Unauthorized network traffic

[Jim Meehan]

I have a dial-up internet connection and I have noticed
that after I have been logged onto the internet for awhile
that the response slows down. When this occurs, the number
of bytes sent over the line grows in a dramatic fashion. I
am not sending any data when this occurs. If I disconnect
the line, then an instance of sqlserver.exe starts
consuming 99% of the CPU. I have sqlserver installed on
the machine, but I am not running anything at the time.
Before I disconnect the line, the sqlserver.exe instance
is at 0%.

At one time I had installed the Kaza peer-peer software,
but I deinstalled it awhile back. I'm wondering if there
is some process still running on my machine that is
downloading information. How do I identify it and disable
it? When the problem occurs, I have looked at the running
processes in task manager, but there is nothing obvious.

My only way to stop the downloading and the subsequent
sqlserver process consuming the CPU is to reboot the
machine. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Herb Martin]

Try running the free versions of either Outpost firewall or the
ZoneAlarm.

Each will prevent unauthorized outbound traffic and ask you
to confirm if new connections are made either direction.

 

[no one]

you have an instance of SQL server running on this
machine. Make sure you have installed the SQL Server
Service Pack 3a. If not, you might be infected with the
slammer virus. Get the removal tool from Symantec and
run it on your system. If it is there, it will blow it
off and you can then install SQLSP3a. That will probably
take care of the issue.