Does Vista include spyware?

"MrSlartybartfast" <MrSlartybartfast@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:3DFF468E-6D44-45CF-B446-354ECA1A3C78@microsoft.com...

> Hi,
>
> Vista is downloading at 0.5kB/s constantly. This does not seem like much
> but adds up to over 1GB/month if the computer is always on. Is there any
> way
> to stop this? I tried enabling the administrator and then systematically
> closing all the system processes but it is still downloading. I did the
> same
> and tried closing services but that didn't help either. Could anyone
> confirm
> that their version of Vista also downloads at 0.5kB/s constantly.

In answer to the question in your subject line, I'd say "It's a matter of
opinion what some of the components of Vista do".

In answer to the question in the body of your message, how are you connected
to the Internet? If you use a connection through a network card, I would
expect to see a negligible amount of traffic travelling over this link at
all times due to the way that Ethernet and networking work. In this case
nothing is being "downloaded" or even "uploaded"; this is just an artifact
of how networks work.

As far as Vista actively generating the traffic (as opposed to it being an
artifact of how networking behaves, that's also possible even without
putting on the tin-foil hat and assuming that Bill Gates is personally
reading over our shoulders via the "magic" of spyware. Vista is a much more
"connected" OS than XP, which was a much more "connected" OS than Windows
2000, which in turn was a much more "connected" OS than..... etc.

If you have sidebar gadgets running, these may well be talking to the
Internet. Obvious examples would be the weather gadget or the RSS feed. The
clock connects to an Internet NTP server to ensure the time is kept
accurate. AV and Anti-Spyware all do stuff in the background... In other
words, trying to chase the network activity counter down to "zero" is
probably a futile effort.

If you are really concerned about what is happening on your network
connection then you probably want to try using something like wireshark
(http://www.wireshark.org/) which will allow you to actually view the
traffic going over a particular network connection, so you can zoom in on
anything that worries you. It's a little confusing to people who aren't
experienced with networking and haven't used a 'sniffer' before, to be sure,
but if you *are* worried then this *will* give you an actual answer about
what precisely is happening on *your* computer, instead of more speculation
and worries and stories about what other people think might be happening
"because you know this one time a guy at work said...... and he has to know
all about computers because he once told me he formatted a disk"

--
Robert Moir
http://www.rhymeswithgeek.com

Hi

I downloaded wireshark as recommended. It shows hundreds of IP's connected
to my computer. Some posts on another forum confirmed this is not normal for
Vista so it looks like I have picked up some spyware all on my own. The
strange thing is I am only downloading information and not uploading
anything. I don't know how to fix the problem as I think it is a little out
of my league. So I will format c: and reinstall Vista this weekend and then
take extra care with what programs I install.

--



"Robert Moir" wrote:

>
> "MrSlartybartfast" <MrSlartybartfast@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message news:3DFF468E-6D44-45CF-B446-354ECA1A3C78@microsoft.com...

> > Hi,
> >
> > Vista is downloading at 0.5kB/s constantly. This does not seem like much
> > but adds up to over 1GB/month if the computer is always on. Is there any
> > way
> > to stop this? I tried enabling the administrator and then systematically
> > closing all the system processes but it is still downloading. I did the
> > same
> > and tried closing services but that didn't help either. Could anyone
> > confirm
> > that their version of Vista also downloads at 0.5kB/s constantly.

>
> In answer to the question in your subject line, I'd say "It's a matter of
> opinion what some of the components of Vista do".
>
> In answer to the question in the body of your message, how are you connected
> to the Internet? If you use a connection through a network card, I would
> expect to see a negligible amount of traffic travelling over this link at
> all times due to the way that Ethernet and networking work. In this case
> nothing is being "downloaded" or even "uploaded"; this is just an artifact
> of how networks work.
>
> As far as Vista actively generating the traffic (as opposed to it being an
> artifact of how networking behaves, that's also possible even without
> putting on the tin-foil hat and assuming that Bill Gates is personally
> reading over our shoulders via the "magic" of spyware. Vista is a much more
> "connected" OS than XP, which was a much more "connected" OS than Windows
> 2000, which in turn was a much more "connected" OS than..... etc.
>
> If you have sidebar gadgets running, these may well be talking to the
> Internet. Obvious examples would be the weather gadget or the RSS feed. The
> clock connects to an Internet NTP server to ensure the time is kept
> accurate. AV and Anti-Spyware all do stuff in the background... In other
> words, trying to chase the network activity counter down to "zero" is
> probably a futile effort.
>
> If you are really concerned about what is happening on your network
> connection then you probably want to try using something like wireshark
> (http://www.wireshark.org/) which will allow you to actually view the
> traffic going over a particular network connection, so you can zoom in on
> anything that worries you. It's a little confusing to people who aren't
> experienced with networking and haven't used a 'sniffer' before, to be sure,
> but if you *are* worried then this *will* give you an actual answer about
> what precisely is happening on *your* computer, instead of more speculation
> and worries and stories about what other people think might be happening
> "because you know this one time a guy at work said...... and he has to know
> all about computers because he once told me he formatted a disk"
>
> --
> Robert Moir
> http://www.rhymeswithgeek.com
>
>
>

