Backround Dialers

[mbailey]

Does anyone know what the run command is to check what programs may be dialing in the backround. ie Open ICP/TCP ports. I run on Windows XP Home

I know that there are programs available, but i would like to accomplish this without downloading something.

2nd question, when and if i do find ports open, how do i identify that its something i want to shut down and how do i do it.

As you can tell im not computer savy. edit : i hope this is the right forum to post this, if not my appologies

Thanks in advance

[Skuzzy]

Go to Start->Run and enter "command".

At the prompt type "netstat -an" and press <ENTER>

"netstat -a" will give you a general idea of what specific service is running on those ports   From that you might be able to figure out what software is running on that port.

[715]

Open a command line box and type netstat -a.  It's not easy to understand the results though.

edit: oops.. I should probably pay attention to that red line that says another post has come in shouldn't I 

[ImADot]

You can try ShieldsUp to check for open ports.  It's a web-based app from GRC.  Along with this app, the site offers lots of very good info and other tools related to Internet security and other stuff.
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

[mbailey]

Ok i ran the netstat -an, now how do i remove the ones i found, there was approximatly 10 ports that showed up

[Auger]

And what ports would those be?

If you run 'netstat -abn' from a command prompt it will tell you what executables and DLLs are associated with the open ports.  Anything listing svchost.exe or System is going to be tough to get rid of unless you know what you are doing.

[Denholm]

Perhaps an Anti-Spyware or Anti-Virus program can remove these files?

Try the following two Anti-Spyware scanners, they're free and very effective:

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=10861988

For a free (and effective) anti-virus scan visit:

http://safety.live.com

You have to use Internet Explorer to launch the scan, though.

[mbailey]

Will do, thanks everyone for your responses. Ill give your suggestions a whirl