What Am I Downloading?

[ChiangMaiThai]

All day today the DU meter has been showing that I am downloading and uploading. But I have no programs running. It usually goes for a few minutes a time, stops and starts up again later. Its not a virus update as an icon appears for that.

Any ideas?

[Phil Conners]

Antivirus updates? Automatic program updates? Windows updates? Virus you don't know about?

[triplegee]

You could start with looking in your prcoess list (CTRL-ALT-Delete) and checking for things that you don't recognise. You can also do a google search on what's listed if you are not sure.

Make sure you run Ad-aware & Spybot on a regular basis - links to both have been posted here many times.

If need more help let us know!!

[caughtintheact]

If it's not malware, it might be WinXP SP2.

If you are sure it is not SP2, is it possible that you have some malwarethat is sending information from your PC to someone else?

You can find lists of running processes at www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php and www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm.

Have you done a virus scan in addition to scanning with Spybot and Adaware?

Dop you have a firewall installed? You might be able to tell what is downloading (or uploading) from the logs.

[rss]

I could be wrong but I think someoen may be using you PC as a zombie. Turn off XP firewall and use ZoneAlarm and set it so all programs have to ask your permission to connect to the net.

You can find out about zombies the PC kind here:

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116841,00.asp

But don't be alarmed. It could also be SP2 doing incremental update. But I don't think SP2 need to upload much if any.

[francois]

hi'

pc's with a low connection are rarely used as zombies ... but sometime one just need a

relay ... so, you might have noticed a great load of transmissions through yours ...

but itcould be anything else like Sp2 as it has been mentionned ...

did you turn on automatic-update?

check the processes ... like it as been said ...

have you a leakless firewall?

if yes try to lock the internet access and see what happen... if nothing wrong you should have a message telling you "this program try to access internet ... but can't" like an update ...

tell us more

cheers

francois

[stumonster]

what OS are you running?

spybot search & destroy and adaware....updated every 2-4 weeks.

then run a (free ) firewall like zonealarm so you can see what is asking for access.

[loong]

Do you have MSN Messenger?

Could it be checking for contacts online?

[grayhat]

Type netstat -a from a command prompt or download tcpview

[astral]

Are you running a firewall?

I recommend Zonealarm .

The free version is fine and will show you exactly which programmes are

accessing the net, and protect you from unwanted intrusion.

It is amazing how many unathorised attempts there are on my machine each day.

[ChiangMaiThai]

Thanks for all the replies. Along with uploading and downloading heavy amounts, my computer has started freezing and applications can run for an hour before they crash (not responding). So I've taken it to a shop and we'll see what they can do.

Running XP.

I have updated McAfee, but it won't open to scan for viruses.

I ran spybot and the other spyware killer mentioned here, but they found nothing except for the usual cookies. Although, neither has been updated for many months.

I have a free firewall set to normal. Usually it asks me if I want to allow x program to connect to the internet all the time, but whatever is using my connection now isn't asking. When I set the firewall to block all, no message comes up informing me that x program cannot access the internet. When i return setting to normal. it resumes uploading and downloading.

When I press ctrl alt del as its uploading and downloading, it shows no applications running.

Its not messenger. Its not an antivirus update as it only updates every so often and there is an icon showing me what's happening.

I don't XP set to automatic updates.

Anyway, hopefully the shop will be able to figure it out. If not, I'll be back.

[Richard W]

Please come back either way.

[Phil Conners]

Thanks for all the replies. Along with uploading and downloading heavy amounts, my computer has started freezing and applications can run for an hour before they crash (not responding). So I've taken it to a shop and we'll see what they can do.

Running XP.

I have updated McAfee, but it won't open to scan for viruses.

I ran spybot and the other spyware killer mentioned here, but they found nothing except for the usual cookies. Although, neither has been updated for many months.

