<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN""http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <HTML ><HEAD ><TITLE >Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</TITLE ><META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.79"><LINK REL="NEXT" TITLE="General Information" HREF="general.html"><LINK REL="STYLESHEET" TYPE="text/css" HREF="../p_doc.css"><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"></HEAD ><BODY CLASS="ARTICLE" BGCOLOR="#EEEEEE" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#840084" ALINK="#0000FF" ><DIV CLASS="ARTICLE" ><DIV CLASS="TITLEPAGE" ><H1 CLASS="TITLE" ><A NAME="AEN2" >Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</A ></H1 ><P CLASS="PUBDATE" > <SUB > <A HREF="copyright.html" >Copyright</A > © 2001-2009 by <A HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/" TARGET="_top" >Privoxy Developers</A > </SUB ><BR></P ><P CLASS="PUBDATE" >$Id: index.html,v 1.51 2009/03/21 12:59:04 fabiankeil Exp $<BR></P ><DIV ><DIV CLASS="ABSTRACT" ><P ></P ><A NAME="AEN9" ></A ><P > This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about <A HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/" TARGET="_top" >Privoxy</A >. It is not a substitute for the <A HREF="../user-manual/index.html" TARGET="_top" ><I CLASS="CITETITLE" >Privoxy User Manual</I ></A >. </P ><P >What is Privoxy?</P ><P > Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data and HTTP headers, controlling access, and removing ads and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes. It has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user networks.</P ><P > Privoxy is Free Software and licensed under the GPL2.</P ><P > Privoxy is an associated project of Software in the Public Interest (SPI). <A HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/general.html#DONATE" TARGET="_top" >Donations are welcome</A >.</P ><P > Please note that this document is a work in progress. This copy represents the state at the release of version 3.0.12. You can find the latest version of the document at <A HREF="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/" TARGET="_top" >http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</A >. Please see the <A HREF="contact.html" >Contact section</A > if you want to contact the developers. </P ><P ></P ></DIV ></DIV ><HR></DIV ><DIV CLASS="TOC" ><DL ><DT ><B >Table of Contents</B ></DT ><DT >1. <A HREF="general.html" >General Information</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >1.1. <A HREF="general.html#WHO-USES" >Who should give <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >Privoxy</SPAN > a try?</A ></DT ><DT >1.2. <A HREF="general.html#BESTCHOICE" >Is Privoxy the best choice for me?</A ></DT ><DT >1.3. <A HREF="general.html#PROXYMORON" >What is a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"proxy"</SPAN >? How does Privoxy work?</A ></DT ><DT >1.4. <A HREF="general.html#OTHERSTUFF" >Does Privoxy do anything more than ad blocking?</A ></DT ><DT >1.5. <A HREF="general.html#NEWJB" >What is this new version of <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Junkbuster"</SPAN >?</A ></DT ><DT >1.6. <A HREF="general.html#AEN78" >Why <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Privoxy"</SPAN >? Why change the name from Junkbuster at all?</A ></DT ><DT >1.7. <A HREF="general.html#DIFFERS" >How does Privoxy differ from the old Junkbuster?</A ></DT ><DT >1.8. <A HREF="general.html#WHATSANAD" >How does Privoxy know what is an ad, and what is not?</A ></DT ><DT >1.9. <A HREF="general.html#AEN160" >Can Privoxy make mistakes? This does not sound very scientific.</A ></DT ><DT >1.10. <A HREF="general.html#AEN166" >Will I have to configure Privoxy before I can use it?</A ></DT ><DT >1.11. <A HREF="general.html#LAN" >Can Privoxy run as a server on a network?</A ></DT ><DT >1.12. <A HREF="general.html#BROWSERS2" >My browser does the same things as Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at all?</A ></DT ><DT >1.13. <A HREF="general.html#WHYTRUST" >Why should I trust Privoxy?</A ></DT ><DT >1.14. <A HREF="general.html#LICENSE" >Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration?</A ></DT ><DT >1.15. <A HREF="general.html#SPYWARE" >Can Privoxy remove spyware? Adware? Viruses?</A ></DT ><DT >1.16. <A HREF="general.html#OTHERADS" >Can I use Privoxy with other ad-blocking software?</A ></DT ><DT >1.17. <A HREF="general.html#JOINTEAM" >I would like to help you, what can I do?</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >1.17.1. <A HREF="general.html#JOINTEAM-WORK" >Would you like to participate?</A ></DT ><DT >1.17.2. <A HREF="general.html#DONATE" >Would you like to donate?</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ></DL ></DD ><DT >2. <A HREF="installation.html" >Installation</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >2.1. <A HREF="installation.html#WHICHBROWSERS" >Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?