How do I stop my computer from dialing into my ISP?

[Al Smith]

How do I stop my computer from dialing into my ISP?

Like tonight when it logged on by itself when I wasn't expecting a call from
the hospital to tell me that they were going to operate on my mother
tomorrow morning.

 

[Robert Michon]

Check for programs launching at startup that utilize an internet connection.
Examples of such programs are AOL Instant Messenger, Quicktime, and
Realplayer just for starters.

You will usually see an icon for these programs in the lower right hand
corner of your screen, each program usually has an option to launch at
Windows startup, disable this an you should be all set.

 

[Evan Stedman]

Set your connection to never dial a connection and use
your connection shortcut whenever you want to connect to
the internet. This will stop your problem.

 

[Maureen Goldman]

How do I stop my computer from dialing into my ISP?

Like tonight when it logged on by itself when I wasn't expecting a call from
the hospital to tell me that they were going to operate on my mother
tomorrow morning.

I hope your mother's surgery turns out well.

Here's a recent response from MVP Kelly Theriot to the same question
about auto dialing:

Right click My Network Places/Properties/Advanced (top
toolbar)/Dial-Up Preferences/Enable Auto-Dial by Location/Uncheck all
locations and check off always ask me before auto dialing. Also,
Disable autodial while I am logged on.

In the Enable Auto-Dial By Location dialog box, select each location
for which you want the automatic dialing feature to operate. Reboot.

Disable or Enable AutoDial (Line 91)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

To view the list of names and addresses recorded by AutoDial, type the
following command at a command prompt: rasautou -s

To delete a name or address entry from the list: Start/Run/Regedit

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\RAS Autodial\Addresses

You can delete any TCP/IP addresses that you see under this key. Note
that AutoDial can use IP addresses, DNS fully qualified domain names
(FQDN), and NetBIOS names.