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   6   <title>Tor SwitchProxy Install Instructions</title>
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  42 <h1>Installing SwitchProxy for <a href="http://tor.eff.org/">Tor</a></h1>
  43 <hr />
  44
  45 <p>
  46 SwitchProxy is a Firefox plugin that makes it easy for you to switch
  47 between using a proxy and connecting to websites directly.</p>
  48
  49 <p>In this howto, you'll set up SwitchProxy to let you change
  50 between using Tor and a direct connection. We assume you already
  51 have Firefox installed and working.</p>
  52
  53 <p>The screenshots here are oriented towards Windows users, but
  54 SwitchProxy works anywhere Firefox works. Hopefully everybody else can
  55 follow along just fine.</p>
  56
  57 <hr />
  58 <a id="zero"></a>
  59 <h2><a class="anchor" href="#zero">Step Zero: Download and Install Tor and Privoxy</a></h2>
  60 <br />
  61
  62 <p>Before you start, you need to make sure 1) Tor is up and running,
  63 2) Privoxy is up and running, and 3) Privoxy is configured to point
  64 to Tor.</p>
  65
  66 <p>For Windows users, this means <a
  67 href="http://tor.eff.org/doc/tor-doc-win32.html#installing">step one</a>
  68 and <a href="http://tor.eff.org/doc/tor-doc-win32.html#privoxy">step
  69 two</a> of the Windows Tor installation howto. Mac OS X users just need
  70 to do <a href="http://tor.eff.org/doc/tor-doc-osx.html#installing">step
  71 one</a> of OS X Tor installation howto, since our OS X package includes
  72 Privoxy and configures it already. Linux/BSD/Unix users should do <a
  73 href="http://tor.eff.org/doc/tor-doc-unix.html#installing">step one</a>
  74 and <a href="http://tor.eff.org/doc/tor-doc-unix.html#privoxy">step
  75 two</a> of the Unix Tor installation howto.
  76 </p>
  77
  78 <hr />
  79 <a id="one"></a>
  80 <h2><a class="anchor" href="#one">Step One: Download and Install SwitchProxy</a></h2>
  81 <br />
  82
  83 <p>SwitchProxy is a Firefox plugin, so you need to go through
  84 the process of installing a new plugin. First, go to the <a
  85 href="https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?application=firefox&id=125">
  86 SwitchProxy</a> web page. Turn on JavaScript for
  87 now and click "Install Now":</p>
  88
  89 <img alt="switchproxy web page"
  90 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-webpage.jpg" />
  91
  92 <p>It will pop up a window asking for permission to install the plugin.
  93 Click on the "Install Now" button:
  94 </p>
  95
  96 <img alt="firefox plugin warning"
  97 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-plugin-starting.jpg" />
  98
  99 <p>Once the installer is finished, you should close all of your Firefox
 100 windows and restart Firefox.</p>
 101
 102 <img alt="firefox plugin finished"
 103 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-plugin-finished.jpg" />
 104
 105 <hr />
 106 <a id="two"></a>
 107 <h2><a class="anchor" href="#two">Step Two: Configure SwitchProxy</a></h2>
 108 <br />
 109
 110 <p>When you restart Firefox, you'll notice there's a new toolbar
 111 that lets you control your proxies. Now we're going to set up a proxy
 112 configuration for Tor. Click on "Add" in the new Proxy toolbar:</p>
 113
 114 <img alt="new toolbar"
 115 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-toolbar.jpg" />
 116
 117 <p>It will ask you to select a proxy type. Choose
 118 "Standard." (There's also an "anonymous" proxy type that
 119 uses an ad hoc set of anonymous proxies out there. You
 120 don't want this, because those other "anonymous" proxies <a
 121 href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#ComparisonProxyAggregators">give
 122 you much weaker security than Tor</a>.)
 123 </p>
 124
 125 <img alt="standard proxy"
 126 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-proxytype.jpg" />
 127
 128 <p>Now it will show you the standard proxy config window for Firefox.
 129 Give this configuration a proxy label of "tor". Then fill in "localhost"
 130 and "8118" for all four entries, as shown here. (Even
 131 though Privoxy doesn't support FTP and Gopher, <a
 132 href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#FtpProxy">you
 133 should set them up anyway</a>.) Then click "OK":</p>
 134
 135 <img alt="proxy config"
 136 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-proxyconfig.jpg" />
 137
 138 <p>Now you've created the "tor" proxy label, but you're not using it yet.
 139 Click on the pull-down list and select tor, as shown here:</p>
 140
 141 <img alt="switch to tor"
 142 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-switch.jpg" />
 143
 144 <p>Almost done. Click "Apply" to make your change take effect:</p>
 145
 146 <img alt="apply"
 147 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-apply.jpg" />
 148
 149 <p>Done! Firefox will reload your current page. In
 150 this example screenshot, it reloaded the page and <a
 151 href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#GoogleLanguage">happened
 152 to get a German exit node</a>:</p>
 153
 154 <img alt="german google"
 155 src="http://tor.eff.org/img/screenshot-switchproxy-german.jpg" />
 156
 157 <hr />
 158 <a id="three"></a>
 159 <h2><a class="anchor" href="#three">Step Step Three: Check if it works</a></h2>
 160 <br />
 161
 162 <p>Now Firefox is using Privoxy as an HTTP proxy, Privoxy is using Tor as
 163 a socks4a proxy, and Tor is making your connections to the Internet.</p>
 164
 165 <p>In the above example, it was clear that it worked because the web
 166 page showed up in a different language. In other cases, though,
 167 you'll want to verify that your setup is working. Do
 168 <a href="http://tor.eff.org/doc/tor-doc-win32.html#verify">step four</a>
 169 of the Windows Tor installation howto, or
 170 <a href="http://tor.eff.org/doc/tor-doc-osx.html#verify">step three</a>
 171 of the OS X Tor installation howto.</p>
 172
 173 <p>You should be aware of one anonymity gotcha: when you switch from
 174 using Tor to a direct connection (or vice versa), by default the page
 175 that's currently active will be reloaded through the new proxy setting.
 176 So make sure you're on a page that isn't sensitive, before switching.
 177 (You can also change this behavior in SwitchProxy's "Options |
 178 Preferences" menu.)</p>
 179
 180 <hr />
 181
 182 <p>If you have suggestions for improving this document, please <a
 183 href="mailto:tor-bugs@freehaven.net">send them to us</a>. Thanks!</p>
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