There was a thread open from a user who was having the same problem I'm having, but it's been closed now after the poster just said he was going back to the old version. After using Ad-Aware for a number of years, I have to say you guys really screwed-the-pooch with this "Anniversary Edition". I never had any trouble installing or updating previous versions, but this one is a mess. Once I get it installed, I run a scan, which shows a varying number of "infections". Can't really tell what makes the difference as to how many it finds, but the problem is it never seems to remove any. I click the green button, it turns gray for a moment, then turns green again, but no action is ever taken. Nothing is ever shown to have been removed, and the program freezes and won't do anything else. Won't scan again, won't do anything. If I right-click on the tray icon, one of the options then is to 'Stop Scan', but that doesn't do anything either. I've removed it using Revo uninstaller, deleted any folders left, etc., re-installed, same issue.

The last guy who reported this problem, in my opinion, got kinda brushed off, and the thread was closed way before anything was resolved. If you don't want to fix it, or can't, just say so. I realize it's a free program, maybe Lavasoft has lost interest in this program. Too bad, it used to be the best there was. But it's ridiculous some of the steps that are being suggested to try to fix this dog. How many things do you think a user should have to do to try to get it to work? Some of the things that are evidentally required are way outside the realm of the average user. Can't you just make it install simply, like the older versions did? What's the problem, anyway?



Are you serious? Install some other program (HIJACK THIS) I've never heard of to get this one working!!??!! Come on, there has to be a way to fix the program so it can install properly and run.

For the record, I have a Windows XP home SP3, no other spyware running, and never had an issue with the software or updates before.

Hi
one of the problems are the leftovers of previous AAW installations, (you never get a 'clean' uninstall by using the
control panel)they could prevent AE from a correct run.
Next is ...
could the system be infected ? In this case AE (other developers have similar problems)could have issues to work correctly , that's why I asked for
a HjT-log ( HijackThis is a diagnostic tool).
And last but not least - incompatibility , that's why I need to know - what other security software is installed
Firewall/AV/ASpy ?
Hi hope this makes it a bit clearer
Regards
Raziel

As I said in my original post, I used the Revo Uninstaller as you suggested to someone else, and manually deleted the remaining folder. This begs the question, if the new Ad-Aware needs a clean uninstall to remove old versions before it can run correctly, why can't/doesn't it do that for itself when you download/install it? Some other software companys' programs evidentally need the same thing, but they manage to close, uninstall themselves completely, then re-install without any problems. Who would know better than Lavasoft how to find and uninstall any registry entries that might affect the new installation? Why do they have to depend on another company's uninstaller (Revo or whoever) to do it? And why don't they tell you to do it BEFORE you try to install the new version? Makes no sense. Somebody is asleep at the wheel.

"If the sytem is infected...." with what? Spyware? That shouldn't case the program not to run or function correctly, should it? If it is, there is no evidence of it, I've been successfully running the old AE software for years. If my sytem is infected, it got past the old Ad-Aware to do it. There's no reason to think that's the issue, I was just upgrading to the Anniversary Edition because the program suggested I needed to do so. It had been working fine before the upgrade.

Yes, my Windows firewall is enabled, but no other firewall or security programs are running or installed. Again, can the new version not detect and instruct you to disable the firewall long enough to install the new software? Other software occasionally does.

I wish I could get the ear of the main marketing person at Lavasoft and let them know what's happened here. No other upgrade to this program has acted like this in the many years I've been using it. This one was badly written and badly implemented, and they need to junk it and release one THAT WORKS, or they're going to lose a ton of potential customers. Who would want to upgrade to the "Plus" or "Pro" versions when the free version just has so many bugs. It's very bad publicity for the company's software as a whole. I suggest you re=release the 2008 edition and keep supporting it until you can come up with a new one that has a better track record of successful installations. Most people will only go through so many extra steps and downloads and hacks and reboots and deleats and reinstalls and try agains before they say the heck with it and use some other software. Just my advice. I hate to lose what was a fine piece of software.

Hey guys,

I was having this exact same problem, and resigned myself to giving up on AA after I found your posts. However, when I went to remove the program, I noticed the icon in my task tray was still plugging away and the rollover bubble said it was removing the detected items. It took about half an hour to remove 34 items, but it was done successfully, all while nothing happened in the AA AE window and it was done without having to remove or install anything. It wasn't till after all the items were removed that the scan even logged in AA AE; none of my previous scans had logged.

I'm on XP home and have no other spyware detection on my system. I haven't used AA since the 98 or 2000 edition, but I never had a problem with either of those. Hope this helps.