn't help, you probably have an error in the rule you
applied. Try pasting the full URL of the offending ad into <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
- and see if it really matches your new rule.
+ and see if it really matches your new rule. Blocking ads is like blocking
+ spam: a lot of tinkering is required to stay ahead of the game.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="badsite" renderas="sect3">
-<title >One of my favorite sites does not work with <application>Privoxy</application>.
+<title >One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy.
What can I do?</title>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="dun" renderas="sect3">
-<title>After installing <application>Privoxy</application>, I have to log in
+<title>After installing Privoxy, I have to log in
every time I start IE. What gives?</title>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="ftp" renderas="sect3">
-<title>I cannot connect to any FTP sites. <application>Privoxy</application>
- seems to be blocking me.</title>
+<title>I cannot connect to any FTP sites. Privoxy
+ is blocking me.</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> cannot act as a proxy for FTP traffic,
so do not configure your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application>
as an FTP proxy. The same is true for <emphasis>any protocol other than HTTP
- or HTTPS</emphasis>.
+ or HTTPS (SSL)</emphasis>.
</para>
<para>
Most browsers understand FTP as well as HTTP. If you connect to a site, with
</para>
<para>
To complicate matters, some systems may have a generic <quote>proxy</quote>
- setting, which will silently enable <emphasis>both</emphasis> HTTP and FTP
- proxying! So it is possible to accidentally enable FTP proxying in these
- cases. And of course, if this happens, <application>Privoxy</application>
- will indeed cause problems since it does not know FTP.
+ setting, which will silently various protocols, including
+ <emphasis>both</emphasis> HTTP and FTP proxying! So it is possible to
+ accidentally enable FTP proxying in these cases. And of course, if this
+ happens, <application>Privoxy</application> will indeed cause problems since
+ it does not know FTP. Newer version will give a sane error message if a FTP
+ connection is attempted.
</para>
<para>
Will <application>Privoxy</application> ever proxy FTP traffic? Unlikely.
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="osxie" renderas="sect3">
<title>In Mac OSX, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
- <application>Privoxy</application> as the HTTP proxy.</title>
+ Privoxy as the HTTP proxy.</title>
<para>
Microsoft Internet Explorer (in versions like 5.1) respects system-wide
network settings. In order to change the HTTP proxy, open System
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blankpage">
<title>I get a completely blank page at one site. <quote>View Source</quote>
shows only: <markup><![CDATA[<html><body></body></html>]]></markup>. Without
- <application>Privoxy</application> the page loads fine.</title>
+ Privoxy the page loads fine.</title>
<para>
Chances are that the site suffers from a bug in
<ulink url="http://www.php.net/"><application>PHP</application></ulink>,
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="error503">
<title>Why am I getting a 503 Error (WSAECONNREFUSED) on every page?</title>
<para>
- More than likely this is a problem with the network stack. ZoneAlarm has
+ More than likely this is a problem with your TCP/IP networking. ZoneAlarm has
been reported to cause this symptom -- even if not running. The solution is
to either fight the ZA configuration, or uninstall ZoneAlarm, and then find
- something better behaved in its place. Other firewall type products may
- cause similar type problems if not configured correctly.
+ something better behaved in its place. Other personal firewall type products
+ may cause similar type problems if not configured correctly.
</para>
</sect2>
this information, <application>Privoxy</application> logs this condition.
</para>
<para>
- Typically, this would be considered a system configuration error. It is not a
- fatal error to <application>Privoxy</application> however, but may result in
- a much slower response from <application>Privoxy</application> due to DNS
- timeouts.
+ Typically, this would be considered a minor system configuration error. It is
+ not a fatal error to <application>Privoxy</application> however, but may
+ result in a much slower response from <application>Privoxy</application> on
+ some platforms due to DNS timeouts.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="inuse">
-<title>When I try to launch <application>Privoxy</application>, I get an
+<title>When I try to launch Privoxy, I get an
error message <quote>port 8118 is already in use</quote> (or similar wording).
Why?</title>
<para>
<quote>listening</quote> port. Typically this message would mean that there
is already one instance of <application>Privoxy</application> running, and
you are actually trying to start a second <application>Privoxy</application>
- on the same port, which will not work. How and why this might happen varies
+ on the same port, which will not work. (You can have multiple instances but
+ they must be assigned different ports.) How and why this might happen varies
from platform to platform, but you need to check your installation and
start-up procedures.
</para>
Pages with UTF-8 fonts are garbled.
