Tor And Xp Pro

[FTM]

K...

I'm working on watching all of the HAK5 episodes. When I get done with this post I'm back to season 2 episode 8.

One of the earlier episodes had to do with the TOR project (The Onion Router). I was intrigued and decided to get involved.

Now, I will say that the TOR folks in their instruction text and the like do say that their software and XP Pro don't like each other and they recommend that the TOR software run in a Linux enviroment. At curent I'm goofing around with Ubuntu Server inside of a VM Ware Player sandbox running on an XP Pro host.

Anybody know how to get to the GUI after installing Ubuntu Server?

Anyway, what I'm looking for is somebody that can tell me why, oh why, does this TOR software start out OK then after anywhere from a half hour to an hour all of a sudden gets stoopid? Starting from a clean boot in XP Pro the TOR software executes as advertises. I have a static IP address assigned to the machine that I'm using as a server and ports forwarded through a router. The firewall that I use is up to date in allowing the TOR software to do it's thing. Like I said before according to the TOR debug log everything starts out fine then after an hour or so all of a sudden I start getting error messages and the like saying that remote relays can't find my machine and the like.

So, anyway, making a long story short, can anybody shed any light on this subject.

As a countermeasure I'm working on getting a copy on server 2003 and I'll run that in the sandbox and see what shakes out. That or perhaps I can get something going with Ubuntu. Anybody has any insiget I'd be glad to hear.

Thanks a lot in advance.

[Mr-Protocol]

Visit the tor website FAQ's and manual/guides to find solutions to your problems.

[Infiltrator]

Why don't you submit your queries on TOR Forums, or better yet read the forums there may be solutions for your problem.

Edited October 11, 2010 by Infiltrator

[digip]

K...

I'm working on watching all of the HAK5 episodes. When I get done with this post I'm back to season 2 episode 8.

One of the earlier episodes had to do with the TOR project (The Onion Router). I was intrigued and decided to get involved.

Now, I will say that the TOR folks in their instruction text and the like do say that their software and XP Pro don't like each other and they recommend that the TOR software run in a Linux enviroment. At curent I'm goofing around with Ubuntu Server inside of a VM Ware Player sandbox running on an XP Pro host.

Anybody know how to get to the GUI after installing Ubuntu Server?

Anyway, what I'm looking for is somebody that can tell me why, oh why, does this TOR software start out OK then after anywhere from a half hour to an hour all of a sudden gets stoopid? Starting from a clean boot in XP Pro the TOR software executes as advertises. I have a static IP address assigned to the machine that I'm using as a server and ports forwarded through a router. The firewall that I use is up to date in allowing the TOR software to do it's thing. Like I said before according to the TOR debug log everything starts out fine then after an hour or so all of a sudden I start getting error messages and the like saying that remote relays can't find my machine and the like.

So, anyway, making a long story short, can anybody shed any light on this subject.

As a countermeasure I'm working on getting a copy on server 2003 and I'll run that in the sandbox and see what shakes out. That or perhaps I can get something going with Ubuntu. Anybody has any insiget I'd be glad to hear.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Ok. Things to know about linux servers. Unless you install it with a desktop environment, there will be no GUI. You need X11 with a desktop manager such as Gnome, KDE, Fluxbox, etc. If however you did install it with a GUI, it should boot to the GUI unless you have it set to boot to the CLI.

You can test if you have a GUI by typing "startx" at the console and see if anything happens. If it doesn't start the desktop, you have a bare bones install of just the server. Best bet, install uBuntu desktop if you need the GUI.

Now as far as getting TOR working in XP, yes, it does work, BUT if any exit node or node in the array has an IP address ending in .255, XP will not go any further. This is a limitation to XP following the older network standard, and reserves the bit as if it were the broadcast address. XP can't do subnet-0, so it can not only cause problems reaching certain sites believe it or not, but also network issues locally which has nothing to do with TOR, but more in windows using older routing standards that do not apply in todays TCP/IP networking. Even Server 2003 has this issue and you cant use the first and last octet for end devices, they are reserved for the network ID and Broadcast bits.

Vista and 7 do not exhibit this issue since they have a newer TCP/IP Stack and follow the newer standards, and will work fine with TOR.

[FTM]

Thank you so very much for you answer. Seems that I recall the IP address limitation from way back when I was working on 200 server network certs but I've slept since then. I do have to say though that the TOR folks are less than helpful in solving problems. My guess is that there are too few of them and too many noobs (like me) trying to use their system.

Right now I'm running Ubuntu in a VM Ware Player sandbox and see if I can get the service going that way. I'll blog back as to what happens.

Thanks,

[digip]

I've used TOR with XP many times in the past, just never had a need for it really. It was more or less a learning experience, but now I just use an SSH tunnel and Socks Proxy when I want to hide my real IP. Doesn't hide my proxy's IP address so if someone wanted to trace it back to me, could still do so since I use my websites as the tunnel, but it encrypts and hides my home IP. it also lets me surf safely if I'm at a free wifi spot or using someone else's network and I don't want snooping eyes on the line.

[FTM]

I was trying to set up TOR as a router. The TOR browser package works as advertised. Typically I use proxy servers located in the Russian Republic and/or Bern, Switzerland in the event that I want to stay out of sight. My intrest in the TOR network was not so much as using it for my web browsing, if anybody should go to the trouble to keep tabs on what I do on the internet but in the event that somebody else from say Saudi Arabia or North Korea should like to use the internet without their government's asssitance. Like I said before, for what I look at on the internet if someone should want to tack my activities it would be an awful waste of hard drive space and some spook's time. Methinks that I'm probably not the only guy that looks at Drudge.

I know a couple spooks. My kinda folks. Just in the event that somebody is watching.

My intrest in hacking is for the most part white hat. I want to get into penetration testing. I've broken into a couple laptops for folks at the plant. Helped some folks out with computers that were ate up with worms and the like. I have a little, rinky-dink home network. The next step is to see if I can get into my own network. Stuff like that. Last time I looked it's not against the law to pick your own lock. That kind of thing.

Anyway, for now, I'm off to the factory. I work 3rd shift. Fun, fun, fun. Tonight's entertainment is to rewire a conveyor system so that the half-wit operator and her twenty something stuporvisor can't crash the multi-bazillion dollar robotic unloader system. Two things that people should never, ever, ever see is people making sausage and people making cars. If you saw people making cars you wouldn't ever again get into one.

[FTM]

Sorry, forgot, where are your proxys located? I use Russia and Switzerland because the cops in those places usually don't automatically cooperate with the cops in other places. Especially the Swiss.