How to find out what programs on your computer are connecting to the Internet

Wondering if there’s a spyware program on your computer that’s surreptitiously sending information over the Internet? Want to know which of your legit programs are “calling home?” There’s a command line utility that will help you find out, and it works in both XP and Vista. Click Start. In XP, click Run and type cmd in the Run box. In Vista, you need to open the command prompt with elevated privileges, so click All Programs, Accessories, then right click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator. At the command prompt, type netstat -nab This displays a list of running programs, the protocol being used by each to connect to the Internet, and the IP address and port being used. You might be surprised to see, for instance, that PowerPoint is connected to the Internet – but it will be if you use the online Help function, search for clip art, etc.