Download and upload lights on modem constantly on

[AndrewKelly]

I am using an ntl:home (virgin) cable modem, and even though I am not downloading anything the lights for downloading and uploading are on all the time. This only happens when I am downloading something like a torrent, or something from xbox live, but now even when I am not browsing the internet they still stay on, making my internet run considerably slower. Ive disconnected my wireless router as well to make sure that a neighbour wasnt using my internet, but the lights on the modem still stay on. Also, ive carried out a comprehensive scan using norton 360 to make sure there arent any viruses or spyware etc downloading stuff, and even after norton eliminated all the 'risks' it found, the lights on the modem remained on.

Does anybody have any idea what is going on here?

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

Hmmmm.....Norton 360....An entire problem waiting to happen (my experiences).

Anyways, this light never used to blink like it is doing now?

What happens if you reset the modem? (unplug the power cable for about 30 seconds)

[Broni]

It's normal.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

It's normal.

That's what I thought. Same with me.

[Broni]

When you're connected to the Net, there is always traffic activity.
You open any web page - downloading.
You make a post - uploading.

[AndrewKelly]

Hmmmm.....Norton 360....An entire problem waiting to happen (my experiences).

Anyways, this light never used to blink like it is doing now?

What happens if you reset the modem? (unplug the power cable for about 30 seconds)

The lights arent blinking, they just remain on, like the 'power' light.
Resetting the modem does nothing. After the modem starts up again the lights just turn back on.

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

What about when the computer is off?

[AndrewKelly]

It's normal.

This is not normal for my modem. If the computer was switched on, with no programs open, just the desktop showing, and nothing else, the lights would remain off. They would flicker every now again for whatever reason, but they never remained on constantly as long as the computer was switched on.

Also, my internet is running considerably slower which leads me to believe that something is being downloaded, using up a lot of bandwidth. These lights would only ever stay on, as they are doing now, if i was downloading a torrent file or something from xbox live. They wouldnt stay on constantly if I was just browsing the internet, so they are not staying on  because I am just downloading a web page.

[AndrewKelly]

What about when the computer is off?

The lights go off whenever i switch off the computer. This happened anyway before i noticed the problem.

[Broni]

Surely, there is some background activity. When that activity is heavy, blinking lights become steady lights.

Download HijackThis:
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/tools/security_tools/hijackthis/download
Click on Download HijackThis Installer
Post HijackTHis log.

[AndrewKelly]

It could be background activity, but ive checked what programs are currently running and none of them are downloading updates or patches etc. It would have to be some kind of extremely important background activity to use up a lot of my bandwidth, and if it was, would it not be easy for me to see exactly what it is?

[Carbon Dudeoxide]

The HijackThis Log may show us that exact thing.

[AndrewKelly]

Here is the log:

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 19:53:06, on 16/08/2008
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSvcHst.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\AOL\ACS\AOLacsd.exe
C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehRecvr.exe
C:\WINDOWS\eHome\ehSched.exe
C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KService.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Sonic\DigitalMedia LE v7\MyDVD LE\USBDeviceService.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lxcrcoms.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllhost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\Program Files\Norton 360\ScanStub.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\VAScanner\comHost.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = 127.0.0.1
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Lexmark Toolbar - {1017A80C-6F09-4548-A84D-EDD6AC9525F0} - C:\Program Files\Lexmark Toolbar\toolband.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {1E8A6170-7264-4D0F-BEAE-D42A53123C75} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\coShared\Browser\1.5\NppBho.dll
O2 - BHO: RealPlayer Download and Record Plugin for Internet Explorer - {3049C3E9-B461-4BC5-8870-4C09146192CA} - C:\Program Files\Real\RealPlayer\rpbrowserrecordplugin.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {7E853D72-626A-48EC-A868-BA8D5E23E045} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Windows Live Sign-in Helper - {9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Show Norton Toolbar - {90222687-F593-4738-B738-FBEE9C7B26DF} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\coShared\Browser\1.5\UIBHO.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Lexmark Toolbar - {1017A80C-6F09-4548-A84D-EDD6AC9525F0} - C:\Program Files\Lexmark Toolbar\toolband.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Symantec PIF AlertEng] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\PIF\{B8E1DD85-8582-4c61-B58F-2F227FCA9A08}\PIFSvc.exe" /a /m "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\PIF\{B8E1DD85-8582-4c61-B58F-2F227FCA9A08}\AlertEng.dll"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LXCRCATS] rundll32 C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\3\LXCRtime.dll,_RunDLLEntry@16
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-21-2076256914-2933721995-3393346773-500\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background (User 'Administrator')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [CTFMON.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [CTFMON.EXE] C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTFMON.EXE (User 'Default user')
O8 - Extra context menu item: + Offline &Explorer: Download the link - file://C:\Program Files\Offline Explorer Pro\Add_UrlO.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: + Offline E&xplorer: Download the current page - file://C:\Program Files\Offline Explorer Pro\Add_AllO.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office12\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: Send to OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office12\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: S&end to OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office12\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office12\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: Real.com - {CD67F990-D8E9-11d2-98FE-00C0F0318AFE} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Shdocvw.dll
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {20A60F0D-9AFA-4515-A0FD-83BD84642501} (Checkers Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/msgrchkr.cab56986.cab
O16 - DPF: {B8BE5E93-A60C-4D26-A2DC-220313175592} (MSN Games - Installer) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/ZIntro.cab56649.cab
O16 - DPF: {C3F79A2B-B9B4-4A66-B012-3EE46475B072} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary/MessengerStatsPAClient.cab56907.cab
O23 - Service: AOL Connectivity Service (AOL ACS) - America Online, Inc. - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\AOL\ACS\AOLacsd.exe
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: ATI Smart - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ati2sgag.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Event Manager (ccEvtMgr) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSvcHst.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Settings Manager (ccSetMgr) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSvcHst.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Lic NetConnect service (CLTNetCnService) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSvcHst.exe
O23 - Service: COM Host (comHost) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\VAScanner\comHost.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: iPodService - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: KService - Kontiki Inc. - C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KService.exe
O23 - Service: LiveUpdate - Symantec Corporation - C:\PROGRA~1\Symantec\LIVEUP~1\LUCOMS~1.EXE
O23 - Service: LiveUpdate Notice Service Ex (LiveUpdate Notice Ex) - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSvcHst.exe
O23 - Service: LiveUpdate Notice Service - Symantec Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\PIF\{B8E1DD85-8582-4c61-B58F-2F227FCA9A08}\PIFSvc.exe
O23 - Service: lxcr_device -   - C:\WINDOWS\system32\lxcrcoms.exe
O23 - Service: Symantec Core LC - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\CCPD-LC\symlcsvc.exe
O23 - Service: USBDeviceService - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Sonic\DigitalMedia LE v7\MyDVD LE\USBDeviceService.exe

--
End of file - 7115 bytes

[Broni]

You have only two startups, which use internet connection, Norton, and Windows Messenger. There is no reason for the latter to be a startup, so, open HJT, and checkmark:
- O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-21-2076256914-2933721995-3393346773-500\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background (User 'Administrator')
Click "Fix checked" button.

Restart computer, and see how busy your modem lights are now.

[AndrewKelly]

That didnt work. The lights are still on and the internet is still running slow. I tried doing a system restore as well but I keep getting the 'Restoration Incomplete' message.

Any other ideas?