Ad-Aware Free 10.1.211.3382

Hello,
I have the older version of Ad-Aware installed on my pc and have had no problems with it and can still get the updates for it. However, I did notice that when I open the program up to run it I get a box telling me that there is a newer version and do I want to install it now. I did go to the Lavasoft site and noticed that it now has anit-virus software in the newest version. I already have an anti-virus program that I am happy with and I do know that you cannot run 2 different anit-virus programs on the same pc.

So my question is .... does anyone know if you can disable the anti-virus part of the newest version of Ad-Aware once it is installed or during installation?

TIA

lmhjcr

 

Ad-Aware long ago ceased to be a state-of-the-art antimalware program. I can't believe anybody still uses it.

 

There have been a lot of issues about ad-aware. Personally, I would uninstall it and install something else.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/11/lavasoft_has_new_owners/

 

Much better and both have free versions that remove what they find.

• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
• SUPERAntiSpyware

 

Thanks for the input. It is greatly appreciated. I do have SuperAnti-Spyware and Malware Bytes installed and run both of those all the time as well.

Thanks Again,

 

Dang, I still use it. What do you suggest?

 

>> Dang, I still use it. What do you suggest? Ariana <<

I actually test new freeware (as a hobby) and currently use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to fight malware/adware and to prevent becoming infected with viruses, worms, Trojans, rootkits, dialers, and spyware.

I also used to have Ad-Aware installed but eventually removed it; because I no longer found it to be a viable program. Typing "Ad-Aware sucks" into Google search and you get "About 1,180,000 results"

Ad-Aware was originally initially developed in 1999; and to be fair about this at that time it was actually a very innovative and useful program to have installed onto the computer. However, as time went on and it evolved into its current form, the "Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+" it unfortunately became an incredibly bloated and fairly useless application - at least in my opinion. Also it is technically not "freeware" anymore; because Ad-Aware installs Google Chrome, which will be installed automatically, unless the user 'de-selects' the tick-box within the Ad-Aware .exe installation program.

Malwarebytes actually comes in two versions a FREE and a PRO version. If you decide to try it out I would suggest viewing the "Using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - MajorGeeks Support Forums" page first.

You might also want to check out the Video Tutorial (created by MajorAttitude) on how to use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware at this link.

Good Luck! -- COMP​

 

As others have said, Malwarebytes and/or Superantispyware. There's also Microsoft Security Essentials, but I don't know much about it.

 

use malwarebytes its a life time sub for like 20$ and does a way better job then Ad ware

 

I have been using the Malware Bytes (free version) for a long time now as well as the Ad-Aware. Guess I will simply uninstall the Ad-Aware since it isn't worth the space it is taking up anymore (not that I don't have plenty of space on the hard drive).

I have noticed over the past week or so that I have been getting a box stating that Ad-Aware had to shut down for some problem or another and was it okay to send a report to Lavasoft (both an alert from Ad-Aware and one from my firewall about sending out a report). From what I am not hearing I guess it is time to uninstall the worthless Ad-Aware and just use the Super Anti-Spyware, Malware Bytes and Spybot as well as Windows Defender and CCleaner.

Thanks Again!

 

Hello Again!

I did uninstall the Lavasoft Ad-Aware program using the Revo Uninstaller and I thought that everything had been removed. However, I was just in the Control Panel > Programs and Features to uninstall my older version of Avast and then to install the newest version and I noticed that in the Programs and Features section there is still a listing for Ad-Aware with a white/blank icon next to it and in the size section it states 34.0 MB. if I click on it nothing happens and if I try right clicking there is nothing given (such as if I click on any of the other programs and i get a box saying uninstall or uninstall or change).

Why is this still listed in the Programs and features section if I used the Advanced Mode in Revo Unistaller and how do I get rid of that listing in Programs and Features?

TIA

 

Possibly it is an older version that did not get overwritten when you updated Ad-Aware at some time. Don't know for sure.

