A lot of time has passed. And the situation in RuNet with government regulation has only worsened. Many sites are blocked en masse for a variety of reasons and even simply “by mistake” (because they were on the same IP with “suspicious sites”). Therefore, various types have become more in demand than ever. Interest in . After our last article, readers began to receive questions about help in setting up Tor.
Questions of this nature:
1) How to work through Tor using any Internet browsers (and not just through a special Tor browser)?
2) How to torify any applications (for example, Skype, ICQ, etc.)
3) What should I do if my Internet Service Provider (ISP) blocks access to Tor?
We will try to answer all these questions using clear examples. To torify all (or almost all of our Internet traffic) a standard package is not suitable for us Tor Brouser Bundle which is unpacked onto your desktop or flash drive and includes already configured Tor and a special browser.
We need to install the "stationary version" on the operating system, this is the package Vidalia-bundle(it includes: Vidalia, Tor).
We install it on the system (see our article), then upon first launch we will immediately set the settings for work:
Fig.1. Tor Settings - "Exchange2
Fig.2. Tor Settings - "Network"
1) Now we begin to configure our working browsers for anonymous work viaTor.
Setting it upInternetExplorer:
In Windows 7, to do this, go to the options “Control Panel – Network and Internet – Internet Options – Connections – Network Settings – Configuring Local Network Settings”, check the box "Proxy server" open a tab "Additionally", we'll put it there clause 4. Socks: 127.0.0.1:9050
See screenshots (3,4,5).
Rice. 4. Proxy server
Fig.5. Socks5
That's it, our IE works through Tor.
Setting it upGoogle Chrome:
Google Chrome should be the "default browser" on your operating system. Then see fig. 6:
Rice. 6. Proxy server settings
After you click on the button “Change procti server settings” You will see the already familiar Internet browser settings tabs. See screenshots (3,4,5). If you completed the previous step correctly ( Setting up Internet Explorer), then Google Chrome also works for you through the Tor network.
Setting up the browserOpera:
To do this, go to the point “Settings – Advanced – Network – Proxy servers.”
Check the box Socks: (and enter the following data there) 127.0.0.1:9050
See screenshots 7 and 8.
Setting up the Mozilla Firefox browser:
For this we need Foxy Proxy Basic plugin, which we will install in the section "Extensions", see fig. 9:
Then, when the plugin is installed, select the mode "Tor proxy for all addresses"(see Fig. 10)
Rice. 10. Select Tor for all addresses
and set up the settings as in Fig. 11
That’s it, now there will be no more “forbidden sites” left for you...
You can check your “new” IP address through the website http://2ip.ru
When you work through the Tor network, your address will be different from the one you received from your ISP.
2) Let's torifySkype,ICQ,µTorrent:
To toriff Skype, go to “Settings – Connections”, select the SOCKS5 tab, enter 127.0.0.1:9050
See fig. 12:
The same settings must be made for ICQ.
For torrent client µTorrent:
Let's go to "Settings - Connections" and set the settings as in screenshot 13:
That's it, you can safely work with torrents.
3) Well, the most difficult question. What to do if your Internet provider (ISP) blocks access toTor?
But for this case we downloaded the distribution kit Vidalia Bridge Bundle (for Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP), This is a package for accessing the Tor network through a so-called "bridge".
See screenshot 14:
Let's briefly explain how it all works.
What does the term “bridge repeaters” mean?
Some internet service providers attempt to prevent users from accessing the Tor network by blocking connections to known Tor relays. Bridge relays (or bridges for short) help such blocked users gain access to the Tor network. Unlike other Tor relays, bridges are not listed in public directories as regular relays. Since there is no complete public list, even if your ISP filters connections to all known Tor relays, it is unlikely that it will be able to block all bridges.
How to find bridge type repeaters?
There are two main ways to find out the address of bridges:
A) Ask friends to organize private bridges for you;
B) Use public bridges.
To use private bridges, ask friends to launch Vidalia and Tor from an unblocked area of the Internet and click "Help Blocked Users" in Vidalia's "Relay Configuration Page". They should then send you the “Bridge Address” (the line at the bottom of their relay page).
Unlike the operation of a regular relay, a relay in bridge mode simply transmits and receives data from the Tor network, so you should not complain about any violations to the operator.
You can find public addresses for bridges by visiting https://bridges.torproject.org. The answers on this page change every few days, so check back periodically if you need more bridge addresses. Another way to find public bridge addresses is to send an email to [email protected]
Download Tor Browser only from the official website torproject.org.
Be careful! There are sites that imitate the Tor project site. For example, the website torprojectS.org (with an S added at the end) is trying to install a Trojan on your computer. DO NOT download Tor Browser from third party sites.
By the way, Tor Browser is based on the Mozilla Firefox browser, since it is the only browser that can independently work with a Socks connection without the participation of the operating system.
