Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Pidgin through proxy in Windows


If you are looking for instructions for Linux, go here.

If you're at a place where your favorite IM protocol is blocked, this might help you use it anyway. The IM software I'll be setting it up with is Pidgin, which is open source and supports many different protocols.

Here is how you do it:

  • First you need to download and install Tor:
    1. Download Tor here.

    2. Run the installer, and choose to install only Tor and Vidalia when asked. (You can use the other programs for anonymous web-surfing and alike, but I won't cover that in this guide)

    3. At the end of the installation process choose to run the installed components.

    4. Dont close the black cmd window when it appears.

    5. Tor is now installed, but you will have to start Vidalia manually before trying to connect to your account through Tor in pidgin.

  • Then download and install pidgin:
    1. Download pidgin from here.

    2. Install it. The installations should be pretty straight forward.

  • Do this when you create your account to connect through Tor:
    1. Go to the "Advanced" tab.

    2. Under "Proxy Options" and "Proxy type", choose "SOCKS 5".

    3. In the "Host" field fill in "127.0.0.1".

    4. In the "Port" field fill in "9050".
Now whenever you connect to one of the accounts set up, they will connect through Tor. Remember, connecting through Tor will take longer than logging in normally, so be patient. Also remember to start Vidalia, and let Tor get some time to connect before logging in.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for this informative and clearly written post.

i foolishly spent the better part of an hour on an IM session today cracking jokes about the client -- while using the client's proxy server. later i realized my connection probably wasn't as secure as i thought it was. dumb, i know. anyway, assuming i still have a job when i show up for work tomorrow, i'll be able to have a properly secure conversation.

Unknown said...

Sill I am not able to connect pidgin. Administrator has blocked pidgin here and its not possible for me to connect by way you told me.
Tor is running but pidgin dont work still.
What should I do??
Please suggest.

Celic said...

ASHISH MEHRA:

you can download and run the portable one, which doesn't need admin right to install, or even and run off from USB memory stick....

http://www.portableapps.com

Anonymous said...

This works like a charm!! Thanks for the help. Is it possible to setup few a/cs using Proxy few should not use proxy? we use MSN Messenger internally and I would like to add, but proxy it's not working well.

Any Ideas?

Thanks

Anonymous said...

excelente, funciona a la perfeccion

Anonymous said...

mine works! my admin blocked everythin' in my company.IM , social networks and many others. but with TOR wow! seem freedom is here! nice one!

Anonymous said...

yeah! works fine.
my techexperience in 30 seconds.
peace