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#1
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Extraneous Dial-Up Connection Attempts
Extraneous Dial-Up Connection Attempts
I've been experiencing extraneous dial-up connection attempts occurring during start up, shut down, and invoking various applications that don't even require dial-ups. It's particularly evident when using Windows Explorer to open or view Properties of Text files by left or right clicking on them. It brings up the "Connect To" dialog box and commenced dialing up my ISP before I had unchecked its "Connect automatically" box. Now the dialog box just sits there waiting for me to click something on it. Nothing happens with Windows Explorer until the "Connect To" dialog box is dealt with which takes two Cancels before it stops reappearing. Then the prior clicked function in Windows Explorer finally manifests itself (very annoying). Isn't there someplace where you can select NOT to have "Auto-Dial-Up on Demand" when you invoke an application that does require an Internet connection? -- randau Oregon, USA I read and post from the Google Groups web site using a Spam collecting email address that I don't use for anything else. So if someone wants to contact me, please cleanup and use the Spam resistant Email address below. randau2...(at)...proaxis.com |
#2
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In oups.com,
randau had this to say: Isn't there someplace where you can select NOT to have "Auto-Dial-Up on Demand" when you invoke an application that does require an Internet connection? Well, you could set the computer to not dial at all but that defeats the purpose and doesn't clean up what I suspect is the underlying problem here. I suspect malware of some type given the description that you've given us. Maybe a trojan? Maybe spyware? Download, update, and scan with an anti-virus application. Both AVG and AntiVir are free for personal use if I recall. I don't know of a specific anti-trojan scanner that's free. Download, update, and scan with AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy. Those are the two best free ones out there as Microsoft's Anti-Spyware beta doesn't work on 9x or ME I don't believe. In both the above cases try your scan in safe mode without networking and make sure that System Restore has been disabled. After the scan is complete reboot to regular mode and scan again. If the system comes up clean on the second scan turn system restore back on and make a new restore point. With what you've said I'm inclined to make my first guess for the behavior as it being some sort of malware and that's where I'd begin. And while you could probably stop the dialing that wouldn't do anything about keeping your system clean, secure, and stable. Galen -- "My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation." -- Sherlock Holmes |
#3
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Most probably you have an Autoupdate of some kind that wants to connect
and update. Find out which one(s) it is and uncheck "Autoupdate"(or whatever) at the programs Options/Settings. Rick randau wrote: Extraneous Dial-Up Connection Attempts I've been experiencing extraneous dial-up connection attempts occurring during start up, shut down, and invoking various applications that don't even require dial-ups. It's particularly evident when using Windows Explorer to open or view Properties of Text files by left or right clicking on them. It brings up the "Connect To" dialog box and commenced dialing up my ISP before I had unchecked its "Connect automatically" box. Now the dialog box just sits there waiting for me to click something on it. Nothing happens with Windows Explorer until the "Connect To" dialog box is dealt with which takes two Cancels before it stops reappearing. Then the prior clicked function in Windows Explorer finally manifests itself (very annoying). Isn't there someplace where you can select NOT to have "Auto-Dial-Up on Demand" when you invoke an application that does require an Internet connection? -- randau Oregon, USA I read and post from the Google Groups web site using a Spam collecting email address that I don't use for anything else. So if someone wants to contact me, please cleanup and use the Spam resistant Email address below. randau2...(at)...proaxis.com |
#4
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Rick T wrote:
Most probably you have an Autoupdate of some kind that wants to connect and update. Find out which one(s) it is and uncheck "Autoupdate"(or whatever) at the programs Options/Settings. I disabled everything in the Scheduled Tasks folder which included Norton's Auto-LiveUpdate dialer and it had NO effect on stopping the extraneous attempts to dial-up. The only thing that did stop it was to select "Never dial a connection" in Dial-Up Networking Properties. Now the only way it'll dial-up is for me to invoke it manually from a quick launch shortcut. |
