Giveaway of the Day Forums

1. 

   Lwaxana
   Member

   I still have dial up. Yes, yes, I know, 20 years behind the apes. Anyway, most software today assumes everyone has an always-on connection and vast amounts of bandwidth so I go on-line and the next thing I know I can't go anywhere because some piece of software is off and running looking for the latest updates - without asking me and without telling me. I hate that! I have changed the option to manual download for most of the big culprits but there are still some that go anyway (some are from GOTD). Is there a piece of software out there (preferably freeware) that will monitor who's going out on its own and tell me, and even better, force it to ask me if now's a good time. I hope I've explained myself well. I'd hunt for it myself if I had any idea what to call it. Thanks

   -josephine

   Posted 16 years ago #
2. 

   Kat
   Member

   Hi Lwaxana,
   I use Comodo Firewall Pro (free edition) and it alerts me whenever a program wants to connect to the internet. I then allow or deny access. It makes it easy to tell which programs "call home" for whatever reason. It's free for personal use and is a very highly rated firewall. Here is the link:
   http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/license_registration.html
   Hope it works for you! Kat

   Posted 16 years ago #
3. 

   alexiussg
   Member

   @Lwaxana - the thread heading sounds like you are looking for a program that tells you what is going on in your computer system rather than asking for a firewall program... so which do you want?

   anyway, i'd like a software that is able to logged down everything a program or several programs does to my computer system- from giving detailed information about where a setup program installs its files on my computer and the changes it makes before rebooting to programs that logs onto the web automatically to register itself.

   is there a program that does this? i'd like to have it! :D

   Posted 16 years ago #
4. 

   Archangel
   Member

   alexiussg, there was one posted a few months back. I can't remember the name of it but it logged everything and the program that caused any action on your pc. I removed it because of the memory it used.
   EDIT: I remember now. It was called "Actual Doc" it did a great job alexiussg.

   I don't think that would help Lwaxana. It appears that he/she is wanting something that notifies and allows the user to authorize or not the program to run to conserve internet usage. So a firewall might be whats best at this time because I don't know of any software that does that kind of job.

   The only other thing I could recommend would be to regulate the programs that are id'd that is updating and remove them from the start menu by using a startup manager. Then the user would have to manually double click whatever to open and update when the user was thru using the internet.

   Posted 16 years ago #
5. 

   Face
   Member

   Lwaxana (a StarTrek fan or just a coincidence?):

   Process Guard will ask permission every time a new program wants to start (which will be all of them in the beginning) or if a program has changed since the last time it started. It also protects against malware. There is a free version and a paid one:

   http://www.diamondcs.com.au/processguard/

   There is another program, called Port Explorer, in the same family - I think by the same people, that monitors all incoming and outgoing traffic - from their page: "...has an intuitive GUI that allows you to quickly see all the network activity your computer is involved in." (which is what you also asked for), which I have not tried:

   http://www.diamondcs.com.au/portexplorer/

   See if these cover your needs.

   Posted 16 years ago #
6. 

   BuBBy
   Teh adnim

   This is sometimes useful: PendMoves v1.1 and MoveFile v1.0

   There are several applications, such as service packs and hotfixes, that must replace a file that's in use and is unable to. Windows therefore provides the MoveFileEx API to rename or delete a file and allows the caller to specify that they want the operation to take place the next time the system boots, before the files are referenced. Session Manager performs this task by reading the registered rename and delete commands from the HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations value.

   This applet dumps the contents of the pending rename/delete value and also reports an error when the source file is not accessible.

   http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/pendmoves.mspx

   Posted 16 years ago #
7. 

   BigThunder1
   Member

   Hi Lwaxana,

   Lots of good ideas and options here, but I think Kat had the best option in the simplest form. A firewall such as Kat suggested would pop up a flag (little window in the corner of your monitor) each time something tried to access the Internet. It allows you to decide weather to allow or deny the action. You'll see a reference on that pop up window as to what file is trying to access the Internet. From that you can research and reference that file (back track) to see what application it's related to and either remove the offending application or change settings to stop the automation in most cases. Not fool proof, but should tell you what's going on for the most part with your system.

   Another way, although time consuming, would be to open the 'Run Box' from your start menu and type "msconfig" in the box then hit OK. This will open the configuration dialog for your system (be careful what you mess with). Click on the startup tab and you will see all the things that start/auto-load when you boot your system. There are check boxes next to each event. You can clear these check boxes to stop that particular file/app from starting. Do this one at a time in an effort to track down which one may be the culprit. Then close the box and restart your PC. Watch things and if your still having trouble, then reopen the dialog as above, check the box you cleared, and chose another to clear and try. It's time consuming and not a 100% guaranty that you'll find what your looking for because not all background services that can be accessing the Internet will be listed or show up there.

   Hope that gives you some direction towards your need to find what's taking up your bandwidth. The other options/software referred to here may be beneficial as well. I haven't tried them so can not comment. I do suggest go with the firewall first and go from there. Good firewalls of this nature can log all the Internet activity/access too so you should be able to review it and figure out what's accessing when. Good luck!

   Regards...

   Edit:
   Here's a free application that will list the processes active in real time called > Process Explorer.

   MS help page to understand system internal processes.

   A list of application utilities to help track things down can be found by clicking > here.

   Posted 16 years ago #
8. 

   Lwaxana
   Member

   Thanks to everyone for your help. I knew that if I posted my question here, as convoluted as it was, I would get some great suggestions and advice. Thanks again.

   -josephine

   Posted 16 years ago #
9. 

   Lwaxana
   Member

   BigThunder1: 2 of the links you posted don't actually link. I found 'Process Explorer' easily enough but I'm having a little difficulty with 'here'. :-)

   Posted 16 years ago #
10. 

    BigThunder1
    Member

    @ Lwaxana:

    Hi. Hmmm...they worked fine just after posting. I'll ask BuBBy or Lee to check and see if it was my mistake or some other. Anyway, below are the raw URL's to the site page(s) which are all relative actually. I just posted links to the separate pages for convenience and to hopefully save you or anyone interested some time searching.

    Main page @ MS Tech Net = http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx

    Utilities list page = http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Processesandthreadsutilities.mspx?wt.svl=featured
    (This page can also be accessed from the "Process Utilities" link on 'main page'. (3rd link down under "Featured Resources").)

    Process Explorer = http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspx
    Alternate for 'Process Explorer' = http://www.mrtech.com/news/messages/5918.html

    Hope these links work for you.

    You are most welcome for my help, and I'm sure I can speak for all here in saying "Your Welcome Anytime"!

    Regards,
    BigThunder1

    Posted 16 years ago #

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