How to set up a proxy server with Windows

The con­nec­tion between client and server does not always occur directly. In many networks, so-called ‘proxies’ assume the role of an in­ter­me­di­ary between the two. This allows data streams to be optimally dis­trib­uted and ad­di­tion­al security mech­an­isms to be im­ple­men­ted. Private users can also choose to redirect their online traffic via a proxy server in order to conceal the sender address and thus surf the internet an­onym­ously. Read on as we reveal how to create your own proxy settings with Windows 7, 8, and 10, what problems may occur, and how to fix them.

When proxy servers are used at home, the an­onymisa­tion of internet activity is usually the centre of focus. A forward proxy can be used to hide the user’s own system behind the proxy provider’s IP address. There can be various reasons to do this: in addition to pro­tect­ing the user’s privacy in times of ever-in­creas­ing mon­it­or­ing, accessing blocked web content is a key issue for many private proxy users. IP-based geo­loca­tion allows providers to restrict their services to specific countries. One par­tic­u­larly prominent example of this is Netflix. The popular film streaming platform was once un­avail­able in many countries until American proxy servers enabled users to get around the blockade. An online search will reveal a con­sid­er­able number of free proxy services that are readily available. But internet users would do well to consider which servers they want to use between them­selves and the internet. A proxy server may remove traces of online activity, but the provider used still has full access to the data traffic that passes through it.

If a forward proxy is used, the cor­res­pond­ing settings can be made with the Windows control panel or directly in the browser. Read on to discover the best way to do this.

In principle, private users who access the internet using a LAN or WIFI don’t need to make any manual changes to the proxy settings. A change to the proxy settings is only necessary if the data traffic is in­ten­tion­ally run via a proxy server. In company networks, on the other hand, bundling internet traffic over a forward proxy is com­puls­ory. Access to the internet thus usually requires a proxy con­fig­ur­a­tion through manual entry or a con­fig­ur­a­tion URL.

In both cases, the con­fig­ur­a­tion takes place via the Windows network settings. The click path in the cor­res­pond­ing menu will look slightly different depending on the version of Windows used.

The cor­res­pond­ing in­form­a­tion for the con­fig­ur­a­tion are obtained from the proxy provider. Some servers are also secured through in­di­vidu­al login data. In this case, use of the server requires a personal user account and password.

Al­tern­at­ively, you also have the option of carrying out the proxy settings from the Windows 8 desktop view. This click through resembles that of the Windows 7 path. Click ‘Network and Internet’ and then ‘Internet options’ to arrive at the ‘Internet options’ menu, where you can access the proxy con­fig­ur­a­tion settings in the ‘Con­nec­tions’ tab via the ‘LAN settings’ option.

As with Windows 7 and 8, the proxy settings with Windows 10 can be set auto­mat­ic­ally or manually. The steps that follow for the con­fig­ur­a­tion process are thus the same as in previous versions.

Here you have the option to configure proxies to access the Internet. The four options are as follows:

• No proxy
• Auto-detect proxy settings for this network
• Use system proxy settings
• Manual proxy con­fig­ur­a­tion

The standard con­fig­ur­a­tion for Firefox uses the operating system’s proxy settings. If a forward proxy is set up for con­nect­ing to the internet, this can be de­ac­tiv­ated for Firefox. To do this, users can select the ‘No proxy’ setting.

If a proxy server is to be set up for Firefox manually, this requires the same in­form­a­tion as with the Windows network settings con­fig­ur­a­tion. Users have the choice of setting up separate proxies for http, HTTPS, FTP, and SOCKS, or using the same protocol for all servers. Firefox also allows users to define exception and to use a proxy con­fig­ur­a­tion URL to make the settings automatic.

Messages like this can have various causes. The con­sequence is generally a disrupted internet con­nec­tion. Webpages outside of the local network are then either only partly displayed or com­pletely in­ac­cess­ible. In order to fix this error, the user first needs to check whether the use of a proxy is required. Sometimes, if new adware, malware, or browser plugins have been installed, the proxy settings are auto­mat­ic­ally adjusted without the user’s knowledge. If you normally surf without a proxy, you should be wary of error messages like this.

In order to check whether a virus or Trojan is re­spons­ible for the re­dir­ec­tion of the proxy server, it’s re­com­men­ded to conduct a thorough system scan. If browser plugins were recently installed, these should also be checked and, if necessary, de­ac­tiv­ated.

If users are de­lib­er­ately using proxy services, con­nec­tion errors are generally caused by one of the following:

• The proxy server is over­loaded: proxies that are freely available online are par­tic­u­larly popular among users to anonymise online activity and bypass geo-targeting. If the request exceeds the capacity of such a server, this results in over­load­ing errors. If this is the case, the browser will display the ‘Proxy server error’ message. Users then have the choice to wait or use another server. It’s also possible to ask the ad­min­is­trat­or when the service is expected to be available again.

• The proxy server is offline: if a server is per­man­ently dis­con­nec­ted from the network, it will no longer be able to provide any proxy services. The reason behind this could be a technical problem or an in­solv­ency on the provider’s side. In this case, users have no choice but to find a different forward proxy, or surf the internet with no proxy at all.

• The proxy server’s IP address has changed: if the proxy server’s IP address has changed, that will also lead to con­nec­tion problems. Users can rectify this problem if they find out the proxy server’s new address and adjust the con­fig­ur­a­tion in the system settings or the browser.

• The con­nec­tion data was entered in­cor­rectly: users entering the wrong proxy settings is the most common cause of these errors. Before con­tact­ing their providers or con­sid­er­ing an al­tern­at­ive proxy service, users should first check their settings for typing errors in the IP address and port number sections.

When using proxy servers privately, users can generally fix proxy-related con­nec­tion dis­rup­tions simply by selecting ‘Auto-detect settings’ in the system’s standard settings. In business networks, the use of proxies is often ob­lig­at­ory in order to establish external con­nec­tions. In this case, users should contact the ad­min­is­trat­or in order to rectify any problems with the proxy server.