Programs downloading themselves and trying to access net

[Limester]

Hi,

I'm running Windows 2000 and have Zone Alarm Pro as my firewall with Norton
Antivirus in the background. When surfing I sometimes get Zone Alarm
flagging unknown.exe files (sometimes dialers) trying to access the
internet. These are exe files I have never seen before and have never
knowingly downloaded. These seem to download in the background with no
warning and run themselves. This is very alarming. I have all the Windows
critical updates installed and Zone Alarm's security setting set to maximum.
Plus Antivirus never says anything about them so I presume these programs
have not been a virus.

I guess my question is, how can I prevent Windows 2000 from downloading
these programs off the web (presumably inititated by some trigger on a
website) and running them without my say so?

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Gareth

 

[Scuba]

Try the free download Win Patrol
(http://www.winpatrol.com/) and take a look at the
programs in your startup. Disable any unknown to you
dialers.

If these are attempting to dial up (900) exchange numbers,
which you pay by the minute for, you can call your
telephone company and put a block on your phone line to
reject any calls be put out, and if any get out, at least
it won't cost you an arm and a leg.

If visiting adult content websites, use caution when
entering without reading their disclaimers, at times they
will start dialing your phone line to a 900 number for a
live chat or video phone service without your knowledge
because you didn't read. Ignorance is no excuse, that's
why you must read these things and not trudge on to the
content, they are tricky about how they do things.

Hope this helps...

You may want to run Ad-aware software and you'll be
surprised as to what is downloaded on your PC without your
knowledge tracking everything you do.
(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) There is a free download on
the lower left side under support, then download. Next
page has a free download, look for it.