IP traffic at boot-up

[Vic]

Apparently I have a lot of apps that like to play ET and phone home
everytime my system boots. This is not only slowing my boot up but it
ticks me off. As these programs check their websites for updates, I'm
sure they are passing other tidbits as well.
I have disabled this 'feature' in programs that offer it as a menu
option however, there seem to be many other programs that dont.
To make matters worse, these 'version checks' run as top level
commands and start communicating before the system is fully up and I
can check the task manager to see what processes are running.
I have disabled all I can in 'startup' yet the communications
continue. I can see the activity as my firewall has as indicator to
show traffic in and out. I'm sure much of this is Mircosofts doing but
I there msut be other programs as well.
Plus, during the day I can see occasional traffic (such as going into
Adobe reader and knowing that it is checking. (Even tho I disabled
that).
Does anyone know of a 'traffic cop' type utility that will show me or
log the connunications that are occuring before the full system is up.

 

[George Valkov]

1. A hardware firewall that supports logging and configure it - some cheap
home and office routers also have built-in NAT and firewall. You can use
this to block out-going connections.
2. Get a second computer with 2 LAN cards and create a network bridge.
Connect one interface to your computer and the other to internet. Run a
sniffer on the second computer and power-up yours.