Background programs may be accessing the Interenet??

Question

I have a relatively new Dell Dimension 9150.  My Internet provider bills on bandwidth usage.  This has never been a problem before, but lately, we are getting dinged for twice the bandwidth we used to use.  I suspect it has to do with one or more programs accessing the Internet in the background on a continual basis.  Suspects are MusicMatch, Windows Media Player and Google Desktop.   I tried to disable the indexing function of Google Desktop, and I'm pretty sure I was sucessful.  That leaves MusicMatch or Windows Media Player (I have v. 11)... or maybe some other program I'm not aware of.   Can anyone help me? Patti

europa303 · Answer

Have you checked the running programs by clicking Start, Run, enter Msconfig, enter, then click the Startup tab and see what is starting with each reboot of the computer.  Any reference to programs such as Word, Media Player and Google can be unchecked.  Leave Antivirus and other critical items alone.

JRosenfeld · Answer

Also, check each app to see whether it has an automatic updates setting. Some are wont to look for updates every few minutes!. Any you find, turn them off (ecept, perhaps Antivirus, anti malware apps, but even for those I use manual check for updates once a day).

pmikkelsen · Answer

I checked the Startup to see what programs load. Here is the list:

ehtray -- Microsoft Media Center

NvCpl.dll -- library file for NVIDIA display adapter

jusched -- Java update scheduler

stsystra -- SigmaTel C-Major Audio Tray App

iaanotif -- Intel Matrix Storage Manager

DMXLauncher -- Dell\Media Experience

qttask -- Apple QuickTime Tray Icon

mm_tray -- MusicMatch Jukebox Traybar

isuspm -- InstallShield Automatic Updater

issch -- InstallShield Update Service

ccApp -- Norton AV

UrlLstCk -- Norton URL Checker

DLACTRLW -- Sonic Solutions Drive Letter Access

GoogleDesktop

Hpztsb09 -- Hewlett Packard Taskbar Utility

HPWuSchd2 -- Hewlett Packard Software Update

hpcmpmgr -- HP Component Manager

hpotdd01 -- HP Digital Imaging

opware32 -- ScanSoft OmniPage Opware

mimboot -- Musicmatch Jukebox Startup

realsched -- RealNetworks Scheduler

Media_Detect -- Re: Corel Photo Album 6

DSAgnt -- Dell Support AUAgent

msmsgs -- MSN Messenger

ctfmon -- Alternative User Input Svcs (MSOffice)

GoogleToolbarNotifier

Adobe Reader Speed Launch

AOL 9.0 Tray Icon

Billminder -- Quicken Billminder

Digital Line Detect (DLG.exe) -- Re: BVRP Phone Tools software suite

Microsoft Office (Office toolbar)

Quicken Schedule Update

Quicken Startup

Right now, I'm not so concerned with stuff using resources. I want to figure out why my bandwidth usage shot up in the last few months.

Can I keep mimboot from loading at startup without screwing up MusicMatch, should I choose to use it?

I plan to disable all the Quicken & AOL processes.

I see updaters for Java, HP, Real, and InstallShield. If I stop these from loading at startup, how do I check for updates on Java and InstallShield manually?

JRosenfeld · Answer

For Java: control panel, java applet, update tab. Uncheck 'check for updates Automatically'. Click Update now for manual update check.

For Installshield, see if you have an applet for it in control panel (could be called 'Installshield update manager' or 'Software Updates' or something similar), if you open that, depending on the version it will either immediately check for updates for apps it is managing. or it may have a check for updates button. You can set it to manual also in its options or settings. On my system install shield update manager looks for updates for two apps, neither of which has had any updates for months (one is no longer the latest version of the soiftware and will never have any updates again). So it's pretty useless for Installshield to be checking for updates daily, weekly or even monthly.

If you don't have an applet for it in control panel, then depending on which app is using it, you can check for updates from within that app (usually help menu check for updates). As I said many apps have option to set autoupdate off and use manually check for updates from within the app.

Message Edited by JRosenfeld on 03-24-2007 03:00 AM

pmikkelsen · Answer

Hi   I checked Control Panel, although it took me a while to find the Java applet, I did, once I changed to the 'classic view'.  Java is set up to check for updates once a month, at 1AM.  InstallShield, as on your computer, is configured to check for updates on two applications, Sonic Update Manager and Corel Photo Album.  It checks once a month, and hasn't found an update since we got the computer, last August.  So, I don't think either of these are my problem.   I wonder if it has to do with media programs, like Real Player, MusicMatch and Windows Media Player.  Are they going out on the Internet to download links to media, news, etc -- and if so, how can I stop it?  I am out of my element with these programs.  I need help!

JRosenfeld · Answer

All automatic update checks create traffic. It all adds up.   Real player will also do so unless you've disabled all the automatic services and message center in Tools/preferences. Otherwise it will only generate traffic if you use it to stream from the internet.   WMP checks for updates at intervals that you can set to monthly (WMP tools, options, player tab) and may try to find and download some codec that you might need to play some file for which you don't already have the codec (unlikely) or to find the media information for a music file you are playing in it. These settings can also be disabled, look throught the platyer and privacy tabs of the options. Otherwise it would only create traffic if you are using a media store or streaming video, radio or audio.   Don't have MusicMatch, but I expect it would be similar.

GreyMack · Answer

An indication of activity level and duration may be seen on the network tab of the Windows Task Manager and it's System Tray icon, and you can use that as an instrument to correlate some of your PC usage with internet activity. There may also be activity lights on a modem or router that could be informative if they are within eyesight while you're using the PC.

A bi-directional firewall like ZoneAlarm may be set to request permission before allowing installed software to initiate any outbound internet connections, and it's animated icon in the system tray may indicate volume and duration of connection activity.

Some internet activity may be automatically initiated on a schedule or by an event that may not be easy to correlate to your immediate PC usage, but instrumentation is available to help you keep an eye on things, and a bi-directional firewall could help you control that activity.

GM

Windows General

Background programs may be accessing the Interenet??

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