ZoneAlarm Pro notified me a few minutes ago that Dell Dock was requesting access to the internet.

 

Now, why would Dell Dock, that just sits there, and does nothing but hold shortcuts and macros for my computer's programs be trying to access the intranet?
Worse, what is it really sending?

There is no shortcut that I put in the dock that needs access to the internet/intranet, and there is no auto-checking for update feature either.
Something is very fishy here! Might explain the interruption when connecting to the internet, as that is where Dell Dock complains of errors when trying to load.

 

I have Stardocks's ObjectDock on my laptop, that has the Weather, and never gave any thought of not allowing it access to the internet. But now I am wondering what else is going on here, since Dell's version of the same program (without the Weather add-in) is trying to access the internet.

 

My desktop computer's Ethernet IP is 192.168.1.104, and the Wireless is 192.168.1.107, and Dell Dock wants out on 192.168.1.105 which is my laptop's IP address.
Sounds like a virus or Trojan activity going on here. The program should not be having the need to "reach out" to other computers connected in the home network

 

This might explain for the high internet activity I been seeing, and the numerous attempts at something in my computer trying to access other computers on the home network (which was also linked to freezing issues). We're talking serious numbers of attempts per day, over 100!

 

Description      Dell Dock was temporarily blocked from connecting to the local zone (192.168.1.105). Rating           Medium Date / Time      2009-07-01 17:55:28-6:00 Type             Program Access Program          DellDock.exe Source IP        Destination IP   Direction        Outgoing (connect) Action Taken     Blocked Count            2 Source DNS       Destination DNS  Policy           Personal Policy

 

Now to await a reasonable, and accurate, reply as to why Dell Dock needs access to the internet. I have it blocked at the present times, and it's tried to connect to the internet/private network numerous times so far.

Might have to uninstall Dell Dock, this is too suspicious to dismiss