I was prompted to install Adwatch live, but I get an error box that says "ActivityMonitor has not passed Windows Logo testing to verify its compatibility with Windows XP." And says that continuing with installation could damage my computer. Does anyone know why this is happening. I am afraid to complete the installation.

Hi,

I have never heard of this error before nor have I heard of Ad-Aware containing any file called this. I would suggest that you redownload your installer package from here: http://download.cnet.com/Ad-Aware-Free-Ant....html?tag=mncol

Try installing that and seeing if you get the same error.

Casey

I downloaded my Ad-Aware 2009 from CNET, and when installing am getting the same warning that Activity Monitor does not pass Window's logo testing to verify compatibility with Windows XP. This is the third time I have had this problem. I need to know if it is safe to install Ad-Aware and Ad-Watch on my computer.

Just to be clear, the most recent version is 2010 Ad-Aware version 8.1.x released in October. Anniversary Edition is considered the 2009 version, released in January.

I wonder if the CNET version is causing the problem. Maybe try downloading from another mirror site:

http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php (click "More Download Sites")

Also, if you had a prior version of Ad-Aware installed already, don't install the new version over the top. Instead, it's best to use Revo Uninstaller (revouninstaller.com) to do a clean uninstall of Lavasoft/Ad-Aware first. Then run the 2010 version 8.1 installer from your desktop, not from the browser's temp download file.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was trying to install version 8.8.1, the newest. I downloaded a new installer from a mirror, tried installing that from my desktop, got the same warning about Activity Monitor. Downloaded Revo Uninstaller to do a full uninstall of Ad-Aware (I left in two files in the registry that I could not positively identify as part of Lavasoft), did a new installation, and got the same warning.

I doubt the problem is with the Ad-Aware installation file, there may be some issue with the recent versions of Ad-Aware (I started experiencing this with AE) and Win XP that Lavasoft has not resolved. If there are no other suggestions, and if I continue to get nag screens about needing to restart my computer to finish installing Ad-Watch (which doesn't work unless I give permission to install something I get a warning might corrupt my OS) I will have no choice but to uninstall Ad-Aware and leave it off.

Since you had AE before, it may be leftover registry entries. If Revo found them when you specified Lavasoft/Ad-Aware, it's probably safe to delete them. Lavasoft recommends this uninstaller, and there have been others here who have successfully uninstalled prior versions. To be safe, you can backup your registry with ERUNT:

http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=13639

I'm using AE version 8.0.3 with XP Pro SP2, so I don't think it's a compatibility problem. Since these are the only 2 cases that Casey and I have seen, it's more likely something to do with the individual systems involved, maybe a missing Windows update.

P.S. I also Googled the error message, and the only 2 hits were the topic here and one at Kaspersky forum:

http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=79556

P.P.S. found another at Kaspersky: http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=107230

P.P.P.S. Hmmm, now I Googled just "ActivityMonitor" and maybe this is considered spyware?

http://www.spywareremove.com/removeActivityMonitor.html

http://www.safer-networking.com/removeActivityMonitor.php

http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/T...p;threatid=1626

Holidays are over, back to trying to solve the problem. I did a full uninstall with Revo, downloaded a new Ad-Aware installer and installed it, and am still getting the warning that Activity Monitor is software being installed with my hardware that does not have the Microsoft Logo, so therefore might be destructive to my OS. Activity Monitor seems to be connected to Ad Watch Live. So, my two options seem to be installing Activity Monitor anyway, - I don't like this, as I'm not skilled enough to save my OS if it should crash - or running Ad-Aware without Ad-Watch. Anything else I can try?

I had also googled "Activity Monitor" and found the Kapersky references. Saw no solutions there either.

I'm not sure Activity Monitor is part of Ad-Watch - the other moderator Casey doesn't think so either, and he's more familiar with Ad-Aware. Did you read the other links?



I think this is some sort of malware which is preventing the installation of Ad-Aware. I can ask Lavasoft about it, but not sure how fast I'll get a reply. Meanwhile, you might want to follow the instructions in my signature about posting in the HijackThis forum - link or copy/paste a description of this problem, and someone there should be able to diagnose if Activity Monitor is some sort of spyware or malware and help you remove it. Then see if Ad-Aware will install and let us know back in this thread.

