How to find out the proxy settings on your computer

A proxy server is usually not installed on your computer; it runs on a separate computer on the network, and the network has been configured so that your computer is forced to go through the proxy server.

In order to tell your computer to go through the proxy server, someone has to enter proxy settings into your browser. These instructions describe how to find out your browser's proxy settings.

For Netscape Communicator -- i.e. Netscape 4.0 and later versions

• If No Proxies is selected, Netscape is not configured to use a proxy server. If you are able to browse the Web at all from that machine using Netscape, then your Internet access is not being censored by a proxy.
• If Manual proxy configuration is selected, click on "View". You should see a list of proxy entries: "FTP Proxy", "Gopher Proxy", etc. The proxy server that is being used to censor Internet access is the entry next to "HTTP Proxy". That is the entry you want to make a note of, if you are gathering information about what proxy server your school uses.
• If Automatic proxy configuration is selected, there will be a URL given in the text space. This is not a URL that you can load into Netscape directly -- if you do, Netscape will complain: "Server sent an unrequested proxy automatic configuration file to Netscape. Configuration file will be ignored." This is the URL that you need to make a note of, if you are gathering information about what proxy server your school uses.

For Netscape Navigator -- i.e. Netscape 3.x and earlier versions

• If No Proxies is selected, Netscape is not configured to use a proxy server. If you are able to browse the Web at all from that machine using Netscape, then your Internet access is not being censored by a proxy.
• If Manual proxy configuration is selected, click on "View". You should see a list of proxy entries: "FTP Proxy", "Gopher Proxy", etc. The proxy server that is being used to censor Internet access is the entry next to "HTTP Proxy". That is the entry you want to make a note of, if you are gathering information about what proxy server your school uses.
• If Automatic proxy configuration is selected, there will be a URL given in the text space. This is not a URL that you can load into Netscape directly -- if you do, Netscape will complain: "Server sent an unrequested proxy automatic configuration file to Netscape. Configuration file will be ignored." This is the URL that you need to make a note of, if you are gathering information about what proxy server your school uses.

For Microsoft Internet Explorer -- all versions

• Under the bottom section, marked "Automatic configuration", there may or may not be a yellow triangle with the advisory message: "Automatic configuration set. This may override current Internet settings." If this message is present, click on the "Configure" button. You should see a URL, which usually ends in ".pac". This is the URL that you need to make a note of, if you are gathering information about what proxy server your school uses.
• Under the section marked "Proxy server" there should be a box marked "Access the Internet using a proxy server." If that box is checked (and the above-mentioned "Automatic configuration" message is not displayed in the "Automatic configuration" area) then your browser is configured to use the proxy server specified in the "Address:" and "Port:" fields. That is the entry you want to make a note of, if you are gathering information about what proxy server your school uses.

bennett@peacefire.org