41 replies to this topic

[Morningdove]

I installed AE over 2008 and everything seemed fine, but after reboot the program would not start. Clicking the start button showed the hourglass for a few seconds, but then just quit. There was no indication of any problems or error messages during the installation or when trying to start the program.

Next I uninstalled AE, rebooted the computer, emptied the temp folder, downloaded another copy of the installer, turned off COMODO Internet Security and reinstalled AE. The results were exactly the same as previously described.

My system is running Windows XP SP3

Help!

Edited by Raziel v. Nosgoth, 24 January 2009 - 02:36 PM.

[bobbo]

I installed AE over 2008 and everything seemed fine, but after reboot the program would not start. Clicking the start button showed the hourglass for a few seconds, but then just quit. There was no indication of any problems or error messages during the installation or when trying to start the program.

Next I uninstalled AE, rebooted the computer, emptied the temp folder, downloaded another copy of the installer, turned off COMODO Internet Security and reinstalled AE. The results were exactly the same as previously described.

That's exactly my experience. I installed/uninstalled 3 times and so far have been unable to see any activity after right and/or left clicking on the AE icon in the task bar or on the exe file in the AE folder. Is there supposed to be any observable activity after clicking on the icon?

[Morningdove]

That's exactly my experience. I installed/uninstalled 3 times and so far have been unable to see any activity after right and/or left clicking on the AE icon in the task bar or on the exe file in the AE folder. Is there supposed to be any observable activity after clicking on the icon?



I would expect to see the program GUI. I checked Task Manager and nothing pertaining to Ad-Aware was running.

Edited by Morningdove, 20 January 2009 - 09:58 PM.

[mike532]

Same issue.
WinXP sp3 w/Comodo.

[ronsmith]

Same here. Tried to roll back to previous version but that wouldn't load either.

XP Home SP3
PC Tools Internet Security

[Hegelcat]

I have the exact same problem

I uninstalled Ad Aware AE and tried to reinstall Ad Aware SE 2008 - it did not work. I re installed the AE version - still the same problem- then in uninstalled it with Revo Uninstaller (Free Software). I used the Revo defaults, (level 3 I think) and DID NOT CHECK THE RESTART BOX and deleted all the registry and file entries identified by Revo.

I then successfully re installed the old Ad Aware SE 2008 and it works fine.

I suppose we will have to wait until Lavasoft figures out why the new AE version will not start.

[ronsmith]

Installed and working now. Not sure if I did anything differently but just uninstalled and reinstalled then manually re-registered.
Ron

[Morningdove]

Well, I did solve the problem. I am not sure which step solved it, but here's what I did:

-- I uninstalled Ad-Aware AE.
-- I found a dead service called aawservice.exe and actually removed it from the services list.
-- I reinstalled the program, this time choosing "custom install" (in small print) on the accept license page.
-- Then I declined to add the driver for the Ad-Watch function since I don't use Ad-Watch anyway.
The program now started and ran normally, but without the Ad-Watch feature. Not satisfied with having a feature missing I again uninstalled the program and reinstalled it, this time installing the Ad-Watch driver. The program again started and ran including the Ad-Watch feature.

I have no positive explanation for why this solved the problem, unless the dead services entry was causing it, but that doesn't sound logical since the service was disabled. It might save some work if you just delete the dead service and do a full installation, but I didn't try that so I don't know if it will work.

I used the free "Extended Task Manager" utility from Extensoft to easily delete the service.

I hope this convoluted procedure works for all of you having the same problem and I do hope this program is worth the effort. I might also add that I installed and uninstalled the program a number of times prior to the above procedure, but without the success that ronsmith had.

Edited by Morningdove, 21 January 2009 - 05:40 AM.

[Pierre67]

I have pinned this topic for future reference.

[AikeaGuinea]

Well, I did solve the problem. I am not sure which step solved it, but here's what I did:

-- I uninstalled Ad-Aware AE.
-- I found a dead service called aawservice.exe and actually removed it from the services list.
-- I reinstalled the program, this time choosing "custom install" (in small print) on the accept license page.
-- Then I declined to add the driver for the Ad-Watch function since I don't use Ad-Watch anyway.
The program now started and ran normally, but without the Ad-Watch feature. Not satisfied with having a feature missing I again uninstalled the program and reinstalled it, this time installing the Ad-Watch driver. The program again started and ran including the Ad-Watch feature.

