How To Uncover if your Windows 10 Dell Computer is Making Unauthorized Connections

Do you know if your Dell computer is making unauthorized connections?

Unauthorized connections can lead to data breaches from your computer. They can also use your bandwidth for illegal purposes.

You may notice intermittent issues with your connection. If your security applications are not tripped, how can you check if these connections are occurring?

In the section below I provide a step-by-step guide to identifying if such a connection exists.

Step-by-step instructions on identifying unauthorized connections in Windows 10

Using a Command-Line Prompt

1. Open a system prompt with Administrator privileges:

   • Right click on the Windows start button and choose CMD Prompt (with Admin) or Windows PowerShell (with Admin) from the menu

2. Type the following command, followed by pressing the Enter key:

   netstat -abf 5 > activity.txt

3. After about 2-3 minutes Press the CTRL and C keys together.

4. Type the following command, followed by pressing the Enter key:

   activity.txt

5. A notepad appears with a list of active connections running on your computer. (The notepad file should be saved to the system32 folder in your windows directory.)

6. Read down the list and check any you do not recognize on a search engine like Google.

7. You can enter the Task Manager utility to remove any connections you cannot identify as legitimate.

Are there any other ways?

You can download third party software to accomplish the same thing.

However Dell cannot recommend which third party software you should use.

You should check for something that suits you. For example: The Microsoft Utility TCPView

• TCPView v3.05