Winamp 5.03 trying to FTP...
 

Running XP SP2 (RC1), and when I run Winamp 5.03, the built in firewall warns me that FTP program is trying to connect to the net, is Winamp "piggy backing" on the FTP program for some reason? why??

First: The built in XP firewall is a peice of shit. Get an external.
Second: Winamp doesn't use FTP that I know of. It does, however, transmit certain info to nullsoft (Not sure exactly what kind). It's possible it uses FTP to do this, but I doubt it.
Third: Possibly a cause of SP2? SP2, as you pointed out, is still in RC stages - extremely buggy. Possibly giving false errors. I am using SP1, and havn't gotten around to SP2 yet.

Although it's harmless, this can be disabled:

Prefs > General Preferences
Uncheck:
Check for new versions at winamp startup
Allow Winamp to report anonymous basic usage statistics

Would be nice if you explained WHY it's crap. Personally, for me, it's far better than Zone Alarm, as the latency is virtually not detectable, compared to massive latency that ZA inflicts on you, it is also built in, so no need for external programs, and finally, my router has a proper firewall/NAT.

You kinda make yourself look like a gimp by posting statements like that without any backup evidence...

So, did you solve your problem yet then?

btw, are you running any 3rd-party plugins?
If so, more than likely, it'll be one of these which needs to access ftp in order to function, eg. a NowPlaying type plugin...

Zone Alarm is, again, software firewall. Externals are all around more secure and reliable.

As for the proof:
Having the XP Firewall on caused problems sending files over the network. Slowed down transfer speeds, and on occassion blocked transfers all together. Disabling it solved that problem. Also, the firewall just didn't work very well. I had trouble with PASV modes and ports. Now I'm using a Linksys router with built-in firewall.

As chris pointed out on IRC, the firewall in SP2 is different. And I'm sure it's better than before, but I still wouldn't preferr it.

All personal opinion really.