</A ></DT ><DT >2.2. <A HREF="installation.html#WHICHOS" >Which operating systems are supported?</A ></DT ><DT >2.3. <A HREF="installation.html#EMAIL-CLIENT" >Can I use Privoxy with my email client?</A ></DT ><DT >2.4. <A HREF="installation.html#FIRSTSTEP" >I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?</A ></DT ><DT >2.5. <A HREF="installation.html#LOCALHOST" >What is the proxy address of Privoxy?</A ></DT ><DT >2.6. <A HREF="installation.html#NOTHING" >I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are there. What's wrong?</A ></DT ><DT >2.7. <A HREF="installation.html#NOTUSED" >I get a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Privoxy is not being used"</SPAN > dummy page although Privoxy is running and being used.</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >3. <A HREF="configuration.html" >Configuration</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >3.1. <A HREF="configuration.html#AEN354" >What exactly is an <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"actions"</SPAN > file?</A ></DT ><DT >3.2. <A HREF="configuration.html#ACTIONSS" >The <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"actions"</SPAN > concept confuses me. Please list some of these <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"actions"</SPAN >.</A ></DT ><DT >3.3. <A HREF="configuration.html#AEN377" >How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?</A ></DT ><DT >3.4. <A HREF="configuration.html#AEN386" >There are several different <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"actions"</SPAN > files. What are the differences?</A ></DT ><DT >3.5. <A HREF="configuration.html#GETUPDATES" >Where can I get updated Actions Files?</A ></DT ><DT >3.6. <A HREF="configuration.html#NEWCONFIG" >Can I use my old config files?</A ></DT ><DT >3.7. <A HREF="configuration.html#DIFFICULT" >Why is the configuration so complicated?</A ></DT ><DT >3.8. <A HREF="configuration.html#YAHOO" >How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</A ></DT ><DT >3.9. <A HREF="configuration.html#CONFIGFILES" >What's the difference between the <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Cautious"</SPAN >, <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Medium"</SPAN > and <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Advanced"</SPAN > defaults?</A ></DT ><DT >3.10. <A HREF="configuration.html#BROWSECONFIG" >Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise security issues?</A ></DT ><DT >3.11. <A HREF="configuration.html#AEN481" >What is the <TT CLASS="FILENAME" >default.filter</TT > file? What is a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"filter"</SPAN >?</A ></DT ><DT >3.12. <A HREF="configuration.html#LANCONFIG" >How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?</A ></DT ><DT >3.13. <A HREF="configuration.html#AEN532" >Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</A ></DT ><DT >3.14. <A HREF="configuration.html#AEN549" >Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</A ></DT ><DT >3.15. <A HREF="configuration.html#AEN555" >I see some images being replaced with text instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</A ></DT ><DT >3.16. <A HREF="configuration.html#SRVANY" >Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT/XP?</A ></DT ><DT >3.17. <A HREF="configuration.html#OTHERPROXY" >How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid or Tor?</A ></DT ><DT >3.18. <A HREF="configuration.html#PORT-80" >Can I just set Privoxy to use port 80 and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</A ></DT ><DT >3.19. <A HREF="configuration.html#TRANSPARENT" >Can Privoxy run as a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"transparent"</SPAN > proxy?</A ></DT ><DT >3.20. <A HREF="configuration.html#INTERCEPTING" >Can Privoxy run as a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"intercepting"</SPAN > proxy?</A ></DT ><DT >3.21. <A HREF="configuration.html#OUTLOOK" >How can I configure Privoxy for use with Outlook?</A ></DT ><DT >3.22. <A HREF="configuration.html#OUTLOOK-MORE" >How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?</A ></DT ><DT >3.23. <A HREF="configuration.html#SNEAKY-COOKIES" >I sometimes notice cookies sneaking through. How?</A ></DT ><DT >3.24. <A HREF="configuration.html#EVIL-COOKIES" >Are all cookies bad? Why?</A ></DT ><DT >3.25. <A HREF="configuration.html#ALLOW-COOKIES" >How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</A ></DT ><DT >3.26. <A HREF="configuration.html#MULTIPLES" >Can I have separate configurations for different users?</A ></DT ><DT >3.27. <A HREF="configuration.html#WHITELISTS" >Can I set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"good"</SPAN > sites?</A ></DT ><DT >3.28. <A HREF="configuration.html#NO-ADBLOCK" >How can I turn off ad-blocking?