I installed Ad-Aware 2007 Free last week on a fairly new Dell Latitude D630 running Windows XP. Everything during install fine and dandy. Ran program several times with no issues.

Got updates (including new program files) 2 days ago. Now when I double-click on my desktop shortcut for Ad-Aware (or if I double-click on the executable from within Windows Explorer), the "hourglass" activity indicator shows that Ad-Aware is starting. Wait a few moments and ... nothing! The Ad-Aware interface does not appear! I open Windows Task Manager and click on the Processes tab. I click on the column "Image Name" to sort the processes by executable name. The first process is "aawservice.exe". Good. The next process shown is "Ad-Aware2007.exe". Maybe good - where's the GUI?!!

If I perform the same step(s) (as indicated above) I can get multiple "Ad-Aware2007.exe" processes running - and still no GUI!

Any ideas?
Thank you - GlennB

Hi GlennB,

The latest software updates to v7.0.2.6 included updated GUIs for the Free and Licensed versions - I think that somehow your installation has been scrambled during the update process.

Please uninstall AAW and re-download the AAW 2007 v7.0.2.6 executable from here or here and reinstall.

Please post back with how you get on.

Regards,

Spike

Spike, I did as you suggested. The uninstall went through cleanly. However, during the install I ran into the same problem as before. Close to the end of the install the primary install dialog box indicates that it is working on the license module. In my task manager, under the Processes tab I see a process named AAWLic.exe running -- but no GUI! The install simply hangs at this point (I allowed it 15 minutes). I have to "kill" the AAWLic.exe process which, of course, causes the install to roll back.

Now what?
GlennB

Hi GlennB,

Hmmm ... would you please try downloading/installing AAW 2007 v7.0.2.5 from here and then try the software updates to v7.0.2.6 again.

From memory, there was also an update to the licensing system for the Plus/Pro versions (all versions of AAW 2007 use the same executable, including Free).

This is the first post that personally have encountered on this issue, so I think that it may be a configuration issue. Would you please advise the following:

• Your AV and firewall
• Any other security programs that you may be running

Regards,

Spike

Hello!

I've got the same problem after updating my AdAware 2007 Free to the latest version. The UI doesn't display, the program just sits in memory taking about 4.8 Mb of RAM. My configuration is Apple MacBook, WinXP SP2, I also have a McAfee antivirus installed, but it didn't interfere with older versions of AdAware.

Thanks for any tips.

P.S. Downgrading to 7.0.2.5 solves the problem. But even 7.0.2.5 takes a long time to load: about 20 seconds on my 2 GHz machine.

Hi Alexey,

Good to read that you have functionality back - however, it should not be at the expense of reverting to an older build...


Unfortunately, McAfee is trying its hand at forcing the removal of anything that it regards as competition again.

Please see this thread, in which the full list of incompatible products is listed: Is Ad-Aware 2007 Free compatible with McAfee?

Whilst McAfee does not appear to be targeting AAW 2007 (AAW SE is on the list), it might pay to uninstall AAW 2007, disconnect from the internet, disable McAfee and then try reinstalling AAW 2007.

Please let me know if this allows you to update to a working GUI in AAW 2007 v7.0.2.6.

Regards,

Spike

No, this sequence doesn't help. Even when Internet is off and McAfee is disabled, 7.2.0.6 never starts up, but 7.2.0.5 starts up after a delay of 30-40 seconds.

P.S. Another problem is that Update Manager doesn't allow to uncheck certain components to be excluded from updating.

Hi Alexey,


I've noticed that too - I think that it must be deliberate.

As to why v7.0.2.5 works and in v7.0.2.6 the GUI doesn't appear - sorry, I'm baffled on that one. And the relevant processes are running in TaskManager too...

Apart from McAfee, do you have any other security apps running (ie: anti-malware, firewall, etc)?

In the meantime, I'll check "back-stage" for anyone who might be able to shed a little light on this odd behaviour -it might relate to XP on a MacBook, then again it might not...

Regards,

Spike

We'll look into this.

Regards,

Tobias

No, I don't have any other security apps running besides standard WinXP firewall.