If you want to check to see if someone has connected to your computer
click start, then run
16 bit os type in command
32 bit os type cmd
hit enter
type in netstat -a
in case it does not show results, your environment path statement could be wrong
navigate to c:\windows\system32
--do the rest over
usually if someone is connected it will show an ip address, you will see ip addresses, like if you just used google, or microsoft...etc so you have to check out the ip
also if you type netstat /? it will show other useful commands
to see if aim is loading at start up
click start, then run, type msconfig hit enter
go to startup ( this is a compilation of your registry " run" key of HKLM and HKCU ) FOR WINDOWS XP>>>DO NOT DISABLE ANY OF THE SERVICES . ON THE SERVICES TAB...YOU CAN LOCK YOURSELF OUT OF XP, IF YOU DISABLE THE RIGHT SERVICE<<<<