Strange activity when I log onto the internet

[curiousguy44]

On my XP machine, using ZoneAlarm, I dialed onto the 'Net. As soon as I logged on, without even launching any applications, I started receiving lots of bytes. Ultimately, I rec'd about 300K. Can anyone give me a clue as to how to figure out what's going on?

I'm a reasonably sophisticated user. I checked to see what processes or programs were running at the time, and the only ones I could find all looked to be OK--standard programs and processes started up at launch. As a matter of fact, some weeks ago I went through the processes launched at startup and disabled most of them. And I don't see any of the classic spyware/adware/malware/scumware programs listed anywhere on my machine.

So where are these 300K bytes coming from? Is this related somehow to XP checking automatically for updates etc?

 

[greenflash]

you shouldnt think these 300 kbytes as a problem.Maybe ur XP Update Service or Firewall Service looking for an update or sth else.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Could also be your Antivirus program updating!
Or your friendly neighbourhood-virus just found it's way into your PC!

 

[curiousguy44]

I checked all processes running (with a 3-finger salute) and none look bad. And I do have ZoneAlarm running. And earlier I manually scanned all the folders for anything that was obviously nasty-looking and found nothing. And ZoneAlarm appears to be properly blocking unauthorized traffic in and out of the machine.

I suspect strongly that this might be that accursed automatic update, or related to it. That explanation offers the most sense.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

If that happens at every boot, switch Windoze Automatic Updates OFF, just make sure you do it manually at least once a week.

 

[curiousguy44]

It was in fact auto update

I decided to log on & let it rip, so I did it last nite, and it turned out to be SP2, which had never been applied to this machine. I halted most of the processes launched at startup, but left this one running.