Am I connecting to the internet before NIS 2010 gets to start up?

Vista Home Premium 32 bit, Vista SP 2

Desktop PC

NIS 2010 17.7.0.12

 

I am connected to the internet via DSL

PC> DSL Modem (no router)>phone jack

 

So when I turn on my PC, it automatically/immediatley starts the connection to the internet as part of the start up process

 

I notice sometimes that the icon ( little world over 2 computers in lower right of the screen), will sometimes show the connection before I see NIS 2010 icon pop up and get green

Does this mean that I am connecting to the internet a few seconds (sometimes 20 or so) before my Norton is on to protect me?

With my set up, automatically/immediately makeing internet connection attempt after starting computer, to I need to set up my NIS differently to make sure it is on BEFORE my internet connection is complete?

Is  that the early load option (which is OFF on my set up)