Installing SwitchProxy for Tor
SwitchProxy is a Firefox plugin that makes it easy for you to switch between using a proxy and connecting to websites directly.
In this howto, you'll set up SwitchProxy to let you change between using Tor and a direct connection. We assume you already have Firefox installed and working.
The screenshots here are oriented towards Windows users, but SwitchProxy works anywhere Firefox works. Hopefully everybody else can follow along just fine.
Step Zero: Download and Install Tor and Privoxy
Before you start, you need to make sure 1) Tor is up and running, 2) Privoxy is up and running, and 3) Privoxy is configured to point to Tor.
Windows users need to do step one of the Windows Tor installation howto, and Mac OS X users need to do step one of OS X Tor installation howto, since our Win32 and OS X packages include Privoxy and configure it already. Linux/BSD/Unix users should do step one and step two of the Unix Tor installation howto.
Step One: Download and Install SwitchProxy
SwitchProxy is a Firefox plugin, so you need to go through the process of installing a new plugin. First, go to the SwitchProxy web page. If you're using Firefox 1.5, you might need to download SwitchProxy from here instead. Turn on JavaScript for now and click "Install Now":
It will pop up a window asking for permission to install the plugin. Click on the "Install Now" button:
Once the installer is finished, you should close all of your Firefox windows and restart Firefox.
Step Two: Configure SwitchProxy
When you restart Firefox, you'll notice there's a new toolbar that lets you control your proxies. Now we're going to set up a proxy configuration for Tor. Click on "Add" in the new Proxy toolbar:
It will ask you to select a proxy type. Choose "Standard." (There's also an "anonymous" proxy type that uses an ad hoc set of anonymous proxies out there. You don't want this, because those other "anonymous" proxies give you much weaker security than Tor.)
Now it will show you the standard proxy config window for Firefox. Give this configuration a proxy label of "tor". Then fill in "localhost" and "8118" for all four entries, as shown here. (Even though Privoxy doesn't support FTP and Gopher, you should set them up anyway.) Then click "OK":
Now you've created the "tor" proxy label, but you're not using it yet. Click on the pull-down list and select tor, as shown here:
Almost done. Click "Apply" to make your change take effect:
Done! Firefox will reload your current page. In this example screenshot, it reloaded the page and happened to get a German exit node:
Step Step Three: Check if it works
Now Firefox is using Privoxy as an HTTP proxy, Privoxy is using Tor as a socks4a proxy, and Tor is making your connections to the Internet.
In the above example, it was clear that it worked because the web page showed up in a different language. In other cases, though, you'll want to verify that your setup is working. Do step three of the Windows Tor installation howto, or step three of the OS X Tor installation howto.
You should be aware of one anonymity gotcha: when you switch from using Tor to a direct connection (or vice versa), by default the page that's currently active will be reloaded through the new proxy setting. So make sure you're on a page that isn't sensitive, before switching. (You can also change this behavior in SwitchProxy's "Options | Preferences" menu.)
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