Ed wrote:

<<My wife and I have a tiny LAN for the DSL acount.  I'm using an hp Vectra
with WinXP Pro and have a NetDefense firewall.  Many, many times I get
messages similar to--

   MSN_SL is trying to connect to g.ceipmsn.com.  Do you want to allow this
program to access the network?  Yes__   No__      __Remember my answer and
do not ask me again for this application.

   Every few minutes I get such a message and, concerned about my
ignorance, consistently answer No.  With no idea whatsoever what I'm doing. >>

I'm not surprised at your confusion---I've often been scared witless by
some strange demon making its presence felt via the firewall.  Fortunately,
that's what they are for.

First it's telling you that MSNSL is trying to use your computer to go to
the particular ".com" website specified.

Since all firewalls have to be taught your likes and dislikes, it's asking
you whether you wish to allow/disallow this connection in future.  ie it
needs to be taught to remember your answer so that you won't have to grant
or deny that permission in the future.

Now, there are 2 main reasons why a program like MSN might want to make a
connection.  If it is something which you have installed or set with an
option to search for updates automatically at set periods, then the
firewall will generate that message until you give it permanent permission
or denial.

The other possibility is that the program MSN is a spyware/trojan trying to
transmit info about you or your browsing habits back to its parent site. It
will keep knocking at the door until you let it out.

If you don't know this particular program and have no obvious reason to
allow it internet access, you should tell it "no" and tick the "remember"
box.  Then update your antispyware programs and run some full system scans
to clean out such scunge.

I personally don't like anything automatically updating, so that any
strange item that comes up on my firewall will most likely be a nasty one
to which permission will be denied.  The beauty of this system is that any
spyware/trojan may reveal its presence in this way.  However, that's not
quite as good as it sounds, because much spyware makes use of your browser
to carry out its nefarious tasks. Having told your firewall to remember to
allow your browser access, there's not much you can do about this, as the
trojan will simply operate silently thru your browser.

In passing, I'd mention that this is a very good reason to use a
third-party firewall such as ZoneAlarm (there are plenty of good free ones)
rather than the native XP one, as that is only a one-way firewall and won't
block outgoing info. Though I think SP2 has now changed it into a 2-way one
(not sure about that).

So, Ed, if anything trying to get out is not known to you, treat it as
highly suspicious and block it.  You can always unblock it later if you
need to. Some spyware will use vaguely familiar names so as to lull your
suspicions.

Don Penlington




 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html

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