Until recently Ad-Aware worked flawlessly. About 2 weeks ago when I launched it, it would bring up the loading screen and just stop. The only way to get rid of the screen was through task manager. I have uninstalled Ad-Aware with your suggested Revo and reinstalled without luck. It still acts the same.

I would like to attach a screen shot but the upload file option doesn't seem to work for my word document.

Which version? There was fix for this with version 8.0.6

http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?s...st&p=106044

Also, try suggestions posted here:

http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=25736

Finally, it may be that you're infected with something which prevents Ad-aware from running.
Do you have any other problems starting anti-virus or anti-malware programs?
What other security programs do you have installed and running real-time?

To: Visitor

Sorry about the delay. It takes quite a while for the anti-virus programs to run a deep scan. In answer to your questions:

Which version?
As I cannot get Lavasoft Anniversary to launch I do not know how to answer this.

Finally, it may be that you're infected with something which prevents Ad-aware from running.
I have run several deep scans with Avast, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Windows Defender. No problems found.

Do you have any other problems starting anti-virus or anti-malware programs?
No, I do not.

What other security programs do you have installed and running real-time?
Avast, SpywareBlaster and, Windows Defender

My problem persists. "Until recently Ad-Aware worked flawlessly. About 2 weeks ago when I launched it, it would bring up the loading screen and just stop."

Looking forward to some suggestons.

cb1rb1,

That's exactly what happened to me. Up until about two weeks ago, Ad-Aware worked perfectly. However, two things happened two weeks ago that could be just a coincidence or might have some bearing. The first of the two was that Norton's 2009 was installed, and the 2nd happened the very same day--on two separate occasions, something tried to get through both the Windows Firewall and infect the computer--Norton's stopped both attempts. In neither case was the Firewall breached, but Norton's sure was busy (I was not actively on the Internet, but the computer is permanently connected with a fiber-optic cable). Sometimes, a Trojan can get in and leave something without Norton's being able to stop it, even though nothing appears to have happened to the operating system (VISTA). Norton 2009 automatically generated a report and sent it, which surprised me, because that is the first time that has happened in several years. Not sure about this, but I think whatever Norton 2009 handled must have been new or a new variation of something old.

As I stated, don't know if either of the two incidents and Norton 2009 have any bearing on the problem with Ad-Aware, but all of this did start about two weeks ago.

Cheers!

I have SpywareBlaster and Windows Defender too, probably not the problem. Recently I've seen a few problems posted here with Avast and MBAM, but not widespread like the Norton problem. You might try disabling Avast and MBAM to see if that's preventing the execution of Ad-Aware.

Also, did you look at the link I posted? http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=25736

- I tried the following without success:
. Running msconfig and selecting the diagnostic mode. AdAware would not load but when I waited long enough I got an error message "failed to connect to service"
. Running msconfig and disabling all but Microsoft Services disabled. Once again AdAware would not load but, as before, when I waited long enough I got an error message "failed to connect to service"


- I should have mentioned that I had already gone through the steps without success.

How about disabling Avast and MBAM only, through the program interfaces or task manager?

By using msconfig as you described, I think you're preventing the Ad-Aware Service from starting, hence the "could not connect to service" message. If you run services.msc the AAWService.exe should be "Started" and "Automatic." In the task manager, both AAWService and AAWTray should both be running.

To: Visitor

When I checked services.msc I did not see AAWService.exe. When I changed the service Lavasoft AdAware to Automatic and Start it ran for a few seconds and the went to stopped.

I tried to download a fresh copy and got an error message: "Cannot start setup - the setup may be corrupt or you may have the wrong password. If you downloaded this file please download a fresh copy. If the file is password protected, check your password and try again."

Yes, the Lavasoft Ad-Aware Service listed in services.msc is AAWService.exe. I've uploaded screenshots of the 4 tabs on the service properties. Check to see if yours is the same.

I ran services.msc and checked Lavasoft AdAware. On the first screen I changed Start up type from "Manual" to "Automatic". On the third screen I changed First Failure from "Take no Action" to "Restart the System". I rebooted. I manually launched AdAware. And it hung as it has done in the past.

Wish it wasn't so difficult.

I do appreciate the suggestions.

I'm out of fresh ideas. Since this started ~3 weeks ago, I suspect it has to do with an update to Avast or MBAM, similar to the problem people have had recently with Norton. But if you've disabled them and the problem still exists, the only other option would be uninstalling to see if one or the other is conflicting with Ad-Aware.

Or maybe you did catch an infection which has managed to elude your security problems. If you want to explore this possibility, read the instructions in my signature about posting in the HijackThis forum - describe the problem or merely link to this thread. The specialists will be able to diagnose and tell you if your system is clean of malware.

To: Visitor

Done. HiJackThis results posted.

I've been unsuccessfully trying to help in another topic, and referred to the service property screenshots in this thread. I'm not sure it will help in either case, but you may need to manually create the Ad-Aware Service:

http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=26559