Leeching program?

[zedzed77]

Recently, I received a notice that my bandwidth has already hit the 75% mark. My billing cycle starts on the 22nd so given that it is only one half of the month that has elapsed I went to check what one of my computers were doing.

What I found out is that even though I turned off all programs, the computer still appears to be downloading data. This particular computer was recently reformatted with XP Pro so I know that this was quite recent. I did a check of any spyware/antivirus programs but with no luck. I'm sure that these programs will have an updated definition file for me to use, but I want to know if anyone has experienced anything similar and what to look for.

Thanks.

 

[thewheelman]

Do you use Torrents, or any other P2P programs?
Do you use Internet Radio or have a AVR that does?

Do you use a router? If so, check the logs for active connections and for other MAC addresses using your wireless connection.

Check Task Manager for running processes.
Run "msconfig", check startup programs and services.

 

[noscrappy]

If you think someone is using your router, just password protect it.

 

[SilentLeviathan]

I assume you're using Rogers. Have you used their online tool for tracking bandwidth? What is your monthly bandwidth allowance?

 

[Radio_Shack]

A great way to trace what's happening on your puter is to use a handy utility called Process Monitor v2.04:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

Download it and run it on your windows pc and it will show you exactly what each program is doing. Can log it and do lots of cool research. Set autoscroll on and watch!!!

I was able to remove a few programs I didn't even know were running.