XP Pro PC keeps trying to dial...

[dorayme]

My daughter is having trouble with her modem, I suspect software. She runs
XP Pro on a 2.8 Pentium machine with lots of everything. Internal dial up
modem. It keeps trying to dial when the phone line is connected. And also it
seems when it is not connected (but is not so bothersome then). Any ideas
about what this might be all about? And what would you recommend to do? She
is running XP Pro and connected like us to Optus dialup...

If it is some sort of dialler virus or bot, how to be rid of it? She uses
Norton's antivirus...?

I can follow some technical advice but know little about Windows machines.
Where do I start looking for things etc? Appreciate any advice.

dorayme

 

[Westie]

My daughter is having trouble with her modem, I suspect software. She runs
XP Pro on a 2.8 Pentium machine with lots of everything. Internal dial up
modem. It keeps trying to dial when the phone line is connected. And also it
seems when it is not connected (but is not so bothersome then). Any ideas
about what this might be all about? And what would you recommend to do? She
is running XP Pro and connected like us to Optus dialup...

If it is some sort of dialler virus or bot, how to be rid of it? She uses
Norton's antivirus...?

I can follow some technical advice but know little about Windows machines.
Where do I start looking for things etc? Appreciate any advice.

dorayme

It's probably a dialer virus or bot, like you think it is. Does it
actually connect to the internet when it dials? If not, it could be
making a very expensive toll call overseas.

Try Spybot Search and Destroy
(http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html) and/or Ad-aware
(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/). They should get rid of it.

It could also be one of the regular programs like Internet Explorer or
something trying to access the internet. Check the dial-up settings.
Get the properties for the dial-up connection that your using. There is
a check box in the Advanced Properties tab that says "Establish a
connection whenever a computer on my network atttempts to access the
internet".

There is also another checkbox in the Options tab, Reconnect whenever
the line is dropped.

You might want to check your scheduled tasks too, paying attention to
anything that updates your off-line webpages.

That should cover most of the bases.

 

[dorayme]

It's probably a dialer virus or bot, like you think it is. Does it
actually connect to the internet when it dials? If not, it could be
making a very expensive toll call overseas.

Try Spybot Search and Destroy
(http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html) and/or Ad-aware
(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/). They should get rid of it.

It could also be one of the regular programs like Internet Explorer or
something trying to access the internet. Check the dial-up settings.
Get the properties for the dial-up connection that your using. There is
a check box in the Advanced Properties tab that says "Establish a
connection whenever a computer on my network atttempts to access the
internet".

There is also another checkbox in the Options tab, Reconnect whenever
the line is dropped.

You might want to check your scheduled tasks too, paying attention to
anything that updates your off-line webpages.

That should cover most of the bases.

Appreciate this, will check out all you suggest next time i visit
daughter...

dorayme