I downloaded the latest Tor Expert Bundle here for Windows 7 and extracted the files and directory structure of the .zip to G:\tor- In case it matters, my extracted Tor directory structure is as follows:

│   │   cached-certs
│   │   cached-microdesc-consensus
│   │   cached-microdescs.new
│   │   lock
│   │   state
│   │
│   └───Tor
│           geoip
│           geoip6

Afterwards, I open up an admin privileged cmd into G:\tor-\Tor. But when I run tor.exe nothing happens. I see the tor.exe process in taskmgr but there is no console logging displayed -- it's almost like the tor.exe process started itself as a background fork because right after I run it it brings me right back to the command prompt again.

Running tor.exe --version or tor.exe --help also doesn't show anything. I did not have any of these problems with an older version of tor. Is this a new issue introduced with the latest version?

Edit: For completeness, here's also my torrc file in case it's important:

DataDirectory ../Data
#ControlPort 9151
SocksPort 9150
# UseBridges 1
# bridge
# bridge
# bridge
# ExitNodes
GeoIPFile ../Data/Tor/geoip
GeoIPv6File ../Data/Tor/geoip6
MaxCircuitDirtiness 1800
ExitNodes {ca},{gb},{au},{us}
StrictNodes 1
  • It does start itself as an immediate background process. This is a known bug, not just for the latest version. – jamescampbell Nov 30 '15 at 21:37

This is a known bug, due to the lack of developers working on the Expert bundle.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for a workaround, you can use Tor binaries and files found in the TorBrowserBundle. You will find Tor/ and Data/ directories under c:\path-to-your-torbrowser-dir\TorBrowser\Browser. The rest should be easy. And you will get a console output with this version.

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  • 1
    Linostar's answer pointed me in the right direction and allowed me to find a workaround. To get tor.exe to print logging information I need to pipe it to more like so: tor.exe -f torrc | more Some caveats: to quit I have to kill tor.exe through taskmgr, <kbd>Ctrl + C</kbd> does not work, and I have to manually scroll the logged output whenever a page is full. While not ideal it does provide a workable solution for the time being at least until the tor maintainers fix the issue. – greatwolf Feb 13 '15 at 21:33
  • I am having the same problem. Like advised I found the Tor binary inside the Browser bundle. I ran it using cmd. I did tor -h. Nothing happened. No error. How do I use this? – Denis Apr 21 '15 at 14:18

Just a note, running tor.exe | more gives you console output of tor

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Tor expert bundle is primarily for people who use Internet Explorer or an alternate browser, also, you must manually configure it as follows:

  • extract the files in a new directory (name it whatever you want)
  • Create a shortcut to the Tor.exe file on your desktop
  • Open Internet Explorer and go to Tools-Internet Options-Connections, then open the Lan Settings tab

  • Uncheck Auto detect settings and check "use proxy for Lan connection"

  • Click advanced button, and setup ONLY the SOCKS with , port 9050
  • Save and close
  • Click the Tor.exe shortcut on your desktop (it will open in the background)
  • Open Internet Explorer, and Tor will work.
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    "expert bundle is primarily for people who use Internet Explorer" - as long as it is hard to imagine such an expert using Tor with IE, I assume the basic idea of Tor developers was about those non-techies sitting on IE could accommodate expert bundle, right? – Van Jone Nov 16 '15 at 15:08
  • 2
    P.S. And yes, I do expect some expert still might come here and report that "he's happily and securely uses IE", well just to prove the point.:-) – Van Jone Nov 16 '15 at 15:15

Try to install tor as NT service https://www.torproject.org/docs/faq.html.en#NTService

For you

G:\TOR-\Tor\tor.exe --service install -options -f G:/TOR-

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