Security → slow Ad-Aware 2007

Has anyone updated their Ad-Aware 2007 to 7.0.2.6 yet?
I just updated mine and when you click it to open it it takes approx 22 seconds to open.
This is a whole lot slower than any previous versions.

Is this noticeable to anyone else.

Yes and I hate it I have the paid pro version.

It seems like all these apps after becoming compatible with Vista have become slow as molasses.

I just upgraded also. Same delay here. On a chance, I opened up my Online Armor Firewall Status screen (also checking that out...). It's phoning home. Splash screen shows while it does a TCP connection to Sweden until it's done. Then, it lets you in.

It's also a lot slower to scan. It's added a service ""C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware 2007\aawservice.exe" that's flagged for automatic (run on startup). I changed it to manual.

I posted to another ad-aware thread about this. »Ad-aware won't update

Time to dump it? I'm not happy.

I'm not sure wtf it is. I did an "upgrade" to mine today, and it's been as molasses since....loading, checking updates, etc. Glad I don't use it often!

Here are two things which might help with the speed:

1. For faster program loading:
Right-click the shortcut> Properties> add to end of Target:
/prefetch:1 (note there is a space before slash)

2. Adaware calls home to promo.lavasoft.com 82.99.19.205
You can add an entry in your hosts file to prevent 1t.
Add in hosts file as:
127.0.0.1 promo.lavasoft.com

This should help. Good luck to all.
Note the faster program loading thingy works with any shortcut to a program exe.

I am not sure about adding that record to the hosts file. That site may also be used for getting updates. I am not sure. Someone will have to check it out. Sorry.

The prefetch helped a lot and it's not phoning home after I modified the hosts file.

I checked. It's a problem. (Online Armor caught me red-handed trying to update it- I think I like this program! ). With the hosts file redirecting to 127.0.0.1, it said that all was OK and that my files were up to date. However, there was NO outgoing connection (expected result). I put everything back and when I did the update check, it went outgoing to the promo site. This verifies that the firewall is monitoring OK.

Conclusion: hosts file redirect is no good and Ad-Aware has a bug when it doesn't receive a confirmation from home (false sense of security).

Some investigation with NT process explorer (resource loading is very dynamic, use as guide only):

aawservice.exe (the scanner): Peak memory at 71 MB, 15 % CPU
Ad-aware2007.exe (the GUI): 32 MB memory, 1 % CPU.

It's still slow. AMD64 4800+ dual-core, 3 GB RAM.
Reminder: Put the hosts file back to read-only when done.

Anyone confirm?

Same here Mag, I am dumping as I type

The faster program loading works but as far as the host file not sure about messing with that one.

You can leave the hosts file entry for awhile. I am leaving it in for a week or two, then try to get update. Won't hurt anything. If don't work, remove it from hosts file. No big deal.
Also, I noticed that the service (aawservice.exe) continues to run well after finishing the scan. YUK. I had to kill it in Task Manager. Check to see if you still have aawservice running.

Confirmed that it stays resident. Was away from PC for about an hour and it was still there when I returned. Killed.

I set aawservice.exe to "Manual" in the starup (Run --> services.msc). Not much point.

Tell me why I should keep Ad-Aware. Already have MicroSoft Defender and SpyBot (gives me a false positive for the Windows Security Center, but it's done that for a long time).

What is it with everything you install wanting to go "out"? I'm dual-booting with Linux ((k)Ubuntu 7.10). It's things like this that make me glad Linux is the primary boot OS. FYI - »Unix and Linux

@GeekGirl1

Here is a great tool for managing Startups, Processes, and Services. Forget about services.msc.

»www.snapfiles.com/get/st ··· ter.html

Hope you like it. Best part is that it's free.

FYI - I have Windows XP SP2.
I switched to manual.
Will let you know what happens.

I switched my aawservice.exe to manual right after installing it a while ago. In light of the latest issues, along with the fact that it seems to find not a thing anymore, including tracking cookies, it's due for an uninstall. Just seems like useless software now! Too bad, as I really liked Ad-Aware SE. But 2007 just sucks.

