how to get detailed traffic analysis in Windows XP

[lordrt]

Hello
I have Networx installed on my PC, and bizarrely enough, since this morning I can see from its traffic monitor that something/s is being downloaded, but I did not launch any specific downloads, and using Networx NetStat revealed very little info. I want to know where the downloads are coming from etc, how to monitor this in Windows? Any specific tool or option? I've looked for my updates as well, which are automatic, but I scheduled it to run every Friday

[gerbil]

Wireshark. Every byte. Every connection. Every IP.

[lordrt]

Wireshark. Every byte. Every connection. Every IP.

any other tool which I can add to it to make it more user-friendly? am getting a lot of info in the grid and keeps on adding, and am unable to track them properly

[gerbil]

Well, wireshark is a packet capture tool, and that's what it does. If you are trying to learn the gist of captures then one suggestion is to turn off all but one traffic source application. Next is to construct useful display filters so you see only the traffic you are interested in; once you have that set then to reduce the capture file size you can set a capture filter that accords with what you wish to display. eg... you could ignore a running bit torrent download and concentrate on email packets, say. Take note, too, of the colouring rules - they identify the type of packet.
Packets are not very human-friendly, in general.... you are seeing computer chit-chat.

[JolinG]

As the above said, wireshark is the best choice.