Help! Data constantly downloading...

[beyersn]

Data transfer whilst idle

Anybody an idea of what the transfer on a 3G card is whilst I'm doing nothing? IE Internet Browser is not even open?
Mine's running at about 100k per minute. Is it normal? If not what could be causing it and how can I resolve it?

 

[TheflyOfCapeTown]

It doesnt sound normal , and you need to check your pc for worms, virii, and such like. Use bitdefender, and / or adaware to check.

 

[Gambit]

100KB a minute is definitely not cool for an idle connection. Sounds like you have some spyware issues there. Adaware is pretty good at removing the nasties.

 

[Gambit]

Oops a little too l8. The fly beat me

 

[slimothy]

some zombie bots arent in virii or adware/spyware definitions, so what you do is you get netlimiter and you open a command prompt window. netlimiter shows how much data is being sent/recieved from each app and lets you shape the connection, this is a good way to figure which app on your system is sending too much data and lets you find the exe, however if the proccess sending/recieving data is a child of an abandoned thread it won't show which app it belongs to, this is when the command prompt comes in, whilst doing nothing you type netstat -a you can see whats connected and each state of the connections. This should give you enough info to track down the application and take action

 

[gljackson]

Also remember to check whether windows update is set to automatically check for updates.

 

[Crash]

100 Kb / minute = 1.66 kilobytes / sec
Thats not anything major. That could be DNS requests.

 

[diabolus]

....or updates. Especially windows updates tend to work strangely in the background sometimes [downloads very slowly].

I'll just get Microsoft AntiSpyware and run a quick check.

Or actually just type in command prompt:
netstat -a

If theres any suspicious connections then you know you got some spyware/adware. Or at least you can determine where the data is going.

 

[beyersn]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Its pretty helpful for a novice.
Will try them all.

 

[beyersn]

When I have typed netstat -a, how do I get the screen to stay up, for me to actually see what is going on?

 

[vodacom3g]

If I understand you correctly:

First open a (DOS) command box by typing in 'cmd' on the Start->run field.

Once the DOS box is up, type in netstat -a

 

[949BFN]

Little program called Netlimiter available at http://www.netlimiter.com/ will tell you which programs are using your bandwith.

 

[beyersn]

If I understand you correctly:

First open a (DOS) command box by typing in 'cmd' on the Start->run field.

Once the DOS box is up, type in netstat -a

Thanks.

 

[beyersn]

When I do the "netstat a" thing I get a few lines of info that doesn't really tell me anything.

How do I "operate" Netlimiter?

I have downloaded and installed, but when I click on the shortcut nothing happens!

 

[949BFN]

When I do the "netstat a" thing I get a few lines of info that doesn't really tell me anything.

How do I "operate" Netlimiter?

I have downloaded and installed, but when I click on the shortcut nothing happens!

Strange - it should give you a list of all running programs and the bandwith they're using, if any.

 

[beyersn]

Thanks All for your help.

My Netlimiter problem was a dud installation. Reinstalled and it worked perfect.

The firewall helped me to catch the "offender". It was Sonic's live updates that was eating my data. There is no way to disable it, but to uninstall.

Cheers

 

[vodacom3g]

Can't you block access to the Sonic servers in your firewall?

 

[Kolmogorov]

3G data usage

I'm using a Sony-Ericsson V800 as a dial-up modem. Sony doesn't include any software to monitor data usage on-the-fly and I don't want to go to Vodacom4me every time. Is there any alternative to using the Windows connection status window? I'm looking for something that will also automatically track my monthly usage.

(btw I'm noticing a huge amount of uploading from my PC. I've run virus scanners, etc but found nothing. This can't be normal. Any ideas what could cause it?)

 

[adsl3g]

I'm using a Sony-Ericsson V800 as a dial-up modem. Sony doesn't include any software to monitor data usage on-the-fly and I don't want to go to Vodacom4me every time. Is there any alternative to using the Windows connection status window? I'm looking for something that will also automatically track my monthly usage.

Try Magitime - gives you daily, monthly and on-the-fly usage

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Network_and_Internet/Online_Timers/Magitime.html

 

[vodacom3g]

Try a meter like DUMeter to monitor usage and a program like Netlimiter to see which apps are transferring data. A common culprit are all the automatic updates.