Unknown program/process

[dow]

I have noticed a generic icon (white box with blue title bar) on my taskbar.
There is no name with it. It appears for about a second, then disappears.
For awhile it appeared every 15 minutes. Now, it appears at irregular
intervals. Sometimes, it won't appear for several days. It began about the
same
time I was emailing an Excel spread sheet from my office to my home.
I am running XP Home. Is there a way to determine and log the date, start
time and stop time, and process name for programs/processes? If XP can't do
it,
is there a program that will? Also, is there a way to determine and log the
source and destination of data entering and leaving my computer via
the internet along with date and time? I have looked at a program called
Commview. Are there alternatives?

 

[Shark]

Windows task manager allows you to see executing processes but it
gives little detail.

Sysinternal's Process Explorer is very powerful and shows a wealth of
information on running processes. You can even use it to see if a
process has open connections to the internet.