How to setup OpenVPN on Windows 7

Windows 7 OpenVPN Instructions

Before You Get Started...

Installation of VPNReactor requires administrative privileges on your computer. If you don't already have administrative access on your computer, this may be provided by your IT department.

If you have installation questions or need to reach VPNReactor technical support, please email us at the PRO email listed on the bottom of this page.

How to Install

• To download the OpenVPN Windows installer, visit the OpenVPN downloads page here.
  • This is a simple, user-friendly GUI-based OpenVPN client software package for configuration and management on Windows OS.
• Click Setup a new connection or network
• Choose Connect to a workplace then Next
  • You may encounter a Security Warning screen: "Do you want to run this software?"
  • If you see the Security Warning screen, click Run to run the software.
• The Setup Wizard prompt will appear. Click Next to continue.
• The OpenVPN license agreement and terms appear. Click I Agree to continue.
• The component selection dialog appears. Leave all components checked with their default settings and click Next.
• Select your destination folder and click Install.
  • Note the Destination Folder location during install (usually C:\Program Files\OpenVPN or C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenVPN)
• When the installation is complete, click Next.
• The wizard will notify you of the completion of the installation and prompt you to click Finish.
• Download the VPNReactor Windows configuration ZIP.
• https://www.vpnreactor.com/OpenVPN/OpenVPN-StealthVPN-Windows.vpnreactor.zip
• Click Open.
• Extract the files from the configuration ZIP into the config folder in the OpenVPN destination folder referenced in step 7. By default, it will be C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config or C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenVPN\config).
  • Click File.
  • Click Extract All.
  • A setup wizard window will open: "Welcome to the Compressed (zipped) Folders Extraction Wizard". Click Next.
  • "Select a Destination" prompt will appear. Click Browse.
  • Locate the Destination Folder referred to in step 7, and find the config folder within it. Click Next to begin extraction.
  • Click Finish.
• Find the OpenVPN GUI icon on your desktop, right-click on it, and choose Properties from the context menu.
• Click on Change settings for all users.
• In the Properties window, check Run this program as an administrator.
• Click OK to close the Properties window.
• Click OK to close the OpenVPN GUI Properties window.

How to Connect

• Find the OpenVPN GUI icon on your desktop and double-click it to launch OpenVPN.
• In the taskbar tray, right click on the OpenVPN GUI icon.
• Find the site to connect to from the menu, and choose Connect from the site's submenu.
• Enter your Login and Password when prompted and click OK.
• The OpenVPN GUI icon in the tray will turn green once the secure connection is established.

How to Disconnect

• Right click on the OpenVPN GUI icon in the taskbar.
• Find the site you are connected to, and choose Disconnect from the site's submenu.
• The OpenVPN GUI icon in the tray will turn red once the disconnection is complete.

Video Tutorial

 

How to install desktop client on Windows

This howto will help guide you through the installation process of the Desktop Client.

Step 1:
Launch the msi installer for the client and click next:

Step 2:
Read and accept the License and click next:

Step 3:
Choose the location to install the program files for the Desktop Client and click Next:


Step 4:
You are now ready to install the Desktop Client, click Install to proceed:

Step 5:
Please wait while the Desktop Client Installs:





Step 6:
You may see a warning asking you to install the Desktop Clients TAP Adapter, check the box that says "Always trust software from "OpenVPN Technologies, Inc." and click Install:

Step 7:
The Desktop Client is now installed, click Finish to complete the installation:

What is Dynamic DNS?

A dynamic DNS host is a service that provides you with a static hostname (like "user.dyndns.org" or
"user.no-ip.org").
Its main advantage is that you then can connect to the DNS hostname instead of your IP; this makes sense especially since IPs are usually dynamic and change on every reconnection.
This is very useful if you run server software on your computer, like a web- or FTP-server.
Once registered at a dynamic DNS host service, you can either configure your router to automatically update the DNS host with your current IP - or run a client application on your computer that watches for IP changes and tells the DNS service to update the hostname.

Still not sure how this works and what it can be used for? No problem, here some examples:

Example 1: Dynamic DNS on a home computer
You probably have a dynamic IP assigned by your internet provider, which means that it changes on each reconnection. Many ISPs even have a 24h auto-disconnect, so that your IP changes at least every 24 hours. But even if you have a static IP - once you connect to the VPN, your machine is using a different IP, the VPN IP.

So in any situation where you need to access your home computer, you will have the problem that you don't know your computers current IP unless you manually check it at IP-verifying websites like http://geoip.hidemyass.com

That's where dynamic DNS comes in - you can either configure your router to refresh the dynamic DNS hostname regularly with your current IP (if supported by your router), or you simply run a dynamic DNS client application on your computer which does the same job.

Now once you need to access your computer externally, e.g. to stream media to your smartphone or to provide access to your files to colleagues, you won't need to check for your computers current IP - you just connect to it using the dynamic DNS hostname.

Example 2: Dynamic DNS on a server
You have a VPS (virtual private server) or a dedicated server on which you are connecting to the HMA! Pro VPN service.
Your server has a static IP (e.g. 5.199.4.10) through which you are accessing the server itself and server-software running on it.

Now if you connect to the VPN on your server, it will not be accessible through its normal IP anymore and can only be reached through the VPN IP. Since you don't know the VPN IP before you connect to the VPN or you might get logged out from your server once the VPN connection has been established, you might have some trouble accessing your server. That's where dynamic DNS will help: A dynamic DNS client application is running on your server which updates the dynamic DNS hostname you registered (e.g. user.no-ip.org) every few seconds with your servers current IP.
That means as long as your server is not connected to the VPN, the DNS hostname will point to its normal IP (e.g. 5.199.4.10).

