Comments on: Are your programs tapping the Internet? Here’s how to find out

By: Gilberto Padilha

Gilberto Padilha — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:29:40 +0000

I don't care if an application is trying to access the internet, because my firewall blocks everything, and it will asks first if I want to allow net access to an application. If you use Windows XP, install a third-party firewall, because the built-in firewall doesn't control outbound access. Vista firewall better, but you need to configure it to block outbound access.

By: Bruno

Bruno — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:53:18 +0000

I am with Weylund, there are tools that are meant to do exactly this sort of thing and do it well. If you use e.g. Windows Live OneCare you will be asked when an app wants to access the internet and will have the option of stopping the request.

By: Luis

Luis — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 01:41:27 +0000

how about on XP? I typed in perfmon, but there is no "network" to view. Can anyone let me know where to go on XP? thanks

By: GoodThings2Life

GoodThings2Life — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:17:47 +0000

SysInternals offers two tools that I've always found a bit more helpful... Process Explorer and TCP View. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

By: VictorE

VictorE — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:00:09 +0000

you will need to be a admin of your machine in order to get full access to the network section.

By: Weylund

Weylund — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:13:20 +0000

I dunno about you guys, but my heinous-yet-faithful firewall (ZoneAlarm) notifies me about all incoming / outgoing traffic, and I have to explicitly allow applications access to the network in both directions. Is this not a normal firewall feature?

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:07:54 +0000

Allan, google LMS.exe and then UNS.exe and you'll find that both of those are Intel Management utilities. The first is rated as dangerous because it hides itself.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:03:35 +0000

It should be noted that people who do actually have a network will see all apps talking on the network, not just apps that are connected to the internet.

By: AllanCJ

AllanCJ — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:47:00 +0000

James,
Thanks for that. The trouble is, the information you get isn’t very informative. When I did it, I discovered the following were using the network:

LMS.exe
UNS.exe
System

I’m not sure I’m much the wiser for knowing this. If there was a rogue programme operating, how would I know? It’s likely it would have a cryptic name.

Allan