Category: Windows
by Dennis Faas, infopackets editor
http://www.infopackets.com
Last week, Stan L. Jr. sent in a question which asked what should be done
when a program attempts to suddenly "call home" and request a connection to
the Internet. Recall:
Dear Dennis,
A few days ago, I was using my computer when all the sudden,
I noticed that some program decided that it wanted to access the Internet.
I tried to cancel the request to connect to the Internet, but the bugger
kept coming back asking for a connection. I then decided to try the "3
finger salute" by pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL at the same time to bring
up Task Manager, but no programs were listed here that seemed to be "out of
the ordinary" that might have been attempting to access the Internet.
Is there a program which
can run in the background, keeping track of who is making calls to other
programs like the dialer? Or, does it already exist in W98SE?
- Stan L.
Jr.
My suggestion to Stan was to grab some free software off the 'net which
would tell him which programs are currently running in the background. I
also asked the readers of the Gazette newsletter to send me in their
thoughts on Stan's dilemma.
I received many great suggestions.
About 95% of those who emailed me with a suggestion highly praised
Zone Alarm
-- a free software firewall which tells you which program is attempting to
access the Internet, plus it blocks potential hack attempts.
I also use
Zone Alarm, and completely forgot to mention it in last week's answer, as my
solution was more focused on seeing which programs are actively running in
the background (regardless of whether or not they attempt to access the 'net
at any given moment). I guess it goes to show you that Gazette Readers
are always helpful and "on the ball".
Another excellent program to
consider is Lavasoft's Adaware --
it scans (and cleans) your computer for
Adware and Spyware
programs which frequently attempt to access the Internet without you knowing
about it.
