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35 <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="INSTALLATION" id="INSTALLATION">2.
38 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHICHBROWSERS" id="WHICHBROWSERS">2.1. Which
39 browsers are supported by Privoxy?</a></h3>
40 <p>Any browser that can be configured to use a proxy, which should be
41 virtually all browsers, including <span class=
42 "APPLICATION">Firefox</span>, <span class="APPLICATION">Internet
43 Explorer</span>, <span class="APPLICATION">Opera</span>, and
44 <span class="APPLICATION">Safari</span> among others. Direct browser
45 support is not an absolute requirement since <span class=
46 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> runs as a separate application and talks
47 to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web
51 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="WHICHOS" id="WHICHOS">2.2. Which operating
52 systems are supported?</a></h3>
53 <p>At present, <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is known to run
54 on Windows 95 and later versions (98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7
55 etc.), GNU/Linux (RedHat, SuSE, Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Slackware and
56 others), Mac OS X (10.4 and upwards on PPC and Intel processors), OS/2,
57 Haiku, DragonFly, ElectroBSD, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, and
58 various other flavors of Unix.</p>
59 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> used to work on AmigaOS and
60 QNX, too, but the code currently isn't maintained and its status
61 unknown. It might no longer compile, but getting it working again
62 shouldn't be too hard.</p>
63 <p>But any operating system that runs TCP/IP, can conceivably take
64 advantage of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> in a networked
65 situation where <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> would run as a
66 server on a LAN gateway. Then only the <span class=
67 "QUOTE">"gateway"</span> needs to be running one of the above operating
69 <p>Source code is freely available, so porting to other operating
70 systems is always a possibility.</p>
73 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="EMAIL-CLIENT" id="EMAIL-CLIENT">2.3. Can I
74 use Privoxy with my email client?</a></h3>
75 <p>As long as there is some way to set a HTTP proxy for the client,
76 then yes, any application can be used, whether it is strictly speaking
77 a <span class="QUOTE">"browser"</span> or not. Though this may not be
78 the best approach for dealing with some of the common abuses of HTML in
79 email. See <a href="configuration.html#OUTLOOK">How can I configure
80 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> with <span class=
81 "APPLICATION">Outlook</span>?</a> below for more on this.</p>
82 <p>Be aware that HTML email presents a number of unique security and
83 privacy related issues, that can require advanced skills to overcome.
84 The developers recommend using email clients that can be configured to
85 convert HTML to plain text for these reasons.</p>
88 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="FIRSTSTEP" id="FIRSTSTEP">2.4. I just
89 installed Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?</a></h3>
90 <p>All browsers should be told to use <span class=
91 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a proxy by specifying the correct proxy
92 address and port number in the appropriate configuration area for the
93 browser. It's possible to combine <span class=
94 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> with a packet filter to intercept HTTP
95 requests even if the client isn't explicitly configured to use
96 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, but where possible,
97 configuring the client is recommended. See <a href=
98 "../user-manual/startup.html" target="_top">the User Manual for more
99 details</a>. You should also flush your browser's memory and disk cache
100 to get rid of any cached junk items, and remove any stored <a href=
101 "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
102 "_top">cookies</a>.</p>
105 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="LOCALHOST" id="LOCALHOST">2.5. What is the
106 proxy address of Privoxy?</a></h3>
107 <p>If you set up the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to run on
108 the computer you browse from (rather than your ISP's server or some
109 networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on <tt class=
110 "LITERAL">127.0.0.1</tt> (sometimes referred to as <span class=
111 "QUOTE">"localhost"</span>, which is the special name used by every
112 computer on the Internet to refer to itself) and the port will be 8118
113 (unless you used the <a href=
114 "../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS" target=
115 "_top">listen-address</a> config option to tell <span class=
116 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to run on a different port).</p>
117 <p>When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter
118 the word <span class="QUOTE">"localhost"</span> or the IP address
119 <span class="QUOTE">"127.0.0.1"</span> in the boxes next to
120 <span class="QUOTE">"HTTP"</span> and <span class=
121 "QUOTE">"Secure"</span> (HTTPS) and then the number <span class=
122 "QUOTE">"8118"</span> for <span class="QUOTE">"port"</span>. This tells
123 your browser to send all web requests to <span class=
124 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> instead of directly to the Internet.</p>
125 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can also be used to proxy
126 for a Local Area Network. In this case, your would enter either the IP
127 address of the LAN host where <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
128 is running, or the equivalent hostname, e.g. <tt class=
129 "LITERAL">192.168.1.1</tt>. Port assignment would be same as above.
130 Note that <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> doesn't listen on
131 any LAN interfaces by default.</p>
132 <p><span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> does not currently handle
133 any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc.</p>
136 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NOTHING" id="NOTHING">2.6. I just installed
137 Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are there. What's
139 <p>Did you configure your browser to use <span class=
140 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> as a proxy? It does not sound like it. See
141 above. You might also try flushing the browser's caches to force a full
142 re-reading of pages. You can verify that <span class=
143 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is running, and your browser is correctly
144 configured by entering the special URL: <a href="http://p.p/" target=
145 "_top">http://p.p/</a>. This should take you to a page titled
146 <span class="QUOTE">"This is Privoxy.."</span> with access to
147 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> internal configuration. If
148 you see this, then you are good to go. If you receive a page saying
149 <span class="QUOTE">"Privoxy is not running"</span>, then the browser
150 is not set up to use your <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
151 installation. If you receive anything else (probably nothing at all),
152 it could either be that the browser is not set up correctly, or that
153 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is not running at all. Check
154 the <a href="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE" target="_top">log
155 file</a>. For instructions on starting <span class=
156 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> and browser configuration, see the
157 <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html" target=
158 "_top">chapter on starting <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span></a>
159 in the <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/" target=
160 "_top">User Manual</a>.</p>
163 <h3 class="SECT2"><a name="NOTUSED" id="NOTUSED">2.7. I get a
164 <span class="QUOTE">"Privoxy is not being used"</span> dummy page
165 although Privoxy is running and being used.</a></h3>
166 <p>First, make sure that Privoxy is <span class="emphasis"><i class=
167 "EMPHASIS">really</i></span> running and being used by visiting
168 <a href="http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/</a>. You should see the
169 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> main page. If not, see the
170 <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html" target=
171 "_top">chapter on starting <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span></a>
172 in the <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/" target=
173 "_top">User Manual</a>.</p>
174 <p>Now if <a href="http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/</a> works for
175 you, but other parts of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s web
176 interface show the dummy page, your browser has cached a redirection it
177 encountered before <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> was being
178 used. You need to clear your browser's cache. Note that shift-reloading
179 the dummy page won't help, since that'll only refresh the dummy page,
180 not the redirection that lead you there.</p>
181 <p>The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser.
182 For example, <span class="APPLICATION">Mozilla/Netscape</span> users
183 would click <span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> --> <span class=
184 "GUIBUTTON">Preferences</span> --> <span class=
185 "GUIBUTTON">Advanced</span> --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Cache</span>
186 and then click both <span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Clear
187 Memory Cache</span>"</span> and <span class="QUOTE">"<span class=
188 "GUIBUTTON">Clear Disk Cache</span>"</span>. In some <span class=
189 "APPLICATION">Firefox</span> versions it's <span class=
190 "GUIBUTTON">Tools</span> --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Options</span>
191 --> <span class="GUIBUTTON">Privacy</span> --> <span class=
192 "GUIBUTTON">Cache</span> and then click <span class=
193 "QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Clear Cache Now</span>"</span>.</p>
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