I have asked two questions thus far, and no one has replied... Why?

Hi!

Ray is the person who most commonly answers technical questions around here, and I don't think that he's been on the board since you asked your second question.  As to your first question, maybe he doesn't know the answer.

Now for my try:

The combination of your problems looks VERY suspicious.  I've never heard of Windows Genuine Advantage checking a system without explicit permission, and it's odd for your machine to say that it's trying to hook up to a server without your knowing the reason.  (This could happen, though:  even aside from update checks, and so on, many programs use local servers without the user's thinking about it - database programs, security filters which work through local proxies, etc.)

It sounds to me like the most likely explanation is that you have at least one malware infection.

My $0.02:  You should check your system with at least two WELL-KNOWN, REPUTABLE malware checkers.  "Spybot Search & Destroy" and "Lavasoft Ad-Aware" are possibilities.  (Back up your system files before making any major changes, though.)

I hope that you are using a firewall, do not surf the Web using a Windows Administrator account unless you have some reason to do so, and take other normal security precautions.

If you don't mind my asking, what anti-virus software do you use, if any?  Some provide protection against other kinds of malware also, and some don't.

Good luck.
C.  

   If someone knows an answer, they answer it.  If not, they don't.
   I try to check this board every day but I am not always able to do that.  Other people who answer questions here, check it less frequently.