I may sound pretty stupid....
 

but its not a difficult task for me. I didnt know where to post this, figured this would be the best forum.

How does a proxy work? I know nothing about computers, well, almost nothing, so i was just curious.

The HTTP request that gets sent to a web server has the address of the web server in it. When you use a proxy, the message instead gets directed to the proxy server, which opens a connection to the server listed in the URL in the HTTP request. It then basicly acts as an open redirect.

so then a proxy can pretty much be used as a wall to hide behind? and if so, can you still trace through a proxy?

It depends on the proxy. Most IP tracking systems don't seem to try to follow past proxies, however.

hmm, ok WW, thx. I just D/L a Proxy prog from IOWNJOO.com, and I'm realizing the uses for proxies. thx alot tho.