With the Internet becoming an increasingly unsafe place to be, users are requiring more and more security in the Operating System. Microsoft has come a long way to answer these concerns, as a result of this feedback we see things like a firewall and more recently in Windows Server 2003 a default lockdown out of the box. This little guide will assist you to disable some of the forgotten features of Windows that make a connection to the internet at every boot and interval as long as you are connected to the Internet.
From the guide: Windows XP made some advances in stability from its older Windows 9x client-base but this did not go without Microsoft wanting some sort of feedback on how the newer OS was going to be used in the field. Microsoft didn"t stop with Windows Millennium when it came to PC Health and Help Centers, there are plenty of these hidden away in XP that at first glance look harmless, they are in fact -yet many users simply don"t know the extent of Windows XP"s "call home" features out of the box.