Network Traffic software

[Johnny Bravo]

Ok this is possibly going to sound like a strange request but does anyone know of any free/share/trial software which enables you to monitor network traffic on your PC.

I have been having connection problems for a while now (ntl 1mb cable ) and whilst using HLSW to monitor servers I have noticed my ping spiking all over the place, to the point it feels like there is other traffic (ie downloading, browsing etc).

Then whilst my PC sat idle the other night I noticed the traffic led on the modem flickering away at varying intervals....So despite the usual security set ups I have a suspicion something might be embedded on my PC that is using the network connection....hence I want some software that can monitor it

Any suggegstions people

 

[Will]

I hate to go for the really simple, but have you tried using either Task Manager or Ctrl-Atl-Del to see if you have something running?

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Always worth a try Will

I run win2k pro, and don't have any applications running, but obviously there are shit loads of processes on the go. I can identify about 50% of them

 

[Will]

Which firewall are you running?

I run ZA, so if it's that, I may be able to help more.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

I run black ice....although thinking about it, it may be worth unistalling it and installing ZA. This would initially block all outgoing traffic, and I could control what i want to go out

Shout at me if Im wrong

 

[Will]

You're right, so I can't shout. ZA has become a lot better recently.

Another thing to try is Ad-aware, check for any spyware on your system.

 

[S-Gray]

I recall hearing a lot of bad stuff about BI.....

 

[adams901]

I use aatools and have found it to be very useful, you can get it from http://www.glocksoft.com/aatools.htm

it has the following tools....

Network Monitor
Port Scanner
Proxy Analyzer
RBL Locator
Trace Route
Email Verifier
Links Analyzer
Whois
Process Monitor
System Info
Resource Viewer
Registry Cleaner

 

[kameleon]

black ice is bob use ZA

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Thanks for the help guys, I removed BI and replaced with a recommended firewall in the form of Kerio

Very nice little firewall that allows you to monitor all network traffic, found out that the idle traffic was being caused by ICQ. Even when offline and mimised into system tray it was still pulling down adverts

 

[Will]

Try ICQ Lite (I think the Alpha test is still open) or SmartICQ (integrates with mIRC, my personal choice).