After installation, Tor Browser is completely ready to use. Below is a screenshot from the official website.
- do not install additional plugins, as there is a possibility of installing a plugin that will give out your real location. All necessary plugins for anonymity are already installed.
- Do not open documents (such as PDF and DOC) downloaded in the Tor Browser while you are online. Such files may have macros embedded that will request Internet access directly through the program, bypassing the Tor network. This will compromise your real IP address.
- Do not download torrents on the Tor network, as this will increase the load on the network. Torrent programs are designed in such a way that they always access the Internet directly and do not take into account proxy settings. This may compromise your real IP address.
- always use https connection. This connection will ensure the security of data transfer.
For security settings, click Security Settings.
Set the security level:
- Low (default) – standard security level.
- Medium – Javascript is blocked on sites that do not support https. HTML5 video and audio launched with a click via the NoScript plugin
- High – Javascript is blocked on all websites. HTML5 video and audio are launched with a click through the NoScript plugin. Some types of pictures, fonts and icons are prohibited from downloading
Suitable for most users. Websites open correctly and nothing is blocked.
Since most of the websites use Javascript, therefore browsing websites in High mode is problematic as some of the content is hidden. We recommend this mode when you need to read an article on a website, but you do not need to log in to the site.
Tor Browser is ready to use and you can immediately start surfing anonymously.
Remember that with this setup, only the Tor Browser uses the Tor network. All other programs use a direct connection to the Internet and transmit your real IP address.
What to do with programs that cannot work directly with the Socks protocol? For example, email clients, other browsers, instant messaging programs, etc. We recommend using Proxifier to redirect traffic from such programs to the Tor network.
Setting up Proxifier over the Tor network
The Proxifier program can:
- redirect traffic from all operating system programs through a proxy (including email clients, all browsers, instant messaging programs)
- create proxy chains
- use a DNS server from a proxy, hiding the real DNS of the ISP
- supports http and socks proxy
Home page of the official Proxifier website.
Install the Proxifier program. This program can collect all operating system traffic and pass it through a specific proxy server.
To configure Proxifier, you need to know the Tor network port being used. Go to the Preferences section of the Tor Browser.
Select the Network Settings section.
Look at the used local IP address and connection port of the Tor network. This data must be inserted into the Proxifier program so that all operating system traffic passes through the Tor network. In our example, 127.0.0.1 and port 9150.
Launch the Proxifier program.
ATTENTION! It is important to first launch Tor Browser and wait until the main window appears. And only after that launch the Proxifier program.
Click on the Proxies button.
Click the Add button.
Enter the IP address and port. In our example: 127.0.0.1 and port 9150.
Select Yes - you agree to use this proxy by default.
Open any browser or email program. In Proxifier you will see a list of connections via the Tor network. In any browser, you can check your IP address and make sure that the IP address from the Tor network will be displayed, and not your real IP address.
If something does not work, then close Tor Browser and Proxifier. And then launch Tor Browser and wait for the main window to appear. Only then run Proxifier. There is no need to make any additional settings. All traffic will automatically go through the Tor network. Close Proxifier to get your real IP address back.
I'll start with a note.
Dear ladies and gentlemen!
I understand perfectly well that you constantly and chronically do not have time. And you definitely won’t be able to spend 5 minutes. Although it’s enough to write something like “Thank you! This will come in handy! I’ll take it for myself! I’ll figure it out!” you have time (usually you do). But please understand me: I also don’t have time to check all my messages for relevance. But if you had spent 5 minutes of your time IMMEDIATELY, you would not have wasted your time writing this message. Thank you for your attention!
I recently wrote a message "". But (as it turned out) it is not entirely correct. Because changes have been made to the new version of TOR. Therefore, if you are, then you should have the same proxy settings, and if you are, then slightly different.
Unfortunately, I only found out about this the other day when I updated the TOR software on my work computer. Because of this, there may be problems when setting up programs to work through the TOR network. If you have such problems or are just curious, then read below.
How it looks for the entire system (Internet Explorer browser settings): 
What it looks like for the Opera browser: 
How it looks for the Mozilla Firefox browser: 
What does it look like for: 
Part No. 3. Custom settings for TOR
The most attentive (of those who have read up to this point) might have noticed that the settings in parts No. 1 and No. 2 differ only in one digit of the port number "9 1
50" and "9 0
50".
Is it possible to set your own port in the settings of TOR Browser or Vidalia? Of course you can. And there are 2 ways to do this.
Method number 1.
Go to the settings of TOR Browser or Vidalia. To do this, you need to hover your mouse over the TOR “onion” in the system tray and press the right mouse button. From the drop-down menu, select "Settings": 
In the settings that open, select the “Advanced” tab and click on the “Edit current torrc” button: 
But now you need to be especially careful and do as I wrote below: 
1. Write the line ""SocksPort port number" (for example: "SocksPort 8008").
2. Select this line with the mouse.
3. Check the "Apply selected" checkbox.
4. Click on the "OK" button.
Why is this so? I don’t know, but otherwise my program didn’t want to save the changes.