There are a few ways of getting rid of it but try this one first. Using Microsoft Windows Installer Cleanup Utility

 

I was just doing a search on my pc and found a few entries in the registry and when I went to start and in the search section typed in Ad-Aware it found one entry and it states the location is in C:\Users\(the location listed in this section does not even exist in c:\users)

I was looking to see why the program might still be listed and did find information about using the Windows Install Cleanup and how to use it at http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/86721-programs-features-remove-uninstall-entry.html but was going to wait until I heard back here since I have never gotten incorrect advice when I asked a question here.

At http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...en-after/449c1ce4-f24d-4ed2-8992-098d96f829bc they also suggested using the CCleaner program - which I used at least weekly so I don't think that step will help.

I will follow the instructions at the link you gave me and will get back to you and let you know if that has resolved the issue.

Thanks!

 

The CCleaner option would be what you do next if the Windows Install Cleanup Utility does not work.

 

Okay, I just ran the Windows Utility and Ad-Aware is no longer listed in the Programs and Features section of the control panel.

When I went to start and entered Ad-Aware in the search section that file is still listed there - would it be okay to just right click and delete that one?

I am currently running a search in the registry editor to see if there are now any listings in there for that program now that I ran that windows utility.

So far it did find one entry that is located at HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings\ZoneMap\EscDomains\download-ad-aware.com (which is a folder)

There is also a listing in the registry that shows a file/folder in c:\users\____\
AppData\Local\Temp\AAWInstallerTemp\v9.5.0\Ad-Aware.msi and another one with the v9.6.0 listed as well.

The registry editor is still running a search to see if there are any other entries. Should I worry about those entries and / or should I follow the steps that I found at http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/86721-programs-features-remove-uninstall-entry.html for removing entries in the registry?

I'm guessing that it doesn't matter much --- but there are a lot of items listed when I ran the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility that I don't even recognize.

I also ran the CCleaner and went to tools and the Ad-Aware is not listed there. I didn't even realize that there was a section in CCleaner for a uninstalling programs!

 

Don't mess with the registry unless you are very confident in what you are doing. You can turn your computer into a paper weight very easily.

That is a legitimate entry that helps to keep you safe when browsing. download-ad-aware.com is a fake Ad-Aware download site.

It's in a Temp folder and is doing no harm. It's the Ad-Aware installer/uninstaller. Try this with CCleaner.

Go into Options > Advanced uncheck Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 48 hours

Now run it and see if that file is removed.

 

Okay, Since I really am not sure what I am doing in the registry (other than how to create a backup before doing anything) I will leave those entries alone.


The only thing checked in the advanced tab of CCleaner "show prompt to back up registry issues". Will run CCleaner anyway and see if that file is removed.

What about that file (the size is 0 bytes so I don't think it is an issue) that is found when I enter the search section from start and type in Ad-Aware ----- it is showing a file that is 0 bytes in size that is located in a folder that does not even exist in c:\users\(folder that does not exist)\Desktop\shortcut.

Thanks Again!

 

That's the old desktop shortcut. Maybe it's cached, not sure.

Try restarting the computer. That may get it out of the memory.

 

I ran all three sections of CCleaner and then checked the registry and those 2 entries are still there. (since I am not sure exactly what I am doing in the registry and unless it is going to cause some sort of issue - I'm thinking that I should just leave it alone).

The listing in the registry that shows a file/folder in c:\users\____\
AppData\Local\Temp\AAWInstallerTemp\v9.5.0\Ad-Aware.msi and another one with the v9.6.0 listed as well (is the what I am talking about now)


I will try restarting the pc and see if that old desktop shortcut (which is oddly to a user that does not even exist on the pc). Like I said - it isn't taking up any space on the hard drive and I am only using about 20% of the space on my hard drive ..... so it really isn't an issue as far as that goes. As long as it isn't going to cause any issues in the future.

Once I get this all straightened out I will then go about uninstalling the old version of Avast Anti-Virus from the control panel and then run the Avast Uninstall Utility in safe mode (as they suggested at the avast forum) and after doing all of that I can install the newest version; update it and register that one.