</A ></DT ><DT >3.29. <A HREF="configuration.html#TEMPLATES" >How can I have custom template pages, like the <SPAN CLASS="emphasis" ><I CLASS="EMPHASIS" >BLOCKED</I ></SPAN > page?</A ></DT ><DT >3.30. <A HREF="configuration.html#BLOCKALL" >How can I remove the <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Go There Anyway"</SPAN > link from the <SPAN CLASS="emphasis" ><I CLASS="EMPHASIS" >BLOCKED</I ></SPAN > page?</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >4. <A HREF="misc.html" >Miscellaneous</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >4.1. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN729" >How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This has to add extra time to browsing.</A ></DT ><DT >4.2. <A HREF="misc.html#LOADINGTIMES" >I notice considerable delays in page requests. What's wrong?</A ></DT ><DT >4.3. <A HREF="misc.html#CONFIGURL" >What are "http://config.privoxy.org/" and "http://p.p/"?</A ></DT ><DT >4.4. <A HREF="misc.html#NEWADS" >How can I submit new ads, or report problems?</A ></DT ><DT >4.5. <A HREF="misc.html#NEWADS2" >If I do submit missed ads, will they be included in future updates?</A ></DT ><DT >4.6. <A HREF="misc.html#NOONECARES" >Why doesn't anyone answer my support request?</A ></DT ><DT >4.7. <A HREF="misc.html#IP" >How can I hide my IP address?</A ></DT ><DT >4.8. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN794" >Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?</A ></DT ><DT >4.9. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN812" >A test site says I am not using a Proxy.</A ></DT ><DT >4.10. <A HREF="misc.html#TOR" >How do I use Privoxy together with Tor?</A ></DT ><DT >4.11. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN868" >Might some things break because header information or content is being altered?</A ></DT ><DT >4.12. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN882" >Can Privoxy act as a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"caching"</SPAN > proxy to speed up web browsing?</A ></DT ><DT >4.13. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN892" >What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?</A ></DT ><DT >4.14. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN897" >I have large empty spaces / a checkerboard pattern now where ads used to be. Why?</A ></DT ><DT >4.15. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN905" >How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?</A ></DT ><DT >4.16. <A HREF="misc.html#AEN919" >Privoxy runs as a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"server"</SPAN >. How secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions?</A ></DT ><DT >4.17. <A HREF="misc.html#TURNOFF" >Can I temporarily disable Privoxy?</A ></DT ><DT >4.18. <A HREF="misc.html#REALLYOFF" >When <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"disabled"</SPAN > is Privoxy totally out of the picture?</A ></DT ><DT >4.19. <A HREF="misc.html#TURNOFF2" >How can I tell Privoxy to totally ignore certain sites?</A ></DT ><DT >4.20. <A HREF="misc.html#CRUNCH" >My logs show Privoxy <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"crunches"</SPAN > ads, but also its own internal CGI pages. What is a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"crunch"</SPAN >?</A ></DT ><DT >4.21. <A HREF="misc.html#DOWNLOADS" >Can Privoxy effect files that I download from a webserver? FTP server?</A ></DT ><DT >4.22. <A HREF="misc.html#DOWNLOADS2" >I just downloaded a Perl script, and Privoxy altered it! Yikes, what is wrong!</A ></DT ><DT >4.23. <A HREF="misc.html#HOSTSFILE" >Should I continue to use a <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"HOSTS"</SPAN > file for ad-blocking?</A ></DT ><DT >4.24. <A HREF="misc.html#SEEALSO" >Where can I find more information about Privoxy and related issues?</A ></DT ><DT >4.25. <A HREF="misc.html#MICROSUCK" >I've noticed that Privoxy changes <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Microsoft"</SPAN > to <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"MicroSuck"</SPAN >! Why are you manipulating my browsing?</A ></DT ><DT >4.26. <A HREF="misc.html#VALID" >Does Privoxy produce <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"valid"</SPAN > HTML (or XHTML)?</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >5. <A HREF="trouble.html" >Troubleshooting</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >5.1. <A HREF="trouble.html#AEN1084" >I cannot connect to any websites. Or, I am getting <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"connection refused"</SPAN > message with every web page. Why?</A ></DT ><DT >5.2. <A HREF="trouble.html#ERROR503" >Why am I getting a 503 Error (WSAECONNREFUSED) on every page?</A ></DT ><DT >5.3. <A HREF="trouble.html#AEN1107" >I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through. How?</A ></DT ><DT >5.4. <A HREF="trouble.html#BADSITE" >One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy. What can I do?