# computer possessed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981 "2001-08-19T04:10:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/1 "2001-08-19T04:10:24Z")
I admit I don’t know much of anything about computers. Why on earth does mine keep on connecting itself to the internet while I’m in the other room? It’s not only strange, but disruptive, especially when I’m on the phone. Any idea why a computer would do this–connect without being told to? ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/2 "2001-08-19T04:20:04Z")
“The power of Gates compels you!” “The power of Gates compels you!” Sorry. Got too carried away by the OP title. What kind of Internet software do you use to connect to the Internet? If you are using AOL, you might have the FlashSessions or AutoAOL feature turned on, which will cause the computer (if turned on) to automatically dial up AOL and downloand e-mail, etc. I’m not sure if other Internet software has similar features. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/3 "2001-08-19T05:38:52Z")
Three things come to mind: 1. You have customized your ISP software and it is set to autoconnect for some reason. 2. You are using a program like GetRight that will autoconnect to try and download files. 3. You have either a virus (not likely, as the ones that use the modem are very rare) or some sort of ad-driven PC spyware free ISP software that is doing this too you. You need to give a little more info about your situation, such as computer type, ISP type, operating system, etc. before the good people here can help you. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/4 "2001-08-19T06:21:58Z")
You might want to ownload ZoneAlarm, a free software firewall that watches all your Internet traffic and lets nothing through without your permission. (It remembers if you tell it to, so you don’t need to keep allowing your Web browser or whatever else you always use.) Get it from [http://www.zonelabs.com/](http://www.zonelabs.com/) , and see a discussion at [http://grc.com/](http://grc.com/) . ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/5 "2001-08-19T06:24:18Z")
What I meant to say, if I hadn’t hit Submit instead of Preview, was that ZoneAlarm will let you see what program is trying to connect. Then you can remove it. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/6 "2001-08-19T09:14:05Z")
Happens to me too. The answer is to shut down all applications instead of just minimizing them. In other words If I’ve disconnected from my server, I still may have Outlook Express and Straight Dope opened up. If I shut everything down to desktop, I’ve never had the re-connection problem. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/7 "2001-08-19T13:20:52Z")
Well, this happens with the computer in “sleep” mode, and no applications running at all. Anthracite: I use Prodigy, and it’s a Compaq Presario (about two years old; yes, I know, a piece of junk, but it generally works fine). It uses Windows 98. Thanks for the help so far. I’ll nose around and see if some sort of autoconnect is the thing causing it. ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/8 "2001-08-19T13:50:39Z")
Hmmmm. I tried looking for “autoconnect” via a search, and I also looked through the “options” menu from the internet screen, but no luck. Where might I find this option, so I can disable it? ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/9 "2001-08-19T15:13:00Z")
**nineiron** , we still need to know what kind of Internet software you are using. That will be a big help in allowing the rest of us to propose a likely solution. [sub]My 400th post. Nobody cares.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/10 "2001-08-19T15:34:45Z")
click START, click H, find Internet & then read around. Probably you need to Turn off ‘connect as needed’ in the dial up setup. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/11 "2001-08-19T15:44:07Z")
Never mind. Saw the earlier post saying that you use Prodigy, which I’m not familiar with. That’ll teach me to skim. ---
**Author:** ![Poloin99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Poloin99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poloin99)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/12 "2001-08-19T17:05:40Z")
Type msconfig in the run diolog box (start,run). Click the startup tab. See a check beside anything that says auto update? If so uncheck it. Restart your computer. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-possessed/76981/13 "2001-08-19T22:00:08Z")
Try creating a manual connection (this will require knowing your dial-up number, username and password) and setting it as the default connection. Make sure you don’t check the ‘connect automatically’ box.