Too many open connections?

[Escape]

I've had some trouble with my net connection(the modem stops sending data to my PC), after some troubleshooting with my ISP, it came down to winXP having too many open connections.

This was checked by using the "netstat -s" command, and reading the Active Opens figure under TCP Statistics.

Apparently it should be around 20 during normal use. But mine is always rising and has passed >1000 over the past 2 hours. The cause is meant to be spyware, but I've installed the current versions of ~5 of the most popular ones, and ran tests without detecting any spyware.


I'd appreciate some info on open connections, is it abnormal to register over 1000 connections, even during bittorrent use? I'm not convinced by the spyware theory, as when I lose my net connection, a modem reboot solves it - the PC isn't rebooted!

 

[Andre]

--snip--
bittorrent use?
--snip--

There is your problem - limit your bittorrent program to a maximum of 200 connections. Your modem has to keep tabs on all these connections - where they go, which port etc. and most run out of memory around the 200-250 connection mark

 

[bledd]

do you have a firewall installed?
do you use a usb modem?


turn on the xp sp2 firewall, and windowsupdate yourself as much as possible


if you've got a usb modem, definatly get a router instead (i'm guessing you're on adsl, so i'd say get a linksys adsl modem router, easy to setup and reliable), ethernet is way better for internet (network port)

also..

turn off system restore, and run nod32 antivirus trial on your pc, install spybot, adaware and windows defender -oh and ccleaner slim (you can download all of these from majorgeeks.com)

run those tools, and see if they find anything -uninstall any current av you have or it'll really slow your pc down if you have 2 running at the same time

then run hijackthis ( http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3155.html ) and paste the log file in here http://www.hijackthis.de/ it'll tell you if you've got any serious problems and say which ones to remove

 

[Escape]

Thanks for the tips. I do keep my PC running relatively safely, with a software firewall + antivir, so I was annoyed at this suspected spyware.

It turned out to be cli.exe from ATI's driver, which was opening multiple connections to communicate with itself or something as silly.

Is it possible to change the AA/AF settings without using the Catalyst control center? I've uninstalled the CCC for now, but there isn't an advanced options tab in the display properties, like there should be!

 

[crashuk]

netstat -aon