need help stopping software from trying to connect internet

vicequad

Distinguished
Aug 16, 2006
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Today I was helping a friend with his computer which unfortunately is horribly old- P3, Win ME, dial up, and worst of all AOL. The problem he's having is that at least one, probably several programs and services are frequently trying to connect to the internet. I think McAfee is the culprit, but there's probably others too. This brings up the intrusive AOL log in window interupting his workflow. Anyone know the best way to stop this from happening? I looked through various options and preferences pages in AOL and Windows Control Panel and did a Google search but no luck.

Thanks!
 

g-paw

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Jan 31, 2006
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Download and install ZoneAlarm, the free version. It's a firewall and you can set it up to either have programs ask permission to connect to the net or you can set it up to never let certain programs connect. If you know what the programs are, ZoneAlarm will tell you, you can prevent the programs from loading if you don't need them running. Not sure if Win ME has msconfig, if not don't know how to prevent programs from starting in ME, been years since I used it
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/trial_zaFamily/trial_zaFamily.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en