91 replies to this topic

[Bobbert]

I'm running XP SP3 and I downloaded from the site after logging in. I have been having the same connection problem for months now. I check my firewall, install previous 2008 because I can only get ad-watch live functioning if I install 2008, then upgrade to the downloaded setup program, I re-register the program, just in case, sometimes. Now Ad-aware doesn't even load on startup, even after a long banner showing.

Edited by Bobbert, 04 May 2009 - 07:58 PM.

[foh]

what is windows defender ?

the MS firewall ?
the IE8 smart screen filter ?

all that's off and it doesn't help !

i don't know any defender in XPsp3.

[sprank]

Have read the posts since I posted earlier and think
maybe Williamkidd may have found something possible.

He said he managed to get Adaware working on a system
without Windows defender loaded.
My Windows XP SP3 OS also has never had Windows defender
loaded and as stated before version 8.0.4 works fine.Could
this be a compatability issue here?

Just a thought.
ZENFLASH

This could be a great possibility since this follows through with my issues also.
The system that works fine (with Ad-Aware) for me is XP, but Vista is where it falls short. Vista comes with defender loaded at least mine did through Dell. XP was offering defender through Windows Update, but I never put it on my XP system. I guess the only way to tell is for someone to download defender on an XP system to see if they have issues with 8.0.4

This should be something that Lavasoft checks into, but who knows since they haven't responded to anything so far as I have seen. Still I think the best thing to do is uninstall Ad-Aware and clean out the registry keys of it until they offer a newer update.

[foh]

what is windows defender ?

the MS firewall ?
the IE8 smart screen filter ?

all that's off and it doesn't help !

i don't know any defender in XPsp3.

as i allready said, i think i don't have any defender, but the update problem !

so, no defender won't work as a solution !

[Kheldan]

As an FYI, there are people who are running various versions of Vista that ARE able to update without any issues and ALL Vista machines have Windows defender enabled by default...

BTW, please be aware that Lavasoft do take this issue very seriously and to this effect, they have approached me to work with them on investigating what is the root cause of this issue as I have a machine that is impacted by this 8.0.4 will no longer update problem. Tomorrow, R&D from Lavasoft will we remoting into my PC to investigate further the root cause of this hard to isolate issue.

Edited by Kheldan, 04 May 2009 - 09:59 PM.

[AAWService]

I found an easier short term solution for this problem.

I didn't find previous versions of AAWService.exe and Ad-AwareAdmin.exe available.

But I have changed the current versions of these files, setting the Compatibility mode to "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP"

Works perfect and you don't need to replace files.

You go to C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Adaware and right click on AAWService.exe, select properties in popup menu and the Compatibility tab.

Do the same for Ad-AwareAdmin.exe and you will be able to update from the icon tray either.

FOR WINDOWS VISTA

I posted this info in Apr/27 and after changed the files below I didn't have the update problem anymore.

Since then, I'm able to update from all methods. Start menu, tray icon and Ad-Aware main window.

I have changed the current versions of AAWService.exe and Ad-AwareAdmin.exe, setting the Compatibility mode to "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)"

You go to C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Adaware and right click on AAWService.exe, select properties in popup menu and the Compatibility tab.

Do the same for Ad-AwareAdmin.exe

Note: I have other computer running Windows XP Professional SP3 and the update problem never happened.

[foh]

Note: I have other computer running Windows XP Professional SP3 and the update problem never happened.

fine.

but i have XPproSP3 and the update doesn't work. no way.
there's no XP compartibility mode ;-)

i can update manually, but the "last update info" still say last update 2009-04-26

so your vista workaround is no common solution !

[Kheldan]

RESOLVED! (for me atleast!)

I actually just got this issue resolved right before I got a call from Lavasoft's R&D/QA team.

My resolution was straight forward. I went into the Services area Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services and located "Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service". Stopped the Service (if started) and then right click/properties. Under Logon, I had Local System account selected but "Allow service to interact with desktop" was not checked (not this worked fine up until 8.0.4) I checked "Allow service to interact with desktop, clicked OK and restarted the service.

Now AdAware can be updated from Start Menu, Taskbar icon and the application button itself! Funny thing is this option, when checked (Allow service to interact with desktop) causes an error in the Event Viewer log... but no visible negative effect. I unchecked it again, rebooted the PC and restarted AdAware, it now works even with this option unchecked and no more errors in the event viewer.

All I can guess as to a root cause of this is that something changed by the 8.0.4 update requires the service to interact with the desktop atleast once to complete its process...

NOTE, this option should work for both XP and Vista systems.

Anyhoo, all is fine here for me. I told this to Lavasoft's R&D team when they called me and they will investigate on their end. If you try this and it works, please do let others know by replying to this thread.

