15 replies to this topic

[reitsma]

Installed and quickly removed Lavasoft adaware because it caused all kinds of problems with my firefox explorer and seriously slowed down my computer.

I noticed that in Firefox there is a lot of malware and spyware which came with the 'Lavasoft ad-aware' add-on in my browser, slowing it down and giving me great agrevation.

I can not remove this 'add-on' in my firefox browser since it isn't registered in the 'add-on' section, strange but true. Others having the same problem? How can I get rid of this Lavasoft add-on in Firefox? I don't have this problem with IE or Google browser.

Thanx.

[CeciliaB]

Hi reitsma,

First of all, there is nothing malicious with the Ad-Aware Toolbar and you can deselect the installation of the toolbar during the installation of Ad-Aware.

Have you checked if there is anything starting with Ad-Aware in the Control Panel's list of programs to uninstall, e.g. Ad-Aware Browser Protection?
See How to uninstall Ad-Aware 10.x

If still something left of Ad-Aware in Firefox, please enter the following in the address field of Firefox:

about:config

Search for ad-aware, lavasoft and blekko, and remove/restore what you find.
Since it's easy to damage Firefox when changing its settings in this way, I recommend that you first backup all settings in Firefox, for example with the program MozBackup.

[reitsma]

Hi

Cannot find either Lavasoft, ad-aware or blekko in the about:config

Still have the add-on bar from lavasoft ad-aware though...

Edited by reitsma, 30 November 2012 - 09:08 PM.

[CeciliaB]

Hi,

Do you have the Ad-Aware toolbar (verktygslist på svenska) in Firefox or is it something else than a toolbar?
Do you have the toolbar in Internet Explorer?
Do you have something with Ad-Aware in Control Panel - Add and Remove Programs(XP)/Programs and Features(Vista/7)?

Do you have another antivirus program installed since your computer was slow after you installed Ad-Aware? If yes: Which one?

[reitsma]

it is a toolbar; at the bottom of the browser (see pic).

Add-on only in Firefox, not IE or Chrome.

No programs 'lavasoft' 'ad-aware' or 'blekko' found in control panel/programs

I have run 'norman security suite' the last 8 years without problems.

L.

Attached Files

•  ad-aware.png   188.79K   5 downloads

[CeciliaB]

On Monday I'll ask my contact person at Lavasoft, if Ad-Aware detects Norman during installation.

It's an icon in the Add-On bar that is a part of Firefox. If you don't want to see the Add-On bar at all, see http://support.mozil...cess-to-add-ons
It was another user that reported the same thing a few days ago, but then removing something in "about:config" helped: http://www.lavasofts...post__p__139999
It is important to restart the computer after uninstallation of Ad-Aware to remove everything of it.

We could use OTL and see if that program reveals anything that has to do with Ad-Aware.
Save OTL on the Desktop. http://oldtimer.geekstogo.com/OTL.exe
Close all programs.
Double-click OTL to run it.

Click on Quick Scan and do not use the computer while the program runs.

When the program finishes, two log files are created on the Desktop, OTL.txt och Extras.txt. Paste the contents of the log OTL.txt into your answer (if you want, it should be enough with the part that has to do with Firefox).

[reitsma]

I have to the text files, but is it safe to put them out on the open in the forum? Any sensitive information?

[CeciliaB]

Yes, it's safe. You can find an enormous amount of OTL.txt on internet. If your full name is mentioned, you can replace it with "reitsma" or "joe" or whatever

[reitsma]

OTL files  OTL.Txt   149.46K   2 downloads  Extras.Txt   138.3K   2 downloads

[CeciliaB]

Please uninstall:
Java™ 6 Update 15 (64-bit)
Java™ SE Development Kit 6 Update 15 (64-bit)
Java™ 6 Update 20
Java 7 Update 7
Adobe Flash Player 10 ActiveX
All of those versions are old with known vulnerabilities and it's now very easy to infect the computer from a web page exploiting those vulnerabilities.

Close all programs including antivirus programs and other similar programs. Otherwise they might stop OTL.
How? See http://www.bleepingc...opic114351.html

Start the program OTL.
Copy all the lines in the box:

:OTL
IE - HKCU\..\SearchScopes\{3BD44F0E-0596-4008-AEE0-45D47E3A8F0E}: "URL" = http://safesearchr.lavasoft.com/?source=3336ca5f&tbp=rbox&toolbarid=adawaretb&u=D61C3B8D1E1C47EE27769450A942D04E&q={searchTerms}
[2012/11/18 21:19:53 | 000,000,000 | ---D | M] (Lavasoft Search Plugin) -- C:\Users\Laurens\AppData\Roaming\mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\qdx8edmw.default\extensions\jid1-yZwVFzbsyfMrqQ@jetpack
[2012/11/18 21:19:48 | 000,000,616 | ---- | M] () -- C:\Program Files (x86)\mozilla firefox\searchplugins\adawaretb.xml
[2012/11/18 21:30:30 | 000,000,000 | ---D | C] -- C:\Users\Laurens\AppData\Roaming\LavasoftStatistics
[2012/11/18 21:22:21 | 000,000,000 | ---D | C] -- C:\Program Files (x86)\Ad-Aware Antivirus
[2012/11/18 21:19:02 | 000,000,000 | ---D | C] -- C:\Users\Laurens\AppData\Roaming\Ad-Aware Antivirus
:Commands
[CREATERESTOREPOINT]
[REBOOT]

Paste them into the field Custom Scans/Fixes.
Click on Run Fix.

If you are asked to restart the computer do that.

Notepad will pop-up with a log. Copy it and paste it into your answer.
If it is not pop-upped, you can find it in the folder c:\_OTL\Moved Files and its name contains the date and time for when OTL was run.

Be sure that antivirus programs etc. are active before connecting to internet.

[CeciliaB]

Lavasoft would appreciate, if you can upload the file SetupDrv.log to the forum. You should be able to find it in this folder:
XP: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\DRVSetup
Vista and Windows 7: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\DRVSetup\

Please, change the file extension from ".log" to ".txt" before uploading it, since the forum doesn't accept the file extension ".log".

With the help of the file, they will be able to investigate why the combination of Norman and Ad-Aware 10.4 slowed down the computer.

[reitsma]

Looks like it did the job, wasn't aware that old Java versions were still a threat after updating... thanks.  12032012_194947.txt   10.57K   1 downloads

[reitsma]

Vista and Windows 7: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\DRVSetup\

Cannot find this index regretfully

[CeciliaB]

Yeah, all Ad-Aware stuff should be gone now.

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\DRVSetup\
Some of the folders are hidden, you have to select to show also hidden files, see http://www.bleepingc...tutorial62.html for a description.

Do you have Norman version 10?

[reitsma]

Vs 9 I must admit.

[CeciliaB]

Lavasoft haven't tested if Ad-Aware detects Norman version 9. It would be possible to know by reading SetupDrv.log. Do you run a program, e.g. CCleaner, that removes all files from the temporary folders?

For safety reasons you should upgrade to the latest Norman, since each new version of an antivirus program has new functions for better detection and removal of the latest types of malware.