I have a free firewall set to normal. Usually it asks me if I want to allow x program to connect to the internet all the time, but whatever is using my connection now isn't asking. When I set the firewall to block all, no message comes up informing me that x program cannot access the internet. When i return setting to normal. it resumes uploading and downloading.

When I press ctrl alt del as its uploading and downloading, it shows no applications running.

Its not messenger. Its not an antivirus update as it only updates every so often and there is an icon showing me what's happening.

I don't XP set to automatic updates.

Anyway, hopefully the shop will be able to figure it out. If not, I'll be back.

Several virii make your PC react exactly as you say, including not letting antivirus software run. Congratulation on your decision to do something about it and not let your PC be part of THE SPAM PROBLEM

[the scouser]

I had a trojan start page and found this spyware forum useful.

Scouse.

[ChiangMaiThai]

Got it back from the shop and it now seems to be okay. They said it had 51 different spyware applications.

I am running constantly updated McAfee VirusScan and Sygate personal firewall.

I guess that's not enough.

[Highwayman]

I guess that's not enough.

Not for stopping spyware. Need to keep Spybot and Ad-aware updated and run them often. Also download SpywareBlaster and WinPatrol, both free programs that will help stop spyware installing itself on your PC in the first place. Better still, use Firefox in place of Internet Explorer.

[caughtintheact]

In addition to Highwayman's accurate points, I also strongly recommend the following: (Free anti-spyware programs are fine, but keep in mind that paid for versions often (altho not always) are put out by larger organizations, and are thus likely to be updated more frequently and have a lifespan longer than those put out by individuals or very small organizations. In addition, some anti-spyware programs are merely scanners, but do not block anything. They find spyware after it is on your PC. Spyware Blaster and Spyware guard are two examples of programs that block spyware. Also, a number of the programs find false positives from time to time, in other words their detection is faulty (perhaps intentionally, perhaps not), and make you think you have spyware when you do not. This is why you need a number of them.

Pest Patrol (If you don't want to buy it, then at least periodically run the pest scan you can find on their web site www.pestpatrol.com). The largest spyare/adware database I've seen (Paid)

Webroot Spysweeper www.webroot.com (Paid)

BHO Demon http://www.DefinitiveSolutions.com (Free)

Spyare Guard www.wildersecurity.net/spyguard.html or www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html (Free)

Spoofstick www.corestreet.com/spoofstick/ tells you what web site you are really on. (Free)

HijackThis at www.spywareinfo.com or www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html (Free) (Most people need to post the log results of a scan on a forum to determine what the results mean)

CWSShredder www.spywareinfo.com or www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html (Free)

I use all of the above, and rarely get any spyware, but I stay away from sites that are concerned with porn, gambling, etc.

[rss]

They said it had 51 different spyware applications.

Did they give you a volume discount?

Sorry, ChiangMaiThai, just couldn't resist.

But seriously, an anti-virus and a firewall are useless against spyware if you install them yourself. How? By having Java, JavaScript and ActiveX enabled and using IE to surf.

Don't use IE. Use Opera or Mozilla and don't ever, ever enable JavaScript for *any* reason. Java is safe in these browsers. (You can make IE safe for Java by replacing MS Java with Sun Java, but that's another topic).

And don't load any programs - free or otherwise (Panthip) - unless you're absolutely sure it's safe.

If a site deosn't work in Opera or Mozilla without having to enable JavaScript, ask yourself if you really, really need to get into that site. If the answer is yes (Hotmail or Internet banking, for example) then, and only then use IE. Otherwise, just skip it.

If you follow these rules, you will never get infected by anything. I know because in the 15 odd years I have been using PC's, I have never been infected by any malware. And that is not to brag.

[manutoo]

I have Mozilla Firefox with Javascript enabled since a few months, and it's ok, I never had problem so far (I'm running Adware & Spybot on a regular basis).

But maybe it's just coz I'm not surfing on that bad luxurious websites that destroy ur computer with Javascript !

No seriously, Javascript is ok, don't worry ...