</title>
<para>
- This is caused by the <quote>demoronizer</quote> filter, which was introduced
- in version 3.0.2, and was inappropriately turned on by default. You should
- either upgrade <application>Privoxy</application>, or at least upgrade to the most
- recent <filename>default.action</filename> file available from
- <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">SourceForge</ulink>.
+ This is caused by the <quote>demoronizer</quote> filter. You should either
+ upgrade <application>Privoxy</application>, or at least upgrade to the most
+ recent <filename>default.action</filename> file available from <ulink
+ url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">SourceForge</ulink>.
Or you can simply disable the demoronizer filter.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="demoronizer2">
<title>
- Why are binary files (such as images) corrupted when <application>Privoxy</application>
+ Why are binary files (such as images) corrupted when Privoxy
is used?
</title>
<para>
This may also be caused by the <quote>demoronizer</quote> filter,
in conjunction with a web server that is misreporting a file type. Binary
files are exempted from <application>Privoxy's</application> filtering
- (unless the web server by mistake says the file is a plain text file). Either
+ (unless the web server by mistake says the file is something else). Either
upgrade <application>Privoxy</application>, or go to the most recent
<filename>default.action</filename> file available from <ulink
url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">SourceForge</ulink>.
On the other hand, if you use non-Microsoft products, and you occasionally
notice wierd characters on pages, you might want to try it.
</para>
-<para>
- This filter was introduced with version 3.0.2 of <application>Privoxy</application>,
- and was on by default in that version. It is off in all subsequent versions
- (unless turned on by the user).
-</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="windowopen">
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="dnserrors">
+<title>
+ I am getting too many DNS errors like <quote>404 No Such Domain</quote>. Why
+ can't Privoxy do this better?
+</title>
+<para>
+ There are potentially several factors here. First of all, the DNS resolution
+ is done by the underlying operating system -- not
+ <application>Privoxy</application> itself. <application>Privoxy</application>
+ merely initiates the process and hands it off, and then later reports
+ whatever the outcome was. And tries to give a coherent message if there seems
+ to be a problem. In some cases, this might otherwise be mitigated by the
+ browser itself which might try some work-arounds and alternate approaches (e.g
+ adding <quote>www.</quote> to the URL). In other cases, if
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is being chained with another proxy, this
+ could complicate the issue, and cause undue
+ delays and timeouts. In the case of a <quote>socks4a</quote> proxy, the socks
+ server handles all the DNS. <application>Privoxy</application> would just be
+ the <quote>messenger</quote> which is reporting whatever problem occurred
+ downstream, and not the root cause of the error.
+</para>
+<para>
+ In any case, v. 3.0.4 includes various improvements to help
+ <application>Privoxy</application> better handle these cases.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="allcpu">
+<title>
+ At one site Privoxy just hangs, and starts taking
+ all CPU. Why is this?
+</title>
+<para>
+ This is probably a manifestation of the <quote>100% cpu</quote> problem that
+ occurs on pages containing many (thousands upon thousands) of blank lines. The blank lines
+ are in the raw HTML source of the page, and the browser just ignores them. But the
+ pattern matching in <application>Privoxy's</application> page filtering
+ mechanism is trying to match against absurdly long strings and this becomes
+ very CPU-intensive, taking a long, long time to complete. Until a better
+ solution comes along, disable filtering on these pages, particularly the
+ <literal>js-annoyances</literal> and <literal>unsolicited-popups</literal>
+ filters.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+
+
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
The GNU General Public License should be included with
this file. If not, you can view it at
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
- or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
- Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
$Log: faq.sgml,v $
+Revision 2.15 2006/09/08 23:05:07 hal9
+Fix broken links. Add faq on hosts files. Move most of new windows service
+feature to user manual and reference in faq. Various other small changes.
+
+Revision 2.14 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
+Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
+
+Revision 2.13 2006/09/04 19:20:33 fabiankeil
+Adjusted anonymity related sections to match reality.
+Added a section about using Privoxy with Tor.
+
+Revision 2.12 2006/09/03 14:15:30 hal9
+Various updates, including 7 or 8 new FAQs, and updates/changes to various
+other ones to better reflect improvements, additions and changes for the
+upcoming release. This is close to final form for 3.0.4 IMHO.
+
+Revision 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:50 david__schmidt
+Reorganizing the repository: swapping out what was HEAD (the old 3.1 branch)
+with what was really the latest development (the v_3_0_branch branch)
+
Revision 1.61.2.41 2004/04/05 13:44:05 oes
Fixed allow-all-cookies alias name; closes SR #929746
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff