Laptop trying to be a server

How do I stop it?

[George]

Hi,
My compaq Evo has some how got set up to run as a server. If I put up the barriers with Zone Alarm, loads of programmes try to connect to the web:
svchost.exe
webdmi.exe
svchost.exe (again)
CPQDFWAG.exe
spoolsv.exe
and a few others. I have run adware, and when i deny any of these access, then I cannot connect at all, via wireless, dial up or standard network.

Confession. I do not have antivirus :(

I am getting to the stage where I am going to have to reboot and start again, as it kinda worries me.

Should I be concerned? Thanks for your advice!

[mat]

Far from being an expert, but things might not be as bad as you think. A couple of those services are bog standard stuff for Windows - DNS, print and so on - a couple of others look to be native Compaq monitoring and diagnostics.

You need AV, you likely don't need to block those outgoing services with your firewall.

[George]

Thanks Mat,
>>>>a couple of others look to be native Compaq monitoring and diagnostics.
They are, not sure why my laptop should be trying to behave as a server, or how to change it back.

[mat]

not sure why my laptop should be trying to behave as a server

just to be clear, what makes you say this? A server service will be running ordinarily under Windows (2K or XP) - nothing to worry about there.

[George]

Mat,
Had to check myself :)
when svchost.exe tries to access, Zone Alarm says:
Generic host process for win 32 services trying to act as a server (port 5000)
and then when spoolsv.exe tries to connect:
spooler subsystem App is trying to access the internet
192.168. 01 :DNS

That was where I got the server bit from. Is that what windows does?
When I am connected (often with a mobile) all this is taking up bandwidth... but I cannot turn it off without stopping explorer connect. Another one that trys to connect with expolorer is:
aclient.exe.

[mat]

Again, I'll let someone more up to steam - and doubtless at least 25 years younger than me - give you some cast-iron answers, but the 'server' issue is not the issue here - your box is not running as a server, nothing has been turned on that you need to turn off.

What you're seeing is pretty standard Windows behavious for accessing the web, the bulk of it is perfectly legit DNS activity. The only oddity is the port 5000 part - that's not DNS, that's something to do with unplug'n play, but, again, is pretty harmless.

Windows likes to do lots of DNS lookups for all sorts of things, hence the bandwidth issue, but no DNS equals no surfing, so you can't block that part.

I don't use software firewalls much anymore, but I thought ZA came pretty much out of the box with default settings for DNS (spooler and svchost). Maybe a ZA upgrade would fix things if you're not on a newish Pro version - it now comes with AV as an option. You really do need some AV. Really, you do.

I now leave the floor to someone able to give you more precise reassurances.

Cheers, Mat (You going to PubCon again, BTW?)

[Edited - aclient.exe is nothing to worry about either - yet another one of the thousands of helper thingies that Compaq boxes spew out at startup]

[George]

Mat,
thanks for the confidence boost :)
I have no AV, as I use Mailwasher that does most of the "clearance", and then I just don't open "files".
Seems to work :)
Not sure about LV this time round, struggling to juggle a few things, and the 14 hours puts me off.
Someone was trying to persuade my wife it is very family friendly over the w/e... might make it Yet!

[JonR28]

You might be able to get rid of the compaq crap by typing msconfig at the run prompt. (If you are running win2k you might need to download msconfig). Then go to the startup tab and see the listing for services that startup automatically. Most of what you have looks perfectly fine..

[George]

JonR28,
Most? any you are not sure of? Problem is if i turn them off i seem to loose access to networks.
Thanks for your comments.