Bandwidth being eaten!

[phreak0ut]

Hi,
I've got this 'strange' problem of my bandwidth being eaten on Windows XP SP2. It stays normal for sometime, but after that, I see my modem lights blinking furiously. DU meter shows something being downloaded. I did a netstat -a but I didn't find anything unusual. My AV and firewall is upto date. Using Avast! and firewall is Zone Alarm Pro. This problem doesn't arise on Linux. Please tell me what is wrong.

 

[fatguysmart]

Please install NetLimiter Monitor -freeware.
This will show you which process is tranferring data,and amount of data being transferred.

 

[phreak0ut]

Please install NetLimiter Monitor -freeware.
This will show you which process is tranferring data,and amount of data being transferred.

Ok, I'll install that and I'll let you guys know. Thanks

 

[s18000rpm]

maybe XP is set to "Automatic Updates" Download.

 

[phreak0ut]

oops! Forgot to mention that I've disabled any kind of updates possible.

 

[s18000rpm]

check in Zone Alarm

under->Program Control->Programs->(click) Active

ZA will surely show the programs/process accessing net.

 

[phreak0ut]

Got the culprit. Thanks to Netlimiter. Its the OpenDNS DNS which I use for Windows. Its 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220. This DNS offers me higher speed to download. I get around 230KB+ but when I use the standard DNS provided by BSNL, I get around just 75KB+ You guys getting good speed with the same DNS? Also, why does this DNS have to keep pinging its server like crazy all the time?

 

[blackpearl]

How can DNS increase your speed? DNS just returns you the IP address of the URL you type in the address bar. That done, its job is over. It has no hand in data transfer and cannot increase or decrease your speed. The only help of using a fast DNS server or maintaining your own DNS server in your PC is that you save a few seconds each time your browser makes a DNS query.

 

[fatguysmart]

How can DNS increase your speed? DNS just returns you the IP address of the URL you type in the address bar. That done, its job is over. It has no hand in data transfer and cannot increase or decrease your speed. The only help of using a fast DNS server or maintaining your own DNS server in your PC is that you save a few seconds each time your browser makes a DNS query.

May be that OpenDNS connection was maligned by some malware!

 

[phreak0ut]

If its really not increasing my speed then how come I'm getting a jump in speed? BSNL DNS servers are always down. Atleast number 71 was here for quite a long time. I do know what a DNS is and what it does, but beats me as to how its increasing my speed.

@fatguysmart
I don't think its infected by malware. If it was so, Avast and ZA would have immediately asked me to drop the connection. But I really dont' know what is happening. I'm back to the default settings as of now. I'll check out how my speed is tonight when I download stuff

 

[Shasanka_Gogoi]

Please use some good Bandwith monitor or else try using another firewall. But i have been using ZA and havn't rcvd any problems, It informs me quite well of the programs that are trying to access the net. U may also try tweaking the settings in ZA such that no program is trusted and every program must ask u before accessing the net.