Hello,

I just updated Ad-Aware Pro to version 8.1.0 as the nag box suggested. The uninstall of the previous version & install of the new version seemed to go without any error messages or hitches. Upon announcing the successful installation of the new version, AA-Pro did a smart scan. The scan went on for a few minutes, a threat of some sort was announced as detected then AA-Pro crashed. An error box stating that AA-Pro was unexpectedly shut down was generated. OK, so the generated message was sent to LavaSoft. I tried again to click the Tray-Icon but AA-Pro comes up then fades out without either manifesting the GUI or announcing some kind of failure. If I click the Tray-Icon and shut down AA-Pro & restart AA-Pro, the AA-Pro GUI comes back up and AA-Pro seem normal...at least until I try to do another smart-scan.

I have tried several times to do a simple smart-scan and each time the same above sequence of events happens: start, find issue, crash, error message and failure to run until shut down & restart. I tried re-installing AA-Pro, but that did not help.

The AA-Pro Software does a definition update with no problems.

What is up with the smart-scan?

I am running a Toshiba X205 Laptop using VistaHP. All the latest Windows Updates have been performed and my anti-Virus is ESET-NOD32. I also have PC-Tools-Spyware Doctor installed. BTW-all these have been co-existing harmoniously for months, until this latest Update.

Since you're a Pro paying customer, I suggest contacting Lavasoft Customer Support via the link in my signature. They have much more technical knowledge about their software since this is a forum for free users without paid support.

Mid-scan shutdown seems to be a common problem, so if Lavasoft can fix you up, it would be much appreciated if you could post back here with the solution

Thank you very much for your reply. I did what you suggested just moments ago. I would have done the same earlier but the AA website is one of the most confusing ones I have ever encountered. Mostly AA-Pro seems to work without a hitch, so I do not usually have to go to the website, but once I go there, finding my way around is not easy. I guess I just did not notice/understand some features of the site, but I tried first to go to the FAQ which forces you to scan the entire file for what may be your particular problem. I do not trust those drop down filters because you never know if the categories actually set up by LavaSoft team are what you think they are. Then I went to customer support, which appeared to be a "Pay" chat session. Then I tried the other customer support options (the site is littered with HTML links to something "support") and either went in circles, went to the Support Form or wound up back at the pay-chat. This is why I went to the Support Forum, I did not think that I had any other choice other than pay for a LavaSoft Session. On top of that there is one LogIn/Password for the Support Forum and another one for the LavaSoft-User-Account LogIn. It is not immediately apparent that you have to LogIn to see the real Customer Support page. The Support Forum also took some time to understand.

At any rate, now that I look more closely at the site, I can see what I should have done, but the site really can be confusing if you do not go there often.

We will see how LavaSoft answers my question.

Again thank you.

Yes, you're not the first one to find the Lavasoft Customer Support site confusing. I'll leave this topic open for when you get help from Lavasoft. Maybe then you can shed some light on this forum, it's really a big problem if these scan shutdowns are all related.