Same here.
There is no change in performance since I changed it.
I already have Spybot on my PC.
I wonder what would be a good or decent replacement for Ad-Aware.

I just uninstalled AW 2007 off one rig, and am in the process of taking it off my remaining pc's.

I'm using SpyBot as well, along with AVG Anti-Spyware Free Edition. Actually AW 2007 hasn't even found as much as a tracking cookie in a few weeks now, while AVG AS has found a few.

Also a FYI, AVG AS also uses a service, but I have that set to manual. I only start that service when I do an update or scan, and have been happy with it.

The free version of the following botkiller has full detection and removal capability without having to load a service>>>
»www.superantispyware.com/

Its only been around for a few years but is very quickly gaining market share due to its reputation by others experience's with it versus live malware infections

»Anti-Spyware Poll 2008

The product has a support forum too
»forums.superantispyware.com/

This problem has been posted in the Ad-Aware forum.

»www.lavasoftsupport.com/ ··· orum=149

Thanks for the reference. I've got a small arsenal of "useful" utilities, so it's best to stick with a small number that are used frequently. Ccleaner (crap cleaner) shows registry startups. msconfig.exe also can show startup configurations.

Ad-Aware has been Ad-NOwared. Used Ccleaner (»ccleaner.com) to clean up the registry afterwards.

jl747 - I don't see anything about the aawservice.exe being stuck on or a false positive about updates. Interesting read, however, as there are more severe errors than posted here. A number of posters are also jumping ship.

Update: SUPERAntiSpyware looks OK. Will keep it around for a while. Not too happy with the "Find Out What's Running on your Computer" link, as it launches the web browser to entice you to download a plugin for Firefox. However, I guess it's a good trade for a really easy to use program that's light on resources and free.

Wow...went to the lavasoft thread posted above. I also got the Valentine Day flowers pop up once when messing with AW2007 yesterday. Guess it's a good move at this point to just ditch the app.

FYI-
My post was about this Ad-Aware being slow and what would be a good replacement.

In the Ad-Aware forum there is the complaint about it being slow.

It is titled:
"New Upgrade Installed Now Slow To Load"

This is where the problem is noted.

I had tried the 2007 version on 2 XP computers and hated it. Removed it and went back to the older 106 version and will continue to update it manually as long as the website keeps updating the SE definitions. Once that stops will just dump the program. Anyone know if the definitions for the newer version will work in the older version? I doubt it but would love to know. Have one old 98SE computer that cannot use the 2007 version so will do the same there.

A slightly different experience and how I got rid of the delay in opening AdAware2007.
I run AdAware2007 Free. Up to a few days ago, it opened about as quickly as AdAware SE Personal, but took about three times as long to scan.
Then a software update (not new reference definitions files) containing an update to the GUI and two language files was offered. When that was installed, AA took much longer to open--probably 22 seconds is about right. Scanning time remained the same.
So I uninstalled AA2007 and reinstalled v7.0.2.6. When I clicked the update button I accepted the updates for the reference definition files, but not the new software update. Now time to open AA is back to normal (a few seconds).
And, yes, I have aawservice.exe installed in Program Files and allowed it to access the internet. But it seems by not accepting the software update I do not have the long delay in opening AA.
In summary, my experience suggests that only the software update, not aawservice.exe phoning home, causes the delay in opening AdAware.
There is a thread on the Lavasoft Forum with a few more details
»www.lavasoftsupport.com/ ··· ic=16219
Fortunately I do not have the problems with popups that some others are experiencing.

Uninstalling AA2007 completely fixed the issue for me!

I should have added to my post above that nowhere have I seen any comment from Lavasoft that they have fixed the problems with the software update and popups or whatever else may be causing them.
If anyone else has, please post a link.

Lavasoft has made a statement on the problem
»www.lavasoftsupport.com/ ··· &p=70085
This is part of the Lavasoft Forum thread I mentioned above.

Is the scan speed as good as the previous (1.06) version? I dumped it because of the startup delay AND it was painfully slow.

It takes me about 13 minutes to scan the same hard drive that Personal SE scanned in 4 1/2 minutes.