What the hell are proxy servers and are they beneficial?

Question

I just googled it and everything but I'm still really confused. My computer has been on the option "Use system proxy settings", but yesterday my internet (I use Firefox) stopped working all of a sudden, and said "the proxy server is refusing connections". So I changed the option to "auto-detect proxy settings for this network" and then internet worked. "No proxy" allowed my internet to work as well.

So I am very confused on which setting I am supposed to be on? And I recently used Avast anti-virus for a boot scan, and it removed viruses, and I think it removed Java Quicktime as well, because everytime I load my account (Windows XP) it now says Limewire needs a Java Quicktime update. According to Java's site, this is common when they make an update and the anti-virus program hasn't realized it's not a virus. Is that true? Or is Java Quicktime bad? Idk

And which internet option should I pick then? I don't get what proxies do at all. Do I benefit from "auto-detect proxy settings for this network" or "no proxy"? do proxies block viruses or something? I really don't understand. How come my previous setting of "Use system proxy settings" stopped working all of a sudden? I've never encountered this problem before..

Thanks so much. Please don't get too technical with your explanation, I'm 16

Answer 1

proxy tips and info:

http://top-antivirus-computer.cn/proxies-anonymity-anonymous.html

Answer 2

If you don't have a specific proxy server, leave it to off.



A proxy server forwards connections back to your PC.

Instead of the connection originating from your PC, your computer asks the proxy server to download webpages and then the server sends them back to you. From a server perspective, it appears that the connection comes from the proxy server, instead of your house.



This way, you can circumvent IP bans (forums, etc), or be able to access blocked sites on certain networks.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

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