Thanks,

Kheldan

Edited by Kheldan, 05 May 2009 - 04:01 PM.

[AAWService]

RESOLVED! (for me atleast!)

I actually just got this issue resolved right before I got a call from Lavasoft's R&D/QA team.

My resolution was straight forward. I went into the Services area Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services and located "Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service". Stopped the Service (if started) and then right click/properties. Under Logon, I had Local System account selected but "Allow service to interact with desktop" was not checked (not this worked fine up until 8.0.4) I checked "Allow service to interact with desktop, clicked OK and restarted the service.

Now AdAware can be updated from Start Menu, Taskbar icon and the application button itself! Funny thing is this option, when checked (Allow service to interact with desktop) causes an error in the Event Viewer log... but no visible negative effect. I unchecked it again, rebooted the PC and restarted AdAware, it now works even with this option unchecked and no more errors in the event viewer.

All I can guess as to a root cause of this is that something changed by the 8.0.4 update requires the service to interact with the desktop atleast once to complete its process...

NOTE, this option should work for both XP and Vista systems.

Anyhoo, all is fine here for me. I told this to Lavasoft's R&D team when they called me and they will investigate on their end. If you try this and it works, please do let others know by replying to this thread.

Thanks,

Kheldan

Kheldan

I´ve tried your suggestion but didn't work for me.

First, I undo my previous modification in files AAWService.exe and Ad-AwareAdmin.exe that is working for me and the update problem came up again.

Then, following your procedure or a combination of it, I've stopped the service, checked, unchecked, rebooted, nothing worked.

Back to my previous modification in files AAWService.exe and Ad-AwareAdmin.exe and update started to work again.

[Miguel Angel]

I followed AAWService's advice and it worked for me. I reinstalled Anniversary Edition because I was getting fed up with the "Update to Anniversary Edition" dialog window , so in XP SP2 compatibility mode works (hopefully keeps working) for Vista

Regards
Miguel Angel

[foh]

@Kheldan

at my system this option was checked by default.
changing it didn't bring any solution.
nothing changes !

[Kheldan]

Looks like there is more than one "root cause" to this issue... That is probably why it is so hard for them to troubleshoot. I know they are monitoring this board for feedback and have managed to reproduct the problem and are investigating. Hopefully they will get it resolved and working consistently for all soon.

Sorry my solution did not "fix" everyones issue... atleast you now have a few viable workarounds to try out! :-)

[williamkidd]

Looks like there is more than one "root cause" to this issue... That is probably why it is so hard for them to troubleshoot. I know they are monitoring this board for feedback and have managed to reproduct the problem and are investigating.

I stumbled across something that was causing issues on my XP system that wasn't happening on my Vista systems. It turns out that my DAT files were associated with a program and once I set that to default and reinstalled AAW everything is working again, including the auto-update, on both XP and Vista. The only thing is that I was able to install AAW on the XP system prior to the fix so I'm not sure if this will help but thought that I would mention it just in case. I didn't have to make any changes, such as compatibility on Vista.

Check file association for DAT files
To do this, click Start > Run and type regedit into the Run box then press Enter. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT > .dat (i.e. HKCR\.DAT) and check to see if there is a Data value listed for (Default) other than (value not set). In my case the .DAT was associated with a Nero program. Do NOT make any changes at this point. Close the Registry Editor window.

For those that are still having the install issue and even those that have fixed it using Kheldan's suggestions, check the DAT file association and let us know if it's set to something other than (value not set). I'm working on a post detailing the steps that I took just in case it turns out that it may help.

[Porthus]

My resolution was straight forward. I went into the Services area Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services and located "Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service". Stopped the Service (if started) and then right click/properties. Under Logon, I had Local System account selected but "Allow service to interact with desktop" was not checked (not this worked fine up until 8.0.4) I checked "Allow service to interact with desktop, clicked OK and restarted the service.

Now AdAware can be updated from Start Menu, Taskbar icon and the application button itself! Funny thing is this option, when checked (Allow service to interact with desktop) causes an error in the Event Viewer log... but no visible negative effect. I unchecked it again, rebooted the PC and restarted AdAware, it now works even with this option unchecked and no more errors in the event viewer.

NOTE, this option should work for both XP and Vista systems.

For me, the option "Allow service to interact with desktop" was already enabled. Changing this option and rebooting doesn't help in my case, the same as with foh. Other thing I just noticed: Even if I set the "Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service" Startup type to "Automatic", in the next reboot this service always shifts to "Manual" Startup. If I then reboot once more, the Ad-Aware Tray Icon disappears from the System Tray. I don't know if this behaviour could be related somehow to the Update issue.

Kheldan

I´ve tried your suggestion but didn't work for me.