</A ></DT ><DT >5.5. <A HREF="trouble.html#DUN" >After installing Privoxy, I have to log in every time I start IE. What gives?</A ></DT ><DT >5.6. <A HREF="trouble.html#FTP" >I cannot connect to any FTP sites. Privoxy is blocking me.</A ></DT ><DT >5.7. <A HREF="trouble.html#MACOSXIE" >In Mac OS X, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use Privoxy as the HTTP proxy.</A ></DT ><DT >5.8. <A HREF="trouble.html#MACOSXUNINSTALL" >In Mac OS X, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to empty the trash.</A ></DT ><DT >5.9. <A HREF="trouble.html#MACOSXIMAGES" >In Mac OS X Panther (10.3), images often fail to load and/or I experience random delays in page loading. I'm using <TT CLASS="LITERAL" >localhost</TT > as my browser's proxy setting.</A ></DT ><DT >5.10. <A HREF="trouble.html#BLANKPAGE" >I get a completely blank page at one site. <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"View Source"</SPAN > shows only: <SPAN CLASS="MARKUP" ><html><body></body></html></SPAN >. Without Privoxy the page loads fine.</A ></DT ><DT >5.11. <A HREF="trouble.html#NOHOSTNAME" >My logs show many <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"Unable to get my own hostname"</SPAN > lines. Why?</A ></DT ><DT >5.12. <A HREF="trouble.html#INUSE" >When I try to launch Privoxy, I get an error message <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"port 8118 is already in use"</SPAN > (or similar wording). Why?</A ></DT ><DT >5.13. <A HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER" >Pages with UTF-8 fonts are garbled.</A ></DT ><DT >5.14. <A HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER2" >Why are binary files (such as images) corrupted when Privoxy is used?</A ></DT ><DT >5.15. <A HREF="trouble.html#DEMORONIZER3" >What is the <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"demoronizer"</SPAN > and why is it there?</A ></DT ><DT >5.16. <A HREF="trouble.html#WINDOWOPEN" >Why do I keep seeing <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"PrivoxyWindowOpen()"</SPAN > in raw source code?</A ></DT ><DT >5.17. <A HREF="trouble.html#DNSERRORS" >I am getting too many DNS errors like <SPAN CLASS="QUOTE" >"404 No Such Domain"</SPAN >. Why can't Privoxy do this better?</A ></DT ><DT >5.18. <A HREF="trouble.html#ALLCPU" >At one site Privoxy just hangs, and starts taking all CPU. Why is this?</A ></DT ><DT >5.19. <A HREF="trouble.html#SLOWCRAWL" >I just installed Privoxy, and all my browsing has slowed to a crawl. What gives?</A ></DT ><DT >5.20. <A HREF="trouble.html#PREVENTCOMP" >Why do my filters work on some sites but not on others?</A ></DT ><DT >5.21. <A HREF="trouble.html#SSL-WARNINGS" >On some HTTPS sites my browser warns me about unauthenticated content, the URL bar doesn't get highlighted and the lock symbol appears to be broken. What's going on?</A ></DT ><DT >5.22. <A HREF="trouble.html#SE-LINUX" >I get selinux error messages. How can I fix this?</A ></DT ><DT >5.23. <A HREF="trouble.html#GENTOO-RICERS" >I compiled <SPAN CLASS="APPLICATION" >Privoxy</SPAN > with Gentoo's portage and it appears to be very slow. Why?</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >6. <A HREF="contact.html" >Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >6.1. <A HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-SUPPORT" >Get Support</A ></DT ><DT >6.2. <A HREF="contact.html#REPORTING" >Reporting Problems</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >6.2.1. <A HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-ADS" >Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems</A ></DT ><DT >6.2.2. <A HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-BUGS" >Reporting Bugs</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >6.3. <A HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-FEATURE" >Request New Features</A ></DT ><DT >6.4. <A HREF="contact.html#CONTACT-OTHER" >Other</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ><DT >7. <A HREF="copyright.html" >Privoxy Copyright, License and History</A ></DT ><DD ><DL ><DT >7.1. <A HREF="copyright.html#AEN1451" >License</A ></DT ><DT >7.2. <A HREF="copyright.html#AEN1467" >History</A ></DT ></DL ></DD ></DL ></DIV ></DIV ><DIV CLASS="NAVFOOTER" ><HR ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="100%"><TABLE SUMMARY="Footer navigation table" WIDTH="100%" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" ><TR ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" > </TD ><TD WIDTH="34%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" > </TD ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="general.html" ACCESSKEY="N" >Next</A ></TD ></TR ><TR ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" > </TD ><TD WIDTH="34%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" > </TD ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" >General Information</TD ></TR ></TABLE ></DIV ></BODY ></HTML >