I'm not sure why but for some reason I decided to open up the Avast User Interface and noticed that it was no longer doing the automatic updates (and had not been doing so since 2/24/2012) despite the fact that when I would move the mouse over the icon in the lower left corner it is saying that my system is secure. Anyway, as I said once this ad-aware thing is cleared up I can get that straightened out!

Will let you know if that old desktop shortcut is gone after the reboot.

Thanks Again!

 

I just restarted the pc but that file is still listed when I go to start and enter ad-aware in the search box. Like I said, when I right click and select properties it states that the size is 0 bytes and it states the the file type is (.lnk) and there is no such folder in C:\Users but when I click on the tab for Details it states that the file size is 978 bytes and was created on 6/15/2011 and modified on 9/12/2010.

If it isn't going to cause any issues I can just leave it - (tried clicking to open its location and nothing happens.)

Need to go and check on my parents and make sure that they ate dinner and clean up their kitchen so probably won't be able to check back until tomorrow.

Thanks Again!

 

You may want to run a more powerful cleaner. JetClean might go a little deeper than CCleaner.

Also. If there is more than one user account on the computer CCleaner will need to be run from each one. JetClean might get all accounts but I'm not sure as I've only used it once.

 

I'll look into the Jet Cleaner and see is that helps. At least ad-aware is no longer listed in the programs and features section! I am the only user on this pc. I did set up another user account at one time to see if an issue I was having at one time occurred when I used the new user account name (and just never deleted that user). But that is not the user account name that is being shown for that file that is coming up when I use the search box from the start menu. The user account name that it is showing is my user name but with the number 2 at the end.

I'll give Jet Cleaner a try. (that other user account was only used one time after replacing the hard drive that was going bad - about 2 years after I got this pc and I have never actually used it for anything and like I said; I just never thought to delete it)

Will let you know how things look after using Jet Cleaner.

Again, I can't thank you enough for all of your help!

 

Hello Again!

I just downloaded and ran JetClean for both user accounts. When I ran regedit on my user account those other 2 files for ad-aware are now gone. However, that darn file / .lnk that comes up when I do a search from the start menu is still there.

Out of curiosity I did check (search) for ad-aware on the other user account and that .lnk file does not come up.

It isn't taking up much space on the hard drive so it really isn't an issue (at least not as far as hard drive space goes). It is just annoying to know that there is something coming up that when I right click on it and select open file location nothing happens (probably because that location does not exist) and if I try send to and have it sent to my documents - again nothing. In the details section it shows the path (which does not exist) and that it is a shortcut. There is an option at the bottom of that section to remove properties and personal information but I'm not sure what that will do and I do have the option to delete it if I right click on it but I'm not sure if I should do either of those or just forget about it.

 

I wouldn't let it bother you too much. It may be a cached copy. The file will remain in the cache until the space it occupies is needed to store new files then it will be overwritten.

To solve this you can try a disk defrag. Defraggler is a good quick, free option as opposed to the built in disk defrag. Using Piriform Defraggler

 

I do you defraggler instead of the defrag option that comes with windows. I'm sure that in a few days I will have completely forgotten about that annoying little file ~ heck I didn't even realize that there were any traces of Ad-Aware left on the pc until I went to uninstall Avast so that I could install the newest version!

Thanks Again for Everything! :wave

 

I had forgotten about this until just now. It lists a few versions of Ad-Aware that it searches for and removes. Although I don't know if it finds .lnk files or not.

AppRemover - If anything is found you may be prompted to restart your computer. If not restart the computer anyway to be sure everything was removed properly.

 

Hello Again!

I will give that AppRemover program a try - it can't hurt anything to at least give it a try. If it doesn't get rid of that file - it's not a big deal (since I will most likely forget about it at some point anyway; didn't even know it was there until the other day and the file isn't that big).

Again, Thanks So Very Much for all your assistance. I really do appreciate it!

 

Well, AppRemover did not find any traces of Ad-Aware - just my Avast, Spybot and Super Anti-Spyware programs which I do not want removed. It didn't even find Malwarebytes which I was surprised at.

