Hi,
We have discuss on this forums about Tor browser which can not distribute by portableapps.com. Tor browser bundle can not update itself. But each week new updates are releasing.
Tor browser based on Firefox. So if we install Tor plugins on Firefox, we will not need tor browser (at least for most things).
I search a little bit but I could not find... Where are the tor plugins for Firefox exactly? What should I do to my Firefox to surf on Deep web?
Thank you
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There were extensions helping to use the Tor with standard Firefox.
Those extensions were remotely permanently disabled (destroyed) over the extensions update service by the authors.
Reason was mainly, that people refused to learn abt Tor then and used it on a normal Firefox with other extensions and more crazy even with plugins installed on the host system. This did bring the Tor system to a point where such users then complained that Tor was not serving the purpose and was not able to provide anonymous communication any more.
To avoid all those problems and keep Tor functioning as designed, it needs to be used only with specially patched browser.
This is why it only the Tor browser bundle is of some use and this needs frequent updates from the Tor org themselves.
Use on normal Firefox is of no value at all. All you will get is very slow communication, but this is about all. There will be no anonymous surfing but this is what you have been looking for.
So why to have it?
Note that in this subject there no things like 'for most things it will be OK'. It either work to specification or alternative it does not work at all.
So there is no such thing as having it almost function or being fine for average user etc.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
In my SkyDrive (visible to any place I posted an app), I think I still have Tor stuff.
It is possible to make an online installer for it, slightly reformat things.
But I had an issue where I tried to separate TorBrowser and Tor itself.
It doesn't seem to want to operate separately/connect, at least for me.
It would be possibly to reunify them but I'm not currently supporting anything I have dumped there, so anyone is free to take over any app there.
you can do it , provided you see how it is done in the Tor bundle browser and arrange it same way. You should include all those small scripts and small files to block any additional plugins and what ever.
The earlier used extension Tor-button will not work for long unless you block any updates to extensions. When detected, it will be set out of order by Tor org, as people did use it on ordinary Firefox and by that breaking the Tor network functionality.
And yes, you can use Tor separate from Firefox. You can use other programs to use Tor, but you should go deep into the instruction how to adapt your programs to use Tor correctly. This is not just install and forget or plug and play. You should then divert your DNS requests to Tor own DNS and so on.
In fact if you do not want go into all the details of setting such system up, you should use Tails , the operating system distro made by Tor: https://tails.boum.org/index.en.html
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
It is not so important to have all features of TOR Browser Bundle. It is enough (at least for me) to surf with FirefoxPortable on TOR network.
For example, as default we don't need to force block other plugins or add ons feature. I can disable them manually... bla bla..
the question is then why to surf with Tor and break the Tor system when the only result you get from it is very slow surfing.
What is the particular reason to try to use a very slow proxy network while using other networks at the same time?
The reason why Tor devs blocked such use is that you then disturb and break the whole system they are trying to keep running.
Just to use your what ever version of Firefox and somehow manage to log into the Tor network gives you only bad performance. It will not give you anything else, particularly no anonymisation at all.
The reason is not only in plugins and extensions today, the reason is also with browsers themselves, many websites and more. The frequent updates of the Tor Browser and other publications like Tail try to counteract new discovered holes where all sorts of additional software installed or downloaded will attempt to communicate with some services bypassing the Tor network.
If you just surf with normal Firefox Portable used on a normal windows computer and you just manage to hack things the way that you can log on the Tor network, you have absolutely no increase in anonymity. And you break the Tor system for other people who may be very much dependent on it.
To use Tor just little bit, is same to be just little bit pregnant...
I can just recommend you go number of times through the docs of the Tor (https://www.torproject.org/docs/manual.html.en) and try to understand what are those guys after exactly before you go and break their permanent efforts in providing some partial degree of privacy in internet communication.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland
I understand that you want to tell. But I don't use TOR network because of privacy reasons.
I use TOR to connect some sites (deep web sites) which are only (mostly) possible to go using Tor Network.
I can install softwares to my computer and connect to Tor network very easly. But I don't do this because there are security problem if whole system (Windows and other apps) use Tor as default network. But a portable would be very nice because:
- it does not use admin rights,
- the network will not use by other apps or by operation system,
- it would be portable to open any other machine quickly.
When using "Tor Browser Bundle", it everytime warns that there is a new version of it. I also have some personel settings inside TOR Browser Bundle. After I download and unpack the Tor Browser Bundle, I should copy the settings (extesions) to new version.
So the only solution I can imagine is to use plugins or/and extesions with FreifoxPortable(which is possible to get updates).
Thats why I open this thread. But If it is little bit difficult or the priority of this thread is low , don't spend time with it.
The portabelapps.com project is good enough. I am just asking for new things...
Thank you
not sure what it is abt , as Tor is *only* for anonymity when surfing and any other function is not implemented. It is not any kind of security software etc.
If some site is blocked, let say by company or provider, you can use any kind of proxy to reach remote servers. Probably much faster and you will not disturb the Tor network by this. You can use one of the many free proxies worldwide. This will keep the Tor network operating as it should be so people who really depend on it can use it with maximum anonymity possible at that time.
Using Tor , but making own computer traceable in internet at same time is really not very nice. This makes it easier for 'others' to trace traffic crated by other users on the network.
To make your portable Firefox using Tor, you can just copy the Tor executables, then copy the Torbutton and the Torlauncher from the Torbundle and place it to your Firefox.
By that you will get connection to the Tor, but no privacy at all.
The problem is, you will be not able to switch off Tor unless you delete the extensions completely.
This is explicitly designed so by the Tor devs, to stop people doing exactly what you are after.
There have been times, now some years ago, when the launcher was still the Vidalia and the Torbutton could switch on and off the use of Tor by Firefox. This is now explicitly blocked so people can not use it on normal Firefox.
So even in case you get somewhere an old Torbutton (still switchable) and old enough Tor executable with Vidalia Launcher, and this Tor executable will sill be allowed by the Tor org to log on the network, this will work only once. The Torbutton will be detected and immediately 'updated' so it remains blocked in Tor ON position and Tor con not be switched off by that any more.
To make windows to use Tor completely is not so simple BTW. It may in some cases look like it is possible, but same thoughts you have when you think it is not good to have it run as general proxy are valid when you use it on an normal unpatched Firefox.
Just to install Tor does not mean that all programs will be using it and particularly those which anyway communicate strange way to the outside world.
And you can switch Tor off any time otherwise.
Updates of Tor itself, well you will get warnings there too for all sorts of components, so they will take great care of your Tor so it remains compatible with network.
With Tor network, you can contact just any normal website. Nothing special about it. The exit nodes are just normal computers sending the traffic to just normal open internet as if there was no Tor at all. All traffic coming out of an exit node can be read by interested people exactly same way as if it was sent without Tor. It does not provide any kind of VPN to some special point or so.
It is here only to make it more difficult for the listener on the exit node to figure out who did send this particular request to that server.
Traffic is encrypted only between the original computer and the following nodes, but naturally not when it come out of the exit node. Not more or less then it is without Tor completely.
And as we have just little control of where the data we are sending come out of the Tor, the surfing with Tor is not very much different from surfing without Tor.
So some particular server may not be reachable from certain local network or national network without Tor, but it is still normal reachable from any other network.
So there is no server which is reachable only via Tor. If it is reachable via Tor it is reachable via normal network too, provided it is not blocked locally.
Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland