5 replies to this topic

[B. FInkel]

Lavasoft Ad-Aware 8.0.0.0 Windows XP/SP3

On occasion (about 10% of the time) I update the defintions, and then
Ad-Aware "failed to connect to service". It never connects in this state
until I reboot, at which time Ad-Aware runs fine. Future update cycles
are OK, until another occurance of an update and connection failure.
This has happened on previous free versions of Ad-Aware.

Following the directions in

http://www.lavasofts...showtopic=27351

I did the following:

start run: services.msc
Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service Ad-Aware... _______ Automatic
(The "started" column is blank.)
Properties: Service status: stopped.
But Task manager has a line for AAWService.exe, so it must be
running.
Clicked the "Start" button, and now I have two AAWService tasks
running. Within a minute the one I started finished,
and the properties window says "Stopped".
Try to start Ad-Aware: "Failed to connect to service."
Task Manager: Try to cancel AAWService.exe: "Access is denied."

Is there any way I can get Ad-Aware to start without having to reboot? Is there any tool I
can use to determine what is happening when Ad-Aware "failed to connect to service"?
I find the lack of good debugging tools on XP frustrating.

[visitor]

I also run AE on XP. How are you updating definitions - manually, tray icon, start menu, GUI?

Now that there are no more software updates for AE since 8.0.8 released in Sept (you can only access version info in GUI "About", not by viewing the exe file properties), you can update definitions manually.

I posted pics of my AAWService.exe properties (4 tabs) here. Maybe check to see if yours are the same.

It's weird there's an entry in your task manager with the service stopped, and 2 when you restart. If I stop the service, the entries for both AAWService.exe and AAWTray.exe disappear in my task manager. Also, if I end the process in task manager, I do not get "access denied."

Try mirroring my AAWService properties to see if it works - if not, try manually updating the defintion file (download, unzip, replace defs, right-click/exit tray icon, then restart).

Edited by visitor, 04 December 2009 - 07:33 AM.

[B. FInkel]

I also run AE on XP. How are you updating definitions - manually, tray icon, start menu, GUI?

Now that there are no more software updates for AE since 8.0.8 released in Sept (you can only access version info in GUI "About", not by viewing the exe file properties), you can update definitions manually.

I posted pics of my AAWService.exe properties (4 tabs) here. Maybe check to see if yours are the same.

It's weird there's an entry in your task manager with the service stopped, and 2 when you restart. If I stop the service, the entries for both AAWService.exe and AAWTray.exe disappear in my task manager. Also, if I end the process in task manager, I do not get "access denied."

Try mirroring my AAWService properties to see if it works - if not, try manually updating the defintion file (download, unzip, replace defs, right-click/exit tray icon, then restart).

I update the definitions via "Web Update", if the web interface is running. I did follow a
suggestion and update the .def file manually from the download web site. But that did not
help, as the program still does not open.

I looked at the four tabs you placed on the web; they are identical to mine, except that in
your case AAWService.exe was running, while in my case it is stopped. Even though it is
stopped, it still appears in the Task Manager Processes tab, andwhen I try to cancel it
via the Task Manager, I get an Access is denied." error window. I have no AAWtray.exe
entry in the Task Manager

I have no idea how to get the Ad-Aware software running, outside of rebooting. And I know
that a reboot will cure the problem until it appears again. The probelm with rebooting is this --
it does NOTHING to debug the problem, and it destroys all diagnostic evidence. I worked with
IBM mainframes for 25 years, and I got very used to the verry good debugging tools available there. I know of no similar debugging tools for WXP. I would love to be able to get some
diagnostic infornation for Lavasoft. I know that any diagnostic info that I get will be useless
to me, as I do not know the internals of WXP nor of the Ad-Aware code. If someone from
Lavasoft reads this forum - is there any diagnostic information I can get when the software
gets into this state?

I just tried to start the service via services.msc, and the error window has, "The Lavasoft
Ad-Aware Service on the Local Computer started and then stopped. The window has no
indication of why the service stopped, and the Application Event Log says , "The description
for Event ID (0) in Source (Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service) cannot be found." If Ad-Aware is
writing an EventLog entry, should it not provide the information to decode the EventLog
entry?

[visitor]

in your case AAWService.exe was running, while in my case it is stopped. Even though it is stopped, it still appears in the Task Manager Processes tab, andwhen I try to cancel it via the Task Manager, I get an Access is denied." error window. I have no AAWtray.exe entry in the Task Manager

It is odd that AAWService appears in task manager when it's stopped, also that AAWTray does not appear. In the Ad-Aware appearance settings, do you have "hide taskbar icon" checked?

You might find information in the Debug and/or Service logs found here:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\Logs

Since this is not a widespread problem, I think it must be a conflict with another security program or maybe malware which is turning off the AAWService.

[B. FInkel]

I have come to the conclusion that the following is happening: I update the definitions/patterns via the "Web Update", and during the process of installing the updates, the AAWService.exe gets into a state where either (1) the process appears in services.msc as stopped, or (2) the process does not appear in the services.msc list. But the process does appear in the Task Manager Process list, so the process has not fully terminated. Trying to start the process via the desktop icon or starting the process via services.msc will fail with an Application EventLog entry for which the text is not available (per the EventLog entry) but the cause is probably that a second instance of AAWService.exe is not allowed to start. In this state, the AAWServioe.exe cannot be cancelled via the Task Manager Process list because I do not have permissions to cancel it. I assume that if the process were not hung, I would have the authority to cancel it. Rebooting will fix the problem, as the hung AAWService.exe is cancelled by the shutdown process. When AAWService.exe is in this hung state, I have not idea how to gather diagnostics to help debug the problem. Rebooting, while correcting the problem, destroys all evidence of the problem, and rebooting does nothing to correct the underlying problem so that it will not occur again.

[SpySentinel]

Hi B. FInkel,

Quick question, have you tried upgrading to the latest version?

Ad-Aware 2010 (8.1.3)