Once you connect to the VPN, the client application will refresh the hostname with the VPN IP (e.g. 184.59.49.120) so that it points there. This ensures that you will always be able to connect to your server, independent of what IP it is currently using and accessible through.You can even set a normal domain to point to the dynamic DNS hostname (using a CNAME DNS entry), so that your domain or subdomain always leads to the correct IP.


We recommend to use the No-IP dynamic DNS service, it's free:

• No-IP (http://www.no-ip.org)

Lists of other dynamic DNS host services can be found here:

• http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Protocols/DNS/DNS_Providers/Dynamic_DNS/
• http://noeld.com/services.htm
• http://dnslookup.me/dynamic-dns/

Why VPS is related to VPN service?

Common problems and solutions with using VPN on a VPS are:

Loosing connection

If you loose connection to your VPS  or can't access it when the connection to our VPN service has been made, this happens because its IP changes and it's not accessible through it's old IP anymore.
You can then only connect to it using the VPN IP. It's recommended to setup a dynamic DNS host, like from no-ip.org or dyndns.org. Then you can connect to the static dyndns hostname (like myvps.no-ip.org) instead of the changing IP.
Necessary steps:
1. Register a Dynamic DNS host @ http://www.no-ip.org
2. Download the No-IP client for your operating system, install and configure it for your DNS host
3. Now the DynDNS-client will automatically refresh your hostname (e.g. myhost.no-ip.org) with your current IP.
4. When connecting now to your VPS, connect to the hostname instead of its IP.

• For more info about dynamic DNS services, see our article Dynamic DNS

Insufficient privileges

When experiencing problems with installing/connecting to our HMA Pro VPN service from VPS, make sure you have administrator privileges, and installing unsigned drivers is allowed.
Besides using our HMA Pro VPN client for Windows, you can also

- try our alternative client -> http://hidemyass.com/openvpn
- create a manual PPTP connection ( http://newmastervpn.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-create-pptp-connection-on.html / http://vpn.hidemyass.com/vpncontrol/pptp/xp.html )
All available connection methods and instructions for various devices and operating systems can be found through the article Connection Instructions.

Settings on the host machine

For having VPN connections working correctly on virtual machines, there are certain settings required on the host machine.
When having connection problems that can't be fixed, contact your server hosters support to check if all requirements for using VPN have been met.

Summer Vacation Special from HMA!

HMA has offered amazing news; for the whole of August as the company is running a ‘Summer Vacation Special’ where all of their VPN packages will be discounted.

During the last holiday sale, 12 month package from HMA aka HideMyAss VPN had received tremendous responses from their users, and it has certainly inspired the marketing team of HMA to go with the Discount offer again for this summer! Being a regular VPN user, this will be a great opportunity, especially those who look for a long term usage of VPN service.               

Duration of summerspecial offer from HMA

This special offer will remain until 31^st august. So what are you waiting for? You must check all the suitable VPN packages until the sale finishes! It’s a great opportunity for sure as you can reduce the service charge in a big amount!

Summer VacationSale 2013 of HMA in Details

If you like to order for just 1 month, you can save up to 13% which is huge! If you look for a half yearly offer, you can save 42% which is staggering discount in any point of view. If you look for a yearly offer, you can save 56% from its original price! Detailed information is given below. Have a look! =>

Connect to our VPN service to anonymously encrypt your internet activity from prying eyes. All applications on your computer that utilize your internet connection will become anonymous with just a click of a button; no technical experience is required due to our easy to use VPNsoftware. Enjoy internet freedom and anonymity knowing that your sensitive web traffic is securely hidden behind 53'500+ IP addresses located in 110 locations in 61 countries. 

How to setup PPTP for Android of HMA!

Android instructions

On this page you will find setup instructions for setting up PPTP on your Android OS.

1. Create a new VPN connection

Press the Home icon, press Menu, and tap Settings. Tap Wireless & networks and then tap VPN settings.

Tap Add VPN.

Select PPTP VPN.

Login to your control panel http://vpn.hidemyass.com and navigate to your PPTP page to find server details. Fill in VPN details such as VPN name, VPN server, etc. Remember your PPTP password is different and shown in your control panel.

2. Connecting to the VPN

Press the Home icon, press Menu, and tap Settings
Tap Wireless & networks
Tap VPN settings (figure 2 above)
The VPN connections you have added are now listed
Tap the VPN you wish to connect to
A dialog box will open asking for your credentials, enter them and touch connect
When connected to a VPN, you will see an ongoing notification in the Status bar on your HTC Desire. If you should get disconnected, you will receive a notification and an option to go back to the VPN settings.

3. Connecting to the VPN

Simply open the notifications panel at the top of the screen on your HTC Desire and click on the VPN notification, then tap disconnect.

How to Setup PPTP for HP TouchPad of HMA!

HP TouchPad instructions

On this page you will find setup instructions for setting up PPTP on your HP TouchPad.

1. Install the "PPTP VPN Plugin"

Navigate to HP App Catalog and search for "PPTP VPN Plugin", then install it.

2. Add VPN Profile

Navigate to HP Launcher and to the "SETTINGS" panel and tap the "VPN" icon

Tap "Add profile"

Select "PPTP" from "CONNECTION TYPE"
Login to http://hidemyass.com/vpn and navigate to your PPTP page to find server details.
Enter a server IP address into the "VPN SERVER" field, tap "Next".

Now you need to enter your username and PPTP password (this can be found on the PPTP page your PTTP password is different to your VPN account password) within this screen, ensure only "MSCHAPv2" is checked within authentication methods.

Hit connect... you should now be connected.
If successful, a tick should be adjacent to the profile name and a little VPN icon in the top right corner.