ANOTHER UPDATE - 03/02/08 - Neither Proxyfire nor the author of FPL & EPS (which uses Bleech to check proxies) have released new public versions of their software. This therefore means than none of the items needing correcting have been accomplished. To me, this is inexcusable and if I had paid for their so-called "pro" versions (I didn't), I would be demanding a total refund.

Actually, I can't truly recommend any of these programs for any reason.

Any person with a brain should be able to figure out which proxy sites and proxy forums to leech from. Most of the people who post proxy lists, do so on multiple sites (sometimes just using different names). The proxy sites basically all use the same sources and many of them simply leech from the others. There are a few good ones, but they are very rare.

Anyway, taking a few minutes to analyze which sites and forums provide you with the most good proxies and the least amount of deadwood, crap and duplication would be time worth spent. Why on earth anyone would want to leech 60,000+ proxies to wind up with 150 is beyond comprehension ... even if it were done by software. Regardless of what testing method you use, if it takes more than five (5) minutes to test a list, a very high percentage won't be any good by the time you are finished.

PREVIOUS UPDATE - 02/06/08: Proxyfire's problems with this have apparently been corrected according to my early tests. It is nice to see an author react so quickly. I will be removing their inclusion in this report as soon as a new updated version (1.23) is released publicly. Until then everything I've stated stands status quo.

Although the author of FPL & EPS have thanked me for making them aware of this (very large) problem, to date they still have not corrected it.

* * * * * * * * * * *
Please be advised that both Proxyfire and Bleach (EPS & FPL's proxy checking module), are seriously flawed. Both programs report transparent proxies as being anonymous.

You do not have to take my word for it, simply re-test your lists using Charon (which is free), or use the trial version of AATools (testing limit per session is 100), or use the trial version of HellLab's ProxyChecker. Use the anonymous proxies reported by either Bleach or Proxyfire and notice how many of them are reported transparent by the far superior proxy analyzing tools mentioned above.

Use the same proxyjudge in all programs if you like, but it doesn't matter ... I would suggest that you use an "azenv" judge (you can find a list in our 'Proxy Tools' section. I believe both Bleach and Proxyfire use the following by default:

I no longer recommend that judge as it gives out false positive results.

Select a few of those reported as transparent by Charon or AATools and test them manually in your browser against one of the following sites:

Look at either of the following lines:

REMOTE_ADDR (Your Real IP Address will be shown here if transparent)
REMOTE_HOST (Your Real IP Address will be shown here if transparent)

The authors of both Bleach and Proxyfire have been notified of these problems, but to date have ignored them.

__________________
I tell it like it is and that's offensive to those professing knowledge they don't have.

very good point. i've noticed this numerous times but i still use bleach and just take all L1,L2, & L3 proxies and test them afterwards in charon. bleach is still good for testing big lists. just be sure it's not the last thing you test your proxies in before you use them.

Oh sure, as soon as I report something like this, people always come out of the woodwork claiming to have noticed it moons ago. In a word, "bullshit".

If true, what were you waiting for? Afraid you were wrong? Didn't you feel any obligation to the community to make an announcement about it? Why didn't you notify the authors about this flaw? You didn't by the way!

Bleach is not good to test anything at present. You'd be better off stopping Bleach from operating and simply transfer your leeched list(s) to Charon or some other reliable proxy analyzing software immediately. The tremendous amount of duplicates, Planetlab/CoDeeN and other undesirable proxies can all be deleted before testing ... thereby saving time. And, if you have pruned your leech list properly to begin with, your pre-tested proxy list should be of manageable quantity and reasonably quick and easy to test in more reliable software.

Remember, it isn't testing speed that's important, it's accuracy!

And, when you say that you take all the L1, L2 and L3 (the working proxies) from Bleach and retest them in Charon, you are leaving many good proxies in the "timeout" category. Bleach places all proxies it can't connect with, regardless of the reason, in a "timeout" folder.

A wise person will always test non-working proxies in his/her list up to three times, regardless of what software is being used.

__________________
I tell it like it is and that's offensive to those professing knowledge they don't have.

well here's what i do to be exact. i test a list in bleach, then test the timeouts once more. i then place all usefuls that i get into charon and test 4 times. i didn't mean to upset you lol. i didn't really make a big deal about it when i started to discover bleach's inaccuracy b/c i didn't really think ppl would care. and i'm aware of the fact that accuracy is more important than speed but in my case i still get a sufficient amount of proxies using my method so it's not really that big a deal to me. lol i wasn't trying to make you go ape shit i was just giving my input.

The day I go "ape shit" as you put it, you will no longer be welcome here and your posting privileges will be revoked.

I simply do not like people who minimize the efforts of others by claiming, "Oh, I already knew that" when, in fact, they didn't. And, you did it again with your, "Well, here's what I do to be exact." This is obviously just who you are!

Most people who post proxy lists may do so for a variety of reasons, but all people who use proxy analyzing software desire accurate results. When and if you ever discover flaws in programs and are willing to stand up and be counted and to take whatever heat may come your way in doing so, please do. Otherwise just say thank you and move on.

__________________
I tell it like it is and that's offensive to those professing knowledge they don't have.

(post removed by TurkAlbert)

Bite me! You've done nothing for this community, not ever!

You want to simplify my efforts in this regard, that's your problem. But the discovery process was far more extensive that you indicate. However, the point IS, I am the one who has taken the time to publish these flaws so that all the newb's can learn from it ... and equally important so that the authors of these programs are forced to correct the problems. If everyone ignores problems of this type, those things will not happen. And, morons like you will continue to post proxy lists on sites like this one thinking (because they have less than half a brain) that they have posted a wonderful list of anonymous proxies when they haven't.

Ban you? No way, I'll let you make a fool of yourself using your favorite "nick". You can speak your mind (to a degree), no one cares what you have to say anyway. Again, you offer nothing here, never have except bullshit.

__________________
I tell it like it is and that's offensive to those professing knowledge they don't have.

UPDATE: Proxyfire's problems with this have apparently been corrected according to my early tests. It is nice to see an author react so quickly. I will be removing their inclusion in this report within 24 hours.

__________________
I tell it like it is and that's offensive to those professing knowledge they don't have.

Hello Lorissa,

Thanks for your testing and advices.
It's your previous testing report make the bug fixed.
We really appreciate it.

Best,
Lin

Well I've always used Charon so I don't know of this problem.Though its slow but its more reliable than the rest.

Wow! I'm sure we'll all sleep better tonight knowing this - Lorissa

__________________
Forum Inspector