What is my computer loading from the internet

Hi, I'm not sure if anyone has ever wondered .... but sometimes when I am not accessing a particular web page, can I see that my computer is furiously loading info from the internet. Microsoft updates is often the cause..... but is there anyway of seeing what exactly or from where my computer is loading info?

Something else to worry about: Zombie computer, i.e. maybe your computing is sending stuff. ;)

you could use a packet sniffer to see what data is being transmited.

wire shark is a free program that would help you diagnose this issue.