Actually I am going to remove Avast and then install the newest version (so maybe I will run this again to make sure all of Avast has been removed - even after running the Avast uninstall utility just to be sure).

I did just notice an program called Wise Disk Cleaner http://majorgeeks.com/Wise_Disk_Cleaner_d5436.html but not sure that will do any good or if it would simply be repeating the cleaning programs that I have already run so I have not downloaded that one. Besides since it is meant for freeing up disk space by deleting junk files and temporary files --- I'm not sure if that would be doing the same thing as CCleaner and JetClean do.

 

I have used Wise Disk Cleaner many times and it is a good cleaner. I'm not sure it will go any deeper than JetClean though.

 

I sort of thought from the description that it might be similar to Jet Clean or CCleaner which is why I didn't bother to download and install it.

Although I did notice last night (before shutting down the pc for the night) when I ran one and then the other (can't remember which one I ran first) each one found some items that the other did not catch so I guess it can't hurt to keep both of them installed on the computer.

Thanks Again for Everything and I hope you are having a Great 4th of July.

Will go and follow the steps for uninstalling Avast and then installing the newest version.

Again, Thank You So Very Much!!!!

 

CCleaner is a good every day cleaner. I'll usually run something more powerful before doing a defrag or if I feel it needs it. Every other month or so.

Thanks and you too. Getting ready to head to the lake. My sister and brother in law put on a fireworks show every year that is absolutely spectacular!!! :cool

 

Okay, Thanks for all the help. I am not sure but I am guessing I should probably start a new post since I am now having a new problem after uninstalling the Avast and then installing the newest version on the pc.

Now the taskbar (bottom of the screen that has the start button and all the items that are on the lower right side - time, internet connections, battery, firewall, virus program) seems to have shrunk and is cutting off some of the icons.

I did try resizing the taskbar but now it is larger that it was before. These are the steps that I followed

1. Right-click an empty area on the taskbar. If Lock the Taskbar has a check mark next to it, the taskbar is locked. Unlock it by clicking Lock the Taskbar, which removes the check mark.
2. Point to the edge of the taskbar until the pointer changes into a double-headed arrow, and then drag the border to make the taskbar the size you want.

I switched users to see if anything was different in the "personalize" section and everything is the same and there are no problems with the taskbar on that user so I am not sure what else to do.

If you need to move this I will understand.

I did add the pics (print screen and pasted into a word document) so that you can see what I mean.

Thanks Again

 

Okay, I started doing some more messing around with the Personalize section and for the Border Padding it was set to 4 and I changed that to 0 and now I can see the entire icons. Don't think that I looked at those settings the first 2 times.

Now I just need to figure out how to get my icons and the text just a little bit larger (not huge - which is how it appeared once I did the uninstall of Avast and then installed the newest version).

I'm sure I must be able to do it since I did manage to get it from huge to teeny tiny.

Thanks Again!

 

I really hate to be a bother but I also still have that Ad-Aware free edition installed on a desktop pc that is almost never used (kept for that just in case sort of thing). Anyway, I had used revo uninstaller to remove Ad-Aware from this pc which is running vista home premium and ended up with those scraps left over after the uninstall.

Would I be better off to use something else to uninstall that ad-aware software from the desktop pc running windows xp professional with sp3 or just use the revo uninstaller and then run the other programs that I ended up running to clear out most of the left over traces on that machine as well?

Again, I can't thank you enough for all your assistance.

 

My normal uninstall routine.

• Revo Uninstaller
• Then to make sure all of the files/folders were removed, Everything search engine <- Blows away the built in Windows search.

If anything is still left over then the CCleaner registry cleaner usually gets it. I do advise though not to blindly delete stuff with a registry cleaner. Always look and be sure it's not removing something that may be needed.

 

Hello Again!

Whenever I use the CCleaner Registry Section I always have it make a backup before it makes any changes - this way if there is a problem I have my backup to fall back on.

I will try that Everything Search Engine as well.

Thanks Again!