First, I undo my previous modification in files AAWService.exe and Ad-AwareAdmin.exe that is working for me and the update problem came up again.

Then, following your procedure or a combination of it, I've stopped the service, checked, unchecked, rebooted, nothing worked.

Back to my previous modification in files AAWService.exe and Ad-AwareAdmin.exe and update started to work again.

My OS is Windows XP and I have never encountered the file Ad-AwareAdmin.exe in my system. Is this file exclusive to Vista users?

Edited by Porthus, 06 May 2009 - 07:24 PM.

[foh]

my dat has no value.

it's better to let lavasoft find the issue.

too many semi "prof" suggestions here.

doesn't make sense.

i'm off until there will be an official update/fix

[williamkidd]

My OS is Windows XP and I have never encountered the file Ad-AwareAdmin.exe in my system. Is this file exclusive to Vista users?

No, Ad-AwareAdmin.exe should be located in the C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware folder on both Vista and XP.

Edit: There is also another copy of Ad-AwareAdmin.exe in C:\Program Data\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\Update on Vista and C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\Update on XP (or at least that's where they are on my systems).

MOD EDIT: This is a back-up file only and you do not need to change the permissions on it. Casey

Edited by casey_boy, 07 May 2009 - 11:31 AM.

[IvanS]

I've been running Ad-Aware for many years now without problem, and upgraded to Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition when it came out. I've downloaded today's update to version 8.0.4 and now updating causes a connection error.

I'm running windows Vista. Previously when I would update, I wouldn't have to grant permission through windows. With the latest version, clicking "web update" causes Vista to ask for Lavasoft Administrator Tool program permission -> I click "continue" -> Ad-aware update window pops up -> error window pops up stating "Connection error, check your settings"

- I've turned off firewall and no change
- I've tried to update using the Start -> Programs -> Lavasoft -> Ad-Aware -> Ad-Aware Updates and no change

Any suggestions? Is this possibly a glitch with the new version?

I've been having the same problems with the web update for the last week or so. I'm running Vista Business Edition. The problem seemed to have started when I installed version 8.0.4. I've tried some of the work arounds that I've seen on the forum and they didn't help. However, I tried turning my User Account Control back on (I'd disabled it because of problems I'd been having with Adobe Standard) and low and behold the wed update works fine again. As the standard way to run Vista is with UAC turned on, maybe this is why Lavasoft can't reproduce a problem so many of us seem to have experienced.

[Kvejk]

Two weeks with this problem and still no solution. Are employees morons, if they aren't able to solve this issue in few days? Lavasoft must be crazy.

[utrying2]

To all,

I too am having the same issues, since upgrading to 8.04 (xp pro sp3), the web update function seems to no longer work and the ad watch systray no longer loads. I did a number of things, like re-install etc.

I just did something that no one has mention of trying:
1. go to start button -> program files
2. select lavasoft and slide over to ad-Aware
3. select "Ad-Aware Updates"

and guess what within 30-35 seconds the update manager pops up and begin to down today's definitions update. Upon a reboot ad-watch then comes back online in the systray.

I looked into the Ad-aware update properties, this it the switch that is in there: "C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\AAWService.exe" /forceupdate

BTW, my web update button in the main program still does not work and neither does the ad-watch systray Update function but I have repeated this process and I have gotten the updates successfully or at least the message that the definition is the latest.

Enjoy, If this solves your problem in the interim.

Utrying2.

[detrocker]

To all,

I too am having the same issues, since upgrading to 8.04 (xp pro sp3), the web update function seems to no longer work and the ad watch systray no longer loads. I did a number of things, like re-install etc.

I just did something that no one has mention of trying:
1. go to start button -> program files
2. select lavasoft and slide over to ad-Aware
3. select "Ad-Aware Updates"

and guess what within 30-35 seconds the update manager pops up and begin to down today's definitions update. Upon a reboot ad-watch then comes back online in the systray.

I looked into the Ad-aware update properties, this it the switch that is in there: "C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\AAWService.exe" /forceupdate

BTW, my web update button in the main program still does not work and neither does the ad-watch systray Update function but I have repeated this process and I have gotten the updates successfully or at least the message that the definition is the latest.

Enjoy, If this solves your problem in the interim.

Utrying2.

HI thx for the reply and trying to help i tried to do what you said and i have tried the programs and tried to update from there before still didnot work got the connection error box popped up again this is very frustrating i wish they could come up with a fix for this problem it really is not worth the trouble i keep going thru to try and get this right i am not going to manually update the thing either i f they do not fix the problem i guess i will just get rid of the program once again thx for you help peace outtt

Edited by casey_boy, 12 May 2009 - 07:46 PM.