How To Determine What is Downloading

paulfortin · 05-15-2008, 08:43 AM

I am using XP and keep my computer up-to-date and generally very secure. But sometimes a program or the system downloads things without my specifically asking for it to do anything. Most if not all of these downloads are no doubt legitimate, but I find it bothersome to not know what is actually downloading and what program requested it. Is there a way to determine this information when I see such downloading happening?

xbookx · 05-15-2008, 07:18 PM

Did you enable automatic downloading for windows update?

austjosh · 05-15-2008, 09:07 PM

You can check your system logs for what programs have run updates, this is done by right clicking "My Computer" then click "Manage".

Computer Management will now appear, Expand System Tools if not already then click Event Viewer then choose System. Search in here for your updates.

Josh

paulfortin · 05-16-2008, 09:28 AM

No, I usually ask just to be notified about updates, so that I can choose when to install them. Because I am at my cottage a lot, where I only have dial-up access, I only want large updates to download when I am in the city with high speed service.

I went to the Manage Computer Logs - thank you for showing me where they are. Unfortunately, mine were full as of several years ago, so the info is not helpful at the moment, but I emptied them now, so hopefully new stuff will be registered. I also found a Scheduled Tasks tab in my Control Panel, which I had forgotten about as I do not usually schedule tasks. In it I found that Apple software was set to update daily and I know that these files can be huge. I never set it up like that knowingly, although perhaps inadvertently. That might be the download that has been bothering me lately. Anyway I deleted it and also deleted GoogleUpdate.exe in the software list as it seems perverse in trying to run all the time. So maybe things will be OK now.

But any other pointers would be appreciated.

05-15-2008, 08:43 AM	#1 (permalink)
paulfortin Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2 OS: xp	How To Determine What is Downloading I am using XP and keep my computer up-to-date and generally very secure. But sometimes a program or the system downloads things without my specifically asking for it to do anything. Most if not all of these downloads are no doubt legitimate, but I find it bothersome to not know what is actually downloading and what program requested it. Is there a way to determine this information when I see such downloading happening?

05-15-2008, 07:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
xbookx Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 47 OS: xp sp2	Re: How To Determine What is Downloading Did you enable automatic downloading for windows update?

05-15-2008, 09:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
austjosh Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 10 OS: XP SP2	Re: How To Determine What is Downloading You can check your system logs for what programs have run updates, this is done by right clicking "My Computer" then click "Manage". Computer Management will now appear, Expand System Tools if not already then click Event Viewer then choose System. Search in here for your updates. Josh

05-16-2008, 09:28 AM	#4 (permalink)
paulfortin Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2 OS: xp	Re: How To Determine What is Downloading No, I usually ask just to be notified about updates, so that I can choose when to install them. Because I am at my cottage a lot, where I only have dial-up access, I only want large updates to download when I am in the city with high speed service. I went to the Manage Computer Logs - thank you for showing me where they are. Unfortunately, mine were full as of several years ago, so the info is not helpful at the moment, but I emptied them now, so hopefully new stuff will be registered. I also found a Scheduled Tasks tab in my Control Panel, which I had forgotten about as I do not usually schedule tasks. In it I found that Apple software was set to update daily and I know that these files can be huge. I never set it up like that knowingly, although perhaps inadvertently. That might be the download that has been bothering me lately. Anyway I deleted it and also deleted GoogleUpdate.exe in the software list as it seems perverse in trying to run all the time. So maybe things will be OK now. But any other pointers would be appreciated.