Windows XP Can you unknowingly be a server?

Explodey

Member
I recently moved into a new place; it's a roommate situation, and our wifi is in my roommate's name. But my roommate has been threatening to change things so that only he has access to the wifi, and then I'll have to make some other arrangements if I want internet. This is because he's convinced that people are somehow remotely accessing the files on his computer. I asked him why he thinks that, and he says it's because whenever he opens up the command prompt app, it says "host." He's very troubled by this because he doesn't want to be a host. He said that he keeps changing it, but people are somehow remotely changing it back.

This all sounds extremely implausible to me, but I'm a Mac person and I don't know enough about Windows to refute any of this. At some point, I'd like to sit down at his computer and have him show me exactly what he's talking about, but first, I thought someone could at least tell me the meaning of "host" in the command prompt, as I highly doubt there's anything sinister behind it.

One more thing: I'm assuming that in Windows, there's an option to turn on a firewall, right? I asked him if he has a firewall turned on, and he says that he turns it on, but again, these mysterious people are somehow remotely turning it back off. I think he might be confused about what a firewall is.

I'm going to try to get more info about this, but meanwhile, I'd really appreciate it if anyone has any ideas on anything I can say or do to assuage his fears.

He told me he has two systems, one running XP and the other running 8.1.
 
I guess the most obvious questions are does he keep Windows updated and does he use a anti Virus app?
 
Sounds like to me that your roommate's PC has been hacked and taken over remotely.....If this is in fact true....the only option is to do a clean install or a factory reset if an OEM. This will wipe out everything so save all important data. Then change all user names and passwords.

This kind of stuff happens all the time to users. LIke Kemical stated about keeping the PC updated and use an AV and malware/spyware software, your bound to have something like this happen.
 
Thanks for your replies. I'll tell him about the Malwarebytes software. Does anyone else have any recommendations? I remember a former roommate used to have this antivirus software that asked permission every time any software made a connection to the internet. I found it to be kind of a nuisance, but I think it might be perfect for putting this guy's mind at ease. But I can't remember what it was called... actually I think it was AVG.

I'm still wondering about the meaning of the "host" in the command prompt.

And as for keeping the OS updated, is Microsoft still even updating XP anymore?
 
If you're running XP......oh my. MS stopped updating that some years back. So what ever backdoors have been found since are wide open for hackers. It would be better to upgrade to 7, if possible, that is if your machines hardware is capable of running 7.
 
WHAT SHOULD IT SAY IN COMMAND PROMPT????MY WIFI ICON HAS GONEON LAPTOP CONNECTING TO NEW WIFI. I DONT GIVE PERMISSION TO IT.SOMEONE TOOK MY COMPUTER ONCE I REMEMBER FEELS HORRIBLE ANY ADVICE YOU NEED LIKE LEAVING IT OF WILL BE HERE LOST IT TO A REMOTE CONNECTION I 70./ MYSELF.MESSAGES APPEARED SAYING MY COMPUTER CAN BE SEEN ie TYPING ETC ITS ,./;!!!!! !!!!ING HATE THE BAS!!!!! STICK A FILE IN SOMETHING AND SEND THEM IT
 
WHAT SHOULD IT SAY IN COMMAND PROMPT????MY WIFI ICON HAS GONEON LAPTOP CONNECTING TO NEW WIFI. I DONT GIVE PERMISSION TO IT.SOMEONE TOOK MY COMPUTER ONCE I REMEMBER FEELS HORRIBLE ANY ADVICE YOU NEED LIKE LEAVING IT OF WILL BE HERE LOST IT TO A REMOTE CONNECTION I 70./ MYSELF.MESSAGES APPEARED SAYING MY COMPUTER CAN BE SEEN ie TYPING ETC ITS ,./;!!!!! !!!!ING HATE THE BAS!!!!! STICK A FILE IN SOMETHING AND SEND THEM IT
er... Do you actually have an issue?
 
I’ve just realised this is an old thread, so I have deleted my original reply.
 
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