Many Windows XP programs that you may not think of will attempt to access the Internet to download updates, check for news items, etc. If you currently access the Internet via a dial-up account, you may not want these software packages to start randomly dialing your ISP. Instead, you may want to consider making Windows XP not dial a connection every time software wants Internet access, only granting software Internet access when you have manually connected to the Internet.

To perform this tip, open up Internet Explorer. Choose "Tools" then "Options". When the "Internet Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "Connections" tab. Now, click the radio button labeled "Never dial a connection" and click "OK" to close the dialog box.

Note that if you are used to automatically connecting to your ISP whenever you open Internet Explorer and access a webpage, after you perform this tip, that won't happen. This is because if you force other software not to access the Internet automatically using this method, then Internet Explorer also will not automatically autodial to access the Internet.

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