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PC Knowledge Base - Unknown Internet Connections
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An internet connection that becomes slower may be a sign that you have some malware, spyware, or adware that is using your internet connection in the background without your knowledge. Here's how to see what's going on under the hood.
There is an easy method using the netstat command from a command prompt window. This works with Windows 7, Vista, and XP. If you're still using XP, make sure you are running at least Service Pack 2.

The netstat command is used to generate a list of everything that has made an internet connection in a specified amount of time.
To use the netstat command, you must run the command prompt window as administrator.
Open the Start menu and enter "cmd.exe" in the Search box. When the results display, right-click on cmd.exe and select Run as administrator from the popup menu.

Alternatively,...

Click Start, All programs, navigate down and click on Accessories.
Right click Command Prompt and click Run as Administrator.

If the User Account Control dialog box displays, click Yes to continue. Note: You may not see this dialog box, depending on your User Account Control settings.

At the command prompt, type the following command and press Enter.

netstat -abf 5 > activity.txt
The -a option shows all connections and listening ports, the -b option shows you what application is making the connection, and the -f option displays the full DNS name for each connection option for easier understanding of where the connections are being made to. You can also use the -n option if you wish to only display the IP address.
The 5 option will poll every 5 seconds for connections to make it more easy to track what is going on, and the results are then piped into the activity.txt file with > activity.txt.

Wait about two minutes and then press Ctrl + C to stop the recording of data.

The resulting file will list all processes on your computer (browsers, IM clients, email programs, etc.) that have made an internet connection in the last two minutes, or however long you waited before pressing Ctrl + C. It also lists which processes connected to which websites.

If you see process names or website addresses with which you are not familiar, you can search for "what is (name of unknown process)" in Google and see what it is. It may be a system function you don't know about or a function of one of your running programs. However, if it seems like a bad site, you can use Google again to find out how to get rid of it.

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