HOW TO USE TOR BROWSER TO BROWSE WITHOUT LEAVING A TRAIL ON THE INTERNET INCLUDING A TUTORIAL ON HOW TO CONFIGURE YOUR PC TO USE TOR

What is Tor?

Tor is a computer network run by volunteers worldwide. Each volunteer runs what is called a relay, which is just a computer that runs software allowing users to connect to the Internet via the Tor network.
Before hitting the open Internet, the Tor Browser will connect to several different relays, wiping its tracks each step of the way, making it difficult to figure out where, and who, you really are.

While Tor is gaining a reputation as a tool for buying illicit goods online, the software has numerous legitimate uses. Activists masking their location from oppressive regimes and journalists communicating with anonymous sources are two simple examples.

If, like the librarians in Massachusetts, you don't have an exotic reason for using Tor, it's still a good tool to keep your browsing private from your ISP, advertisers, or passive government data collection. But if the NSA or other three-letter agency decided to actively target your browsing habits that's a whole different ballgame.

Getting started

The easiest way to use Tor is to download the Tor Browser. This is a modified version of Firefox along with a bunch of other software that connects you to the Tor network.
Once you've downloaded the installer, you have two options: You can just install the software or you can check the installation file's GPG signature first. Some people like to check the installation file to make sure they've downloaded the proper version of the browser and not something that's been tampered with.
But checking the GPG signature is not a painless process and requires an additional software download. Nevertheless, if that's something you'd like to do, the Tor Project has a how-to explaining what's required.

Installing Tor

Whether or not you've checked the GPG signature, the next step is to install the Tor browser itself.

You can install the Tor browser on a USB stick.

For Windows, the Tor Browser comes as an EXE file, so it's basically like installing any other program. The key difference is that the browser doesn't have the same default location as most programs. Instead, it offers your desktop as the install location.
The Tor browser does this because it is portable software and doesn't integrate into a Windows system the way typical programs do. This means you can run the Tor browser from almost anywhere—the Desktop, your documents folder, or even a USB drive.
When you arrive at the Choose install location window Click Browse... and then choose where you'd like to install the browser. As you can see in the image above, I installed it to a USB drive that I tote around on my key chain.
Once you've got your location selected, just press Install and Tor takes care of the rest.

Using the Tor Browser

Once the browser is installed, you'll have a plain old folder called Tor Browser. Open that and inside you'll see "Start Tor Browser.exe". Click that file and a new window opens asking whether you'd like to connect directly to the Tor network or if you need to configure proxy settings first.

Most people can simply connect directly to the Tor network to get started. (Click to enlarge.)

For most people, choosing the direct option is best, so choose Connect. A few seconds later a version of Firefox will launch and you are now connected to the Tor network and able to browser in relative anonymity.
To make sure you're connected to Tor go to whatismyip.com, which will automatically detect your location based on your Internet Protocol address. If your browser shows you coming from a location that is not your own, you are good to go. Just make sure you do all your anonymous browsing from the Tor Browser itself as other programs on your system are not connected to Tor.
But browsing anonymously on Tor isn't quite as easy as booting up a program. There are also some rules of the road you should observe, such as connecting to every site possible via SSL/TSL encryption (HTTPS). If you don't, then anything you do online can be observed by the person running your exit node. The browser has the Electronic Frontier Foundation's HTTPS Everywhere add-on installed by default, which should cover your SSL/TSL needs most of the time.
The Tor Project has more tips on browsing anonymously.
Also, remember that browsing in anonymity does not make you immune to viruses and other malware. If you are going to the seedier parts of the Internet, Tor cannot protect you from malicious software that could be used to reveal your location.
For the average Internet user, however, the Tor Browser should be enough to stay private online.
Below is an article from boingboing.net on some librarians using Tor to protect their patrons

Radical Librarianship: how ninja librarians are ensuring patrons' electronic privacy

Librarians in Massachusetts are working to give their patrons a chance to opt-out of pervasive surveillance. Partnering with the ACLU of Massachusetts, area librarians have been teaching and taking workshops on how freedom of speech and the right to privacy are compromised by the surveillance of online and digital communications -- and what new privacy-protecting services they can offer patrons to shield them from unwanted spying of their library activity.

It's no secret that libraries are among our most democratic institutions. Libraries provide access to information and protect patrons' right to explore new ideas, no matter how controversial or subversive. Libraries are where all should be free to satisfy any information need, be it for tax and legal documents, health information, how-to guides, historical documents, children's books, or poetry.

