Access oddity - right newsgroup?

[JimL]

I just got a cable ISP (Comcast) a few days ago, and find some weirdities
going on. After solving some of them I have a real puzzler.

I can be going along just fine, surfing the internet, reading a newsgroup,
checking email - when out of nowhere my dial-up will dial up!

Not having all the bugs out nor the email all set, I haven't stopped dial-up
yet. But I'd really like to find out what keeps dialing the land line. I
seem to be able to run on both at once - sort of. I found my anti-virus
program was updating awful slowly. I looked at the sys tray and had a
phone connection running?! Same with something on my browser. It got slow
and I found the dial-up connected.

I don't even know where to look or for what. Altho I seem to recall some
place seeing a Never Dial setting. Haven't found where.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Malke]

I just got a cable ISP (Comcast) a few days ago, and find some weirdities
going on. After solving some of them I have a real puzzler.

I can be going along just fine, surfing the internet, reading a newsgroup,
checking email - when out of nowhere my dial-up will dial up!

Not having all the bugs out nor the email all set, I haven't stopped
dial-up
yet. But I'd really like to find out what keeps dialing the land line. I
seem to be able to run on both at once - sort of. I found my anti-virus
program was updating awful slowly. I looked at the sys tray and had a
phone connection running?! Same with something on my browser. It got
slow and I found the dial-up connected.

I don't even know where to look or for what. Altho I seem to recall some
place seeing a Never Dial setting. Haven't found where.

The very first thing to do is scan for viruses/malware. Be thorough and do
not skip the prep work:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

This may solve the issue entirely. The "never dial a connection" can be
found in Control Panel>Internet Properties>Connection. You will see where
you can set "never dial a connection". Do so but don't neglect to scan for
malware anyway.

Malke

 

[Lem]

I just got a cable ISP (Comcast) a few days ago, and find some weirdities
going on. After solving some of them I have a real puzzler.

I can be going along just fine, surfing the internet, reading a newsgroup,
checking email - when out of nowhere my dial-up will dial up!

Not having all the bugs out nor the email all set, I haven't stopped dial-up
yet. But I'd really like to find out what keeps dialing the land line. I
seem to be able to run on both at once - sort of. I found my anti-virus
program was updating awful slowly. I looked at the sys tray and had a
phone connection running?! Same with something on my browser. It got slow
and I found the dial-up connected.

I don't even know where to look or for what. Altho I seem to recall some
place seeing a Never Dial setting. Haven't found where.

Thanks for any help.

In IE > Tools > Internet Options [or Control Panel > Internet Options]

Click "Connection" tab and select "Never dial a connection" then OK.

 

[JimL]

The very first thing to do is scan for viruses/malware. Be thorough and do
not skip the prep work:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

This may solve the issue entirely. The "never dial a connection" can be
found in Control Panel>Internet Properties>Connection. You will see where
you can set "never dial a connection". Do so but don't neglect to scan for
malware anyway.

Malke

Thanks. Maybe the Never Dial setting will help.

My mind is like a sieve nowadays, but apparently the virus check idea is a
big chunk! I've run 2 or 3 deep scans a day since this started and I'm
going to download one or two more free anti-malware programs. The question
is whether I can install them without all their tenacles. When even two of
them start checking system stuff out at the same time it can be a disaster.
If I can install at least one with ONLY the malware scans I will. Things
like application guards, web site checkers, etc., are verboten in multiples.

Thanks

 

[JimL]

I just got a cable ISP (Comcast) a few days ago, and find some weirdities
going on. After solving some of them I have a real puzzler.

I can be going along just fine, surfing the internet, reading a
newsgroup, checking email - when out of nowhere my dial-up will dial up!

Not having all the bugs out nor the email all set, I haven't stopped
dial-up yet. But I'd really like to find out what keeps dialing the land
line. I seem to be able to run on both at once - sort of. I found my
anti-virus program was updating awful slowly. I looked at the sys tray
and had a phone connection running?! Same with something on my browser.
It got slow and I found the dial-up connected.

I don't even know where to look or for what. Altho I seem to recall some
place seeing a Never Dial setting. Haven't found where.

Thanks for any help.

In IE > Tools > Internet Options [or Control Panel > Internet Options]

Click "Connection" tab and select "Never dial a connection" then OK.

Thanks. I haven't _yet_ had any random dialouts since I checked that. I'm
still very curious what on earth could be doing the call. Altho I've
battled automatic internet connecting since the day I installed XP Pro.

Thanks

 

[Malke]

Thanks. Maybe the Never Dial setting will help.

My mind is like a sieve nowadays, but apparently the virus check idea is a
big chunk! I've run 2 or 3 deep scans a day since this started and I'm
going to download one or two more free anti-malware programs. The
question
is whether I can install them without all their tenacles. When even two
of them start checking system stuff out at the same time it can be a
disaster.
If I can install at least one with ONLY the malware scans I will. Things
like application guards, web site checkers, etc., are verboten in
multiples.

This short article I wrote for my clients will help you. Right-click on the
link and choose "Save Link As".

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/Too_Much_Security.pdf

Malke

 

[David B.]

Some application you have running is set to automatically dial a connection,
it will do this even if you have an active broadband connection, do as Lem
said and set to never dial, then unplug the phone cord from the wall.

 

[JimL]

Some application you have running is set to automatically dial a
connection, it will do this even if you have an active broadband
connection, do as Lem said and set to never dial, then unplug the phone
cord from the wall.

I did that last night, and while I was at it I discovered what application
was dialing out - IE. I had turned it off long ago, but something or
someone turned it back on in the last day or so. In fact I recall that it
did that a lot when I first turned it off. It kept getting turned back on.
I blamed Willy G.

I don't get the obsession that everybody must BE ONLINE! Even when I select
to find a program with which to read some esoteric file, the popup
_defaults_ to GO ON THE INTERNET TO FIND IT, or words to that effect.

I can't unplug the telephone line yet. I still have some essentials tied to
it. But the Never-Ever setting has killed the dial-outs.

Thanks