Question about browsing ftp sites and security

[ftpAproblem?]

I've noticed that when a software manufacturer links to their ftp site for
an upgrade, at times the ftp address icon appears in my Windows Explorer
tree under "My Network Places".

Question:

I try to delete the icon as soon as I see it, but sometimes neglect to.
If I'm not on that company's site, or if I don't click on the icon, can the
administrator of that site (or others with access to their server) see my
computer and hard drive?

I'm constantly watching my firewall to see if there's any incoming or
outgoing traffic, and find myself doing netstat -an commands every 30
minutes as a form of paranoia.

 

[Jon Kennedy]

See this article for possible help:

HOW TO: Prevent Network Share Shortcuts from Being Added to My Network
Places
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242578/en-us

 

[tpAproblem?]

"Jon Kennedy" (an excellent president by the way) <jkennedy2
@carolina.rr.com> wrote in

See this article for possible help:

HOW TO: Prevent Network Share Shortcuts from Being Added to My Network
Places
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242578/en-us

Thanks so much for point that link out. I just did as it said, and test
it out. Perfect! No more ftp sites added. Why that option isn't
explained in more clarity to all users more often, I don't know. It
certainly can be a security problem.

The question still exists however, if the address of the ftp site remains
under network places, even though it's not open and the stand alone pc
isn't connected at it's point, can the administrator or a user on the ftp
site see the customer if they're on a broadband connection and the PC is
connected to the net.

For example, say someone connects to ftp.symantec.com, and that address
remains under network places. Even if the ftp site is not being used,
and doesn't show up in a netstat command, can the ftp site as the host
computer recognize that it's been added to the network places of a
possible "client" computer?