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!

 

[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!