I have no positive explanation for why this solved the problem, unless the dead services entry was causing it, but that doesn't sound logical since the service was disabled. It might save some work if you just delete the dead service and do a full installation, but I didn't try that so I don't know if it will work.

I used the free "Extended Task Manager" utility from Extensoft to easily delete the service.

I hope this convoluted procedure works for all of you having the same problem and I do hope this program is worth the effort. I might also add that I installed and uninstalled the program a number of times prior to the above procedure, but without the success that ronsmith had.

Thank you Morningdove that has worked a treat.
I think it was the removal of the aawservice.exe which did the trick.

[Hegelcat]

I checked to see there was no AAWService.exe, or anything else I could identify with Ad Aware after I had un-installed the software. I then re-installed the AE version, but alas, It failed to work just as described by others above in this thread.

[Raziel v. Nosgoth]

@Hegelcat
try this ...
uninstall AAW2008 with REVO in the highest pos.
download and install WindowsInstallerCleanUp Utility ( link in sign.)
run wicu and delete all AAW references
Reboot
WIN + <R> -- type 'cleanmgr' -- enter -- tag temp.files/temp.internet files/recycle bin and fire it up
Reboot
start a fresh dl and inst.
Let me know what happened.
Regards
Raziel

[Morningdove]

I checked to see there was no AAWService.exe, or anything else I could identify with Ad Aware after I had un-installed the software. I then re-installed the AE version, but alas, It failed to work just as described by others above in this thread.

You are correct, the file doesn't exist. It is only an entry in the services list. You can remove the entry from the services list as I did, you can delete it from the registry directly or you can try Raziel v. Nosgoth's idea.

Edited by Morningdove, 21 January 2009 - 04:52 PM.

[AikeaGuinea]

You are correct, the file doesn't exist. It is only an entry in the services list. You can remove the entry from the services list as I did, you can delete it from the registry directly or you can try Raziel v. Nosgoth's idea.

I could find no entry in the services list with any reference to aaw but what I did find was aawservice.exe still in the documents and settings/all users/application data/lavasoft file - and that was after running a complete uninstall using revo at the highest setting.
Just manually deleting this file had the desired effect and allowed the new program to install fully.

[Morningdove]

It appears we have found workaround solutions, but I have one lingering concern: Is Lavasoft going to fix their problem or are we going to have to go through this everytime Ad-Aware is updated?

An ending note: in my case when I checked the documents and settings/all users/application data/lavasoft folder after uninstalling all versions of Ad-Aware, that folder was empty. Go figure. But I do think I will download a copy of REVO uninstaller; it sounds like an interesting program.

Edited by Morningdove, 21 January 2009 - 08:34 PM.

[SydW]

I have had a variation on this problem, I downloaded Ae onto my main computer and it is working fine, but on my backup computer all went well until I did a restart to complete the installationwhen my XP had almost completed the shutdown I got the "Programme not responding" message which was immediately covered by a pop up with a message about a missing/lost file, one with a lot of 0s in it, the reboot then continued normally, on rebooting I got a flag telling me to reboot to complete the installation, several reboots later the problem still persists. I have done a scan but it still shows up as no scans done yet.
I contacted my local "Fix it' man who is having the same problem I am having, his advice is to either uninstall or put up with it for a few days until Lavasoft come up with a fix.
Syd.

[Hegelcat]

We have a result - it worked!!

What I did:

Uninstall SE 2008 using Revo Uninstaller on the default "Moderate" setting and removed everything that it found
Reboot
Ran Command Prompt and found aawservice with the command "sc query aawservice"
Deleted the service with "sc delete aawservice"

(As an aside you can see all the commands for sc query with the command "sc query/?" )
Reboot

Installed AE version and it worked

Thanks Guys
Hegelcat

[bobbo]

I was finally able to install Ad-Aware AE on two computers using a combination of the workarounds described in this thread. It finally started working, after several more tries, when the AE icon showed up in the systray.

[halohero92]

i have got exactly the same problem
windows xp pro sp3
AVG 8.0 free
originally had Ad aware 2008 free edition
i havent got an aaware.exe service so how do i get rid of it?

[mike532]

It's buried in the registry.
Get Revo and remove it as described above.

Edited by mike532, 22 January 2009 - 07:14 PM.