The Tenuous Link

I have Windows Vista installed on a desktop machine which is connected to the internet via my ADSL router. I have also configured some dial-up connections on the machine, for testing and as a backup connection for my network.

I don't want my machine to try to make a dialup connection by itself though, the default network route is the LAN, but recently I was being prompted by a dial-up network connection chooser when certain applications need internet access. Often I don't notice the prompt, and while it is waiting for my input all network access to and from the machine seems to be suspended.

I think I've turned this behaviour off now - Look in Control Panel > Network Connections. If any connection has the green "default connection" tick, right click it and choose "Cancel as Default Connection".

Whoops - "obviously" the correct solution is to change an Internet Explorer option: Internet Explorer, click Tools | Internet Options | Connections, and specify "Never dial a connection". That option applies to other applications as well as IE.