Vista + Privoxy 3.0.13beta: Services not starting

Update:

I added the services but it did not run while the privoxy application is running
Restarted the computer: The service will run but Privoxy application does not launch with the error that another application is bound to 127.0.0.1:8118

Uninstalled 3.0.13beta
Installed 3.0.12

The exact same thing.

Privoxy is running but the GUI window does not show/log activity and I need to see the connections.

Any ideas?

Vista does not allow a program that is running as a service to have access to the interactive GUI. For example the program can't add an icon to the system tray or create an interactive window. That is by Microsoft's design.

You might have some luck by disabling UAC but of course doing that has a global impact.

I have disabled UAC but still no use. The GUI windows does not show/log the connections.

Update: Vista + Privoxy 3.0.13beta

I can start the services but the application does not start and vice versa

1- With Privoxy as service, it is working but no GUI, no logging, no task bar icon and console window

The services panel in Vista indicates the property of the Privoxy service as:

"C:\Program Files\Privoxy\privoxy.exe" --service

Other services do not have the end --service tag. Is that a factor?

I install the service by:
"C:\Program Files\Privoxy\privoxy.exe" --install [:Privoxy]

Is that correct?

2- If I disable the service, I can run the Privoxy as an application.
The task bar icon appears and animate but GUI console does not show anything

All I need is to be able to see the connections made through Privoxy in the GUI console.

Can anyone please advise me?

Thank you

Running it as a service can not allow its UI to be accessed by users in Vista, nor the next 'Windows 7'. A service program is no longer allowed to be seen by or interact with any user. XP, Win2K, Win9x were different.

Vista and Win7 run service programs in 'session 0', not in any user session. Session 0 is not granted access to GDI functions. They can no longer be seen with a tray icon or window. Microsoft now requires a program to be running in a user's session in order for it to be seen by or interact with a user. When run as a service the best you can hope for now is that a program runs OK on its own, and invisibly.

That's a real problem for applications such as this but no amount of coding will fix it. Blame the malware writers who shove their crap into services, or blame Microsoft for not using another way to hinder them.

You can run Privoxy for each user by putting a link into the 'All Users' StartUp folder, or create a scheduled task to start the program when a user logs on.

Unfortunately the TCP stack is not per-session. There is only one port 8118 and only one Privoxy instance can be using it. If 2 or more users are running Privoxy, only one of them can use that TCP port. If an instance is also running as an invisible service, still there's only one TCP port 8118 for any subsequent user-initiated instance to contend with.

Thank you very much for your detailed post.

Can you advise of any way to enable the GUI console window to display the connections?

The Privoxy console window should display the connections if:

1- You've run the program yourself, for example by double-clicking the EXE or putting a shortcut to it in the StartUp folder. You should see its icon in your desktop tray.

2- You've configured your browser(s) to use the proxy on localhost port 8118. For example in IE use menu Tools -- Internet Options -- Connections tab -- LAN Settings.

Thank you for your comment.

Privoxy IS running and does its job. The icon animates and the filtering is done.

I have been running Privoxy since 3.0.3
With 3.0.8 upgrade on Windows XP, the console was not working and after making changes tot eh config.txt it started to work.

Now with 3.0.13b and Vista, I am again having the same problem, the GUI console does not show anything.

I just found out that by setting the debugging the GUI console started to out put the connection albeit is a slightly different format. Therefore, the should NOT be a permission issue at all.

- Am I missing something??!
- Is this a bug?

This is the section that should enable the console. However, it does not seem to affect it. When ALL settings were commented out, the taskbar icon was there and did animate and did minimise (without even setting it i.e. like a default setting)

But the: (If "log-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will log messages to the
# console window:) does not affect it.
It seems not of the following settings have any effect.

-----------------------------------------------

# 7. WINDOWS GUI OPTIONS
# =======================
#
# Privoxy has a number of options specific to the Windows GUI
# interface:
#
#
# If "activity-animation" is set to 1, the Privoxy icon will animate
# when "Privoxy" is active. To turn off, set to 0.
#
activity-animation 1
#
# If "log-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will log messages to the
# console window:
#
log-messages 1
#
# If "log-buffer-size" is set to 1, the size of the log buffer,
# i.e. the amount of memory used for the log messages displayed in
# the console window, will be limited to "log-max-lines" (see below).
#
# Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow
# infinitely and eat up all your memory!
#
log-buffer-size 1
#
# log-max-lines is the maximum number of lines held in the log
# buffer. See above.
#
log-max-lines 200
#
# If "log-highlight-messages" is set to 1, Privoxy will highlight
# portions of the log messages with a bold-faced font:
#
log-highlight-messages 1
#
# The font used in the console window:
#
log-font-name Comic Sans MS
#
# Font size used in the console window:
#
log-font-size 8
#
# "show-on-task-bar" controls whether or not Privoxy will appear as
# a button on the Task bar when minimized:
#
#show-on-task-bar 0
#
# If "close-button-minimizes" is set to 1, the Windows close button
# will minimize Privoxy instead of closing the program (close with
# the exit option on the File menu).
#
close-button-minimizes 1
#
# The "hide-console" option is specific to the MS-Win console version
# of Privoxy. If this option is used, Privoxy will disconnect from
# and hide the command console.
#
#hide-console
#
#

PS. I think this thread needs to be restarted with the new information since the original request (re: services & permission) is no longer the issue.

Please close this and I restart another thread with relevant info.

Thank you.

AZ