Ted Herzl wrote:
> My new XP computer seems to have some quirks that I'm unsure about.
>
> At startup, it appears from the blinking lights on my modem that the
> computer is sending data to or receiving data from somewhere on the
> newtwork. This is somewhat disturbing. Any idea what is going on?
>
> The computer came installed with a Norton Firewall, which I
> activiated. It detected a number of programs that might want to
> access the network (a lot of which seem to be Microsoft or Windows
> related). I blocked a few, but wasn't sure about most of them, is
> there any need to have any OS files access the net for proper
> functioning? Norton Firewall seems more complicated than free Zone
> Alarm, which is what I used on my old Win98 machine. In Zone Alarm, I
> basically blocked everyhting except stuff I knew and wanted to use the
> net, such as my mail, telnet, and ftp clients, web browser(s), etc.
> Any recommendations to optimize Norton firewall performance
> performance?
>
> Another thing I did in Win 98 was use the "paranoia" tab in the "Tweak
> UI" aadd-on provided by Microsoft to clear all of my settings, IE
> browser history, etc. at each shutdown. I suspect that this cleanup
> would not stop the CIA from finding out stuff, but it does keep
> information about my computer use away from casual users
> automatically. Does XP have any similar functionality?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Ted

A lot of this is just foolish paranoia IMHO. XP checks for updates which I
think is a good thing considering all the updates that are available for it.

When the computer boots up it is checking all the hardware to enable it to
configure itself. If you are using a broadband connection then it is
getting an IP address.

What you need for XP is TweakUI, Alt-Tab Replacement or any other of those
toys:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p.../powertoys.asp

XP-AntiSpy shows you all the tweaks for enabling/disabling XP's update
functions. I have most left on.
http://www.xp-antispy.org/index.php?...tory&Itemid=26

Information on XP Services and which to enable/disable:
http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Index.dat Suite to clean out the index.dat files as they can't be cleaned in
DOS if you are using NTFS.
(Which you should if you are using XP) It also cleans cookies, History and
the TIF completely.
http://www.it-mate.co.uk/support/idsuite.asp

I can't answer your Norton question as I use Kerio.

This will keep you buzy for a while but post back if you have more
questions.