#5
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Galen,
I run both Norton AntiVirus and AdAware spyware scans on a regular basis. But, thanks for your reply anyway. (see my reply to Rick) -- randau |
#6
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randau wrote:
Rick T wrote: Most probably you have an Autoupdate of some kind that wants to connect and update. Find out which one(s) it is and uncheck "Autoupdate"(or whatever) at the programs Options/Settings. I disabled everything in the Scheduled Tasks folder which included Norton's Auto-LiveUpdate dialer and it had NO effect on stopping the extraneous attempts to dial-up. Hmm... what about Start/Programs/Startup folder or Start/Run/msconfig.exe |Startup tab anything in there? You could have a virus or spythingie happening. What's your anti-malware stuff say ? Rick |
#7
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On 5 Mar 2005 11:31:37 -0800, "randau"
I run both Norton AntiVirus and AdAware spyware scans on a regular basis. But, thanks for your reply anyway. You say that as if this excludes the possibility of active malware. Hah! But seriously, folks... ;-) The behaviour you describe sounds as if the integration point is most likely to be within the Explorer shell. The best tool to enumerate and reversably disable such integrations / intrusions is Shell Extension Viewer... I'll Google that for you: http://freehost14.websamba.com/nirso...s/shexview.zip I have a hunch you might find it's NAV itself (or its LiveUpdate component) that is the problem here. You can also do these tests, and report back: - Safe Mode Cmd Only - Safe Mode - Normal Mode with all startup items suppressed in MSConfig ---------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - Cats have 9 lives, which makes them ideal for experimentation! ---------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - |
#8
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randau wrote:
I disabled everything in the Scheduled Tasks folder which included Norton's Auto-LiveUpdate dialer and it had NO effect on stopping the extraneous attempts to dial-up. Rick wrote: Hmm... what about Start/Programs/Startup folder or Start/Run/msconfig.exe |Startup tab anything in there? I disabled everything in the MSconfig.exe Startup tab with still no effect on the extraneous dialups. I think I can live with the "Never dial a connection" option selected and just manually invoke a Dialup from my quick launch shortcut when needed. You could have a virus or spythingie happening. What's your anti-malware stuff say ? I run Norton AntiVirus with automatic LiveUpdates and a manual LiveUpdate and disk scan every week. I also run an AdAware spyware disk scan periodically. Though, Norton has caught a number of email viruses, its disk scans have been clean. AdAware has caught some spyware and regularly catches tracking cookies on subsequent disk scans. That's all. -- randau |
#9
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cquirke wrote:
I have a hunch you might find it's NAV itself (or its LiveUpdate component) that is the problem here. You can also do these tests, and report back: - Safe Mode Cmd Only - Safe Mode - Normal Mode with all startup items suppressed in MSConfig I disabled everything in the MSconfig.exe Startup tab with still no effect on the extraneous dialups. I don't understand the difference between the two Safe Mode items above (I've not run Safe Mode before). |
#10
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randau wrote:
randau wrote: I disabled everything in the Scheduled Tasks folder which included Norton's Auto-LiveUpdate dialer and it had NO effect on stopping the extraneous attempts to dial-up. Rick wrote: Hmm... what about Start/Programs/Startup folder or Start/Run/msconfig.exe |Startup tab anything in there? I disabled everything in the MSconfig.exe Startup tab with still no effect on the extraneous dialups. I think I can live with the "Never dial a connection" option selected and just manually invoke a Dialup from my quick launch shortcut when needed. You could have a virus or spythingie happening. What's your anti-malware stuff say ? I run Norton AntiVirus with automatic LiveUpdates and a manual LiveUpdate and disk scan every week. I also run an AdAware spyware disk scan periodically. Though, Norton has caught a number of email viruses, its disk scans have been clean. AdAware has caught some spyware and regularly catches tracking cookies on subsequent disk scans. That's all. -- randau Is it Windows Update, maybe ? Doesn't sound like you have a malware infection... what firewall are you using and do you think you could trap the outbound connection attempt with it ? Rick |
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