dial up window keeps appearing

My dial up window keeps appearing, for no reason I can see. I have checked all possibilities of programs having automatic updates that I can think of, and automatic update is off or not available. Might Real Player be the problem? Are there other ideas out there?

howard

 

Hello Howard and welcome to WindowsBBS.

It is most likely an installed utility such as your anti-virus that is trying to call home for updates. Just turning off the "auto-update" usually does not stop the program from calling home. I have the same situation with my CA AntiVirus and have to stop the "Security Centre" from starting to stop it from trying to dial home.

Let us know what AV or other programs you think might be trying to dial home and we will try to find a solution for you.

Another suggestion is to run HijackThis and post the report here (there is a possibility you may have spyware). To find out how to download, install and run HijackThis look at some of the posts in the Removing Spyware forum for instructions. At the very least HijackThis will list the programs running on your computer.

 

Thanks John B for this idea. I have the complete CA Internet Security Suite 2007. In the Security Centre, update automatically is turned off.

Spyware scans do not show any spyware.

howard

 

Hi again, as I noted in my last post I had to stop the Security Centre from starting. I don't know what OS you have but in Win98 I went to the System Configuration Utility (msconfig) >Startup Tab and unchecked the box next to the "cctray" entry, Ok out and re-boot. This will prevent the Security Centre from running at startup. It will not turn off any of your AV or Firewall protection.

As I said above, I have a Win98 OS so if you have XP or 2000 you may find the process for turning off the Security Centre (cctray) slightly different.

You can access the AV and Firewall settings from the Start Menu. It will however make easy access to the "Snooze" function unavailable. You will have to start the Security Centre manually to access Snooze. Not a big deal for the number of times you use it.

As for updates, you can run them manually, make a shortcut in your Programs>CA menu for "Update Programs ". When you run the update it will look for any updates and list them, then you have to click on the "update" button at the bottom of the screen to actually download and install them.

All this sounds like a PITA but is far superior to having the dial-up box pop up every few minutes.

Another option, but more global is open IE, go to Tools>Options>Connections Tab and select the "Never dial a connection ". This will stop the dial up from dialing for all applications. To get online you will have to double click your dial-up shortcut.

 

Thanks JohnB for your suggestion, but it hasn't fixed the problem. Incidentally, I use Windows XP. I suppose I'll have to look systematically through all my applications which might be seeking updates.

 

Hi Howard, sorry that wasn't the problem, as you say it may take some sleuthing to find out what is trying to dial out. Suggest you post a HijackThis log and perhaps someone can spot the culpert.

 

Hello howardh and welcome to the Board,

Perhaps an easier way would to disable your startups and then re add them one at a time to narrow this down.

Regards - Charles

 

Thanks JohnB and Charlesvar for the suggestion re using `msconfig'. Also, I've found there is an "automatic synchronise with internet time server" ticked, in the Control Panel / Date and Time. I've just turned it off and will see if that fixes the problem.

 

Yes that very well could be what is causing the dial-up to initiate. Let us know what happens.