You might also check the Resource Monitor (Task Manager > Performance tab >
Resource Monitor...) to see what programs are receiving data from where.

"MrSlartybartfast" <MrSlartybartfast@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:62F61DA9-57B3-4D88-8123-A6C23CDB3C78@microsoft.com...

> Hi
>
> I downloaded wireshark as recommended. It shows hundreds of IP's
> connected
> to my computer. Some posts on another forum confirmed this is not normal
> for
> Vista so it looks like I have picked up some spyware all on my own. The
> strange thing is I am only downloading information and not uploading
> anything. I don't know how to fix the problem as I think it is a little
> out
> of my league. So I will format c: and reinstall Vista this weekend and
> then
> take extra care with what programs I install.
>
> --
>
>
>
> "Robert Moir" wrote:
>

>>
>> "MrSlartybartfast" <MrSlartybartfast@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>> message news:3DFF468E-6D44-45CF-B446-354ECA1A3C78@microsoft.com...

>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > Vista is downloading at 0.5kB/s constantly. This does not seem like
>> > much
>> > but adds up to over 1GB/month if the computer is always on. Is there
>> > any
>> > way
>> > to stop this? I tried enabling the administrator and then
>> > systematically
>> > closing all the system processes but it is still downloading. I did
>> > the
>> > same
>> > and tried closing services but that didn't help either. Could anyone
>> > confirm
>> > that their version of Vista also downloads at 0.5kB/s constantly.

>>
>> In answer to the question in your subject line, I'd say "It's a matter of
>> opinion what some of the components of Vista do".
>>
>> In answer to the question in the body of your message, how are you
>> connected
>> to the Internet? If you use a connection through a network card, I would
>> expect to see a negligible amount of traffic travelling over this link at
>> all times due to the way that Ethernet and networking work. In this case
>> nothing is being "downloaded" or even "uploaded"; this is just an
>> artifact
>> of how networks work.
>>
>> As far as Vista actively generating the traffic (as opposed to it being
>> an
>> artifact of how networking behaves, that's also possible even without
>> putting on the tin-foil hat and assuming that Bill Gates is personally
>> reading over our shoulders via the "magic" of spyware. Vista is a much
>> more
>> "connected" OS than XP, which was a much more "connected" OS than Windows
>> 2000, which in turn was a much more "connected" OS than..... etc.
>>
>> If you have sidebar gadgets running, these may well be talking to the
>> Internet. Obvious examples would be the weather gadget or the RSS feed.
>> The
>> clock connects to an Internet NTP server to ensure the time is kept
>> accurate. AV and Anti-Spyware all do stuff in the background... In other
>> words, trying to chase the network activity counter down to "zero" is
>> probably a futile effort.
>>
>> If you are really concerned about what is happening on your network
>> connection then you probably want to try using something like wireshark
>> (http://www.wireshark.org/) which will allow you to actually view the
>> traffic going over a particular network connection, so you can zoom in on
>> anything that worries you. It's a little confusing to people who aren't
>> experienced with networking and haven't used a 'sniffer' before, to be
>> sure,
>> but if you *are* worried then this *will* give you an actual answer about
>> what precisely is happening on *your* computer, instead of more
>> speculation
>> and worries and stories about what other people think might be happening
>> "because you know this one time a guy at work said...... and he has to
>> know
>> all about computers because he once told me he formatted a disk"
>>
>> --
>> Robert Moir
>> http://www.rhymeswithgeek.com
>>
>>
>>