Method number 2.
Just look where the settings file is located, open it with any text editor and enter a line at the bottom like: “SocksPort port number”. For example: "SocksPort 8008". It's better to do this when your TOR is not running.
How can I find this settings file? Its address is written in the “Advanced” section of the settings (see method No. 1 above).
For example, for TOR Browser I have: 
And for Vidalia like this: 
Moreover, you can enter your own path to the file and use the same settings for both programs (if you suddenly use both of them on the same computer). But do not forget to change the port number to the one you specified where necessary (see part No. 1 or No. 2).
Part No. 4. How and where to view proxy settings for TOR Browser
Many, having read everything above, will ask the question: “How can I see what proxy settings my TOR Browser uses?”
Very simple!
Go to the settings of the Firefox that comes with TOR Browser: 
There we go to the “Advanced” tab and find the “Network” subtab: 
And there you can see what proxy settings your TOR Browser has:
How and what Now what to do if you need to use an http(s) proxy to work through TOR, maybe I’ll write about it soon.
P.S. I guarantee the relevance of this message for 2 weeks. If something doesn’t work for you starting from August 15, 2013, you can ask yourself the question: “Why didn’t I set all this up earlier?” Although I can write the answer right away: “Because I didn’t have time! But now I have time to figure everything out on my own.” Good luck!
The Tor browser is one of the best life-saving tools in our Orwellian world. Have you ever wondered why you receive offers in your email that you Googled earlier? Why does the advertising on websites appear exactly the one you needed? The fact is that modern browsers save your request history and, accordingly, your user preferences. That is, any advertising network already knows what you want - it is the request history that helps it with this.
Well, let’s not forget about scammers or the government - although these are different “structures,” they still have the same goal: to find the “weak” link, identify personal information about you and use it for their own purposes.
If you are tired of this total surveillance, if you want to surf sites on the Internet in complete anonymity, then you need to use the Tor browser and also purchase a couple of proxy servers. Anyway, let's talk about it.
Tor browser - what is it?
The Tor browser is a unique browser that supports proxy server technology. In general, every browser supports such technology, but it is here that the user visits sites and downloads in complete anonymity.
This is achieved by a huge network of encrypted communication nodes. Typically, there are three nodes registered at different locations. In fact, even the authors of Tor do not know which communication nodes this or that client uses, since each time a new IP address is used.
From a security point of view, this browser really provides complete and multifunctional protection. With it you can:
- create websites without advertising your (and their) location;
- download files, surf websites without leaving any traces;
- use electronic payment systems without the risk of hacking and theft of your personal data;
- access sites that are blocked in your country.
Why do we need proxies for Tor?
So, we found out that Tor is an excellent and wonderful tool that gives us complete anonymity through its own proxy servers. However, there are a couple of problems here: 1 – low speed, 2 – blocking by the site administration.
The first is due to the fact that too much load is placed on the general network of servers. Just try installing some VPN in your browser. Immediately after you go to YouTube, for example, you will feel the difference - the video will slow down ungodly. All this is due to the extended communication channel: your PC needs to send a signal to some Dutch server and receive a response, and this will take a lot of time.
The second problem is due to the popularity of the program; nevertheless, not only you and I know about the Torah. The administration of many sites simply blocks those visitors who use this browser.
In general, Thor is certainly suitable for our studies, but these two problems are quite serious. How to solve them? That's right - by purchasing your own proxy servers.
We can purchase, for example, Russian IP addresses, put them in the browser and enjoy comfortable work. You may think that in this case there is no point in Thor, but, firstly, it is an incredibly convenient browser, which is an improved version of Firefox, and, secondly, with the help of separate proxies you can work safely on the network, hiding behind someone else’s IP. At the same time, you will not experience any need for additional speed.
What proxies are suitable for this browser?
In fact, any. You can use HTTP or SOCKS protocols - you can purchase IPv4 browsers and install them in the program settings.
Network files used to establish a connection may be infected or damaged by viruses, preventing either the browser or the proxy from accessing the required object. Therefore, we recommend scanning and further cleaning the system from malicious files using one of the available methods.
After this, it is advisable to restore system files, since, as mentioned above, they could be damaged due to infection. This is done using one of the built-in tools of the operating system. For a detailed guide to completing this task, read our other material at the following link.
Method 4: Scan and fix registry errors
Most Windows system settings are stored in the registry. Sometimes they get damaged or start to work incorrectly due to some kind of failure. We recommend scanning your registry for errors and, if possible, fixing them all. After restarting your computer, try setting up the connection again. Read more about cleaning further.