And protecting unfettered access to information is important whether that research is done using physical books or online search engines. But now it has become common knowledge that governments and corporations are tracking our digital lives, and that surveillance means our right to freely research information is in jeopardy. When you know that people are recording what you are doing online or if you know cops, the FBI, the DEA, or ICE could access your library or digital history, chances are you are not going to say or research what you might otherwise. Self-censorship ensues because surveillance chills speech.

Library Patrons Are At Risk

Researching online often means leaving a trail of information about yourself, including your location, what websites you visited and for how long, with whom you chatted or emailed, and what you downloaded and printed. All of these details are all easy to associate with a particular computer user when insufficient privacy protections are in place. This information is often thoughtlessly collected and stored, allowing government or law enforcement to make requests for library computer records. Meanwhile, companies may already have these records and use them to manipulate your search results and refine their contextual advertising. Worse a government may assert that users have "no reasonable expectation of privacy" when we "hand over" information to companies like Google and Twitter, and thus no constitutional protection against a government's searching of these records.
But libraries need not fully participate in this surveillance; libraries can strive to give users the chance to opt-out.

Librarians Take Action

One of the authors of this article, Alison Macrina, is an IT librarian at the Watertown Free Public Library in Massachusetts, a member of Boston's Radical Reference Collective, and an organizer working to bring privacy rights workshops to libraries throughout the northeast. Librarians know that patrons visit libraries for all kinds of online research needs, and therefore have a unique responsibility in helping keep that information safe. It's not just researchers who suffer; our collective memory, culture, and future are harmed when writers and researchers stop short of pursuing intellectual inquiry. In addition to installing a number of privacy-protecting tools on public PCs at the Watertown library, Alison has been teaching patron computer classes about online privacy and organized a series of workshops for Massachusetts librarians to get up to speed on the ins and outs of digital surveillance.
It all started with a zine Alison and some cohorts from Radical Reference made as a quick and dirty introduction to basic privacy and security tools. These zines were distributed at two conferences for information professionals: Urban Librarians Unite and Radical Archives.
The zines were a huge hit, and from there, Alison was inspired. She contacted the ACLU of Massachusetts, and invited them to join her in teaching privacy workshops to other librarians all over the state. It was an obvious choice: the ACLU of Massachusetts' Technology for Liberty project has done ground-breaking work on privacy, and the privacysos.org website and blog (run by Kade Crockford) is an incredible resource for privacy news, legislation, and advocacy.
Jessie Rossman, ACLU staff attorney, and Kade Crockford, Director of the Technology for Liberty Project at the ACLU of Mass., worked with Alison to create a three-hour workshop. Offering a broad outline of digital surveillance issues, the legal rights and responsibilities of librarians in Massachusetts, and an online privacy toolkit of software that can be installed on library PCs or taught to patrons in computer classes, the workshop has now been replicated multiple times and more have been scheduled across the state.

Digital Privacy is an Intellectual Freedom Issue

Although many librarians may be understandably new to the topic of online surveillance, information professionals are not new to defending intellectual freedom and the right to read and voice dissenting opinions, as well as the rights of historically marginalized people who continue to be under the most surveillance. Librarians are known for refusing requests from local law enforcement soliciting details on user browsing and borrowing records. The ALA has counted privacy among its core values since 1939, recognizing it as essential to free speech and intellectual freedom. And the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions is a signatory on the Thirteen International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance. As Kade Crockford puts it, "Perhaps more than anyone in our society, librarians represent the values that make a democracy strong, intellectual freedom foremost among them."

Branching Out

Since attending these workshops, multiple Massachusetts libraries have installed the Tor browser on all of their public PCs. Several libraries are coordinating their own computer privacy classes. Others have installed Firefox with privacy-protecting browser plugins like Disconnect.me, Ad-Block Plus, and The Electronic Frontier Foundation's HTTPS Everywhere and Privacy Badger tools. Still more are setting up Tor middle relays on their libraries' networks. One librarian said that the workshop made her feel "thoroughly empowered...[to] help stop illegal surveillance against my patrons." Amazing. If you're a patron, share this article with your librarian. If you're a librarian, contact us to get information on how to become more engaged in digital privacy. We've listed some great tools for you to explore and download, so please be in touch and let us know how it goes.
Contact april@eff.org to share your story or request more information, or contact macrina@riseup.net to host the privacy workshop at your library. Together, we'll protect the users and preserve our right to research and learn, unhindered by the pernicious effects of overbroad surveillance. We hope you'll join us.
(Images: ACLU; Jessamyn)