What Is This?????

[Tedob1]

get your restore disks. Format and re-install. if you look you might catch a trojan. then again you might miss it. the fact of the matter is you don't know what has been done to your system. after you format and reinstall get a firewall and listen to all the sound advice given above.

[peace_on_earth]

Much thanks to everyone, for your help and wisdom. I greatly appreciate it.

To answer some of your questions...

I disconnected/re-connected to the net, but I haven't seen that same connection yet. However, whenever I do a netstat -an /o, I get the following:

Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State          PID
TCP    0.0.0.0:135              0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       708
TCP    0.0.0.0:445              0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       4
TCP    0.0.0.0:1025            0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       764
TCP    0.0.0.0:1028            0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       4
TCP    127.0.0.1:1027        0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING       1612
UDP    0.0.0.0:445             *:*                                               4
UDP    0.0.0.0:500             *:*                                               496
UDP    0.0.0.0:1030           *:*                                               932
UDP    0.0.0.0:1035           *:*                                               932
UDP    127.0.0.1:1029       *:*                                               876

I don't know if the above is normal for an XP machine or not(?).

I also did a comprehensive virus scan (with current definitions/updates), and manual search for unusual files, but yielded no results.

I also checked for any unusual accounts, and found nothing. Guest and Admin accounts are also password protected. All of my other security settings are properly configured too (as far as i know)...such as restricted anonymous logins, restricted sam access, etc, etc...

I also don't use any p2p or download/use any weird progs from the net or anywhere else.

I'm thinking of just taking Tedob1's advice, but it sure would be nice if I didn't have to resort to that.

[oddball]

man you are so right, MS has a lot to answer for. without a password your system can be net worked by anyone not just a hacker, or wose still remote desktop connections. MS should advise all its customers to protect themselves, with a strong password. and do not forget the MS Motto, "F**K the customer.

[amon]

i have noticed that you still have your guest account.why that?if you don't need it,why don't you delete it?

[peace_on_earth]

I wasn't aware that it's possible to delete the Guest account. How do you delete it?

Also, I want the Admin account to remain password protected...but I dont wan't to be prompted for a password each time I start up my computer. Is there a way to get around this?

Thanks!

[NLAS4EVER]

You cant delete the guest account, you just turn it off.