I have posted my HJT log in that forum, I'll see what responses I get.

I also have checked the links you gave about Activity Monitor, and it may be that AM is not part of Ad Watch, it is a bad program on my drive that is not yet activated, it has been waiting for some other program to activate it, and the installation of Ad Watch will also install AM unless I wipe AM components from my system. This makes sense. My concern now is that wiping AM components off my system involves deleting things from my registry. For someone not good enough to revive my OS if I delete something important this is a bit scarey. If the forums discussing getting rid of AM are 100% accurate then it is safe to follow their directions; if not, it is not safe. So, my new question is- what do you know about the discussion forums you provided links to? Can I trust them? Or is it riskier to follow their possibly inaccurate directions for removing AM than to just leave the AM components on my drive?

If AM is spyware or malware, you definitely want to remove it from your system. I cannot vouch for the links I provided, especially if it's a public forum, but I would trust safer-networking (home of Spybot) and Microsoft. I would also trust any advice you get here in the HJT forum since the volunteers have been screened and have experience in malware removal. Also, if you followed the instructions, prior to any malware removal, you create a system restore point and backup the registry, so making changes isn't as dangerous like in the old days.

No responses yet in the HJT forum. I looked into cleaning AM from my system and unfortunately the directions in safer-networking are not clear to me. I'm either not finding the files they warn against on my drive at all, or I find two different ones (for instance control.exe) and don't like the idea of randomly choosing one to delete. The registry values I am supposed to delete may be there, but I've looked through the whole registry tree and do not see them. I have run a registry cleaner to get rid of orphans and maybe that got rid of the AM registry files. But I still get the warning not to install Ad Watch Live because Activity Monitor does not have a MS logo.

One explanation for all this is that AM is not part of AdWatch at all, but something in the say Ad Watch installs triggers dormant AM. If this is so, AdWatch's designers might be able to redesign the AdWatch installation so that it doesn't load AM with it.

And I'm back to asking for any suggestions as to how I can safely load AdWatch live.

You can probably install/load Ad-Watch. It's just we want to know what's causing this.

You could open up task manager and see what service/process loads when you get this error message. Then we could find that file and determine if it has anything to do with Ad-Aware at all.

Casey

sberner, you're HJT post has a response now from yesterday:

http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?s...st&p=115326

Also, a reply from Lavasoft - he's not familiar with this as part of the Ad-Aware installer, so possibly it's rogue malware.

Let's see how your HJT diagnosis progresses.

Thanks for another suggestion, Casey. I uninstalled AdAware, reinstalled it to trigger the Activity Monitor warning. When the warning came I ran Task Manager. About 50 processes were listed as running at that time. I wrote them down. Do you want me to list them here?

I need something a bit more confident than "you can PROBABLY load adWatch" before I do so - I'm not good enough to save my OS and retrieve all my settings if my OS gets corrupted, which is what the warning is warning could happen.

Hi,

No. Hold off on doing anything until Blade gives you the all clear in your HJT topic. We will then have a look if this problem persists.

Casey

I think I have been given the all clear. And yes, the problem does still persist. You can see what has been posted in the HJT thread.

Casey - Blade at HJT forum told me to post screenshots of the Activity Monitor warning here.

Three more details that may or may not be important. When I install AdAware I install ONLY AdAware, not Google Chrome too. When I boot up for the first time after the interrupted installation AdAware loading takes a very very long time. And I get the warning screen when I UNinstall AdAware, as well as when I install it. Attached are screenshots of the warning when I installed the latest time and when I uninstalled just before.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

It's odd that the error says "Hardware Installation." Are you trying to install Ad-Aware on an external HDD? Maybe you can disconnect any external devices and then try the install. Hopefully Lavasoft will chime in now that we've informed them of the progress here.

I don't have an external drive, just one internal harddrive. I have two internal DVD drives. My computer may be aware of a Kodak digital camera dock connected by USB port (though the camera is not in the dock). I also have HotSynch set up to permit me to transfer data to a PDA through a USB connection, though the PDA is not attached at relevant times. So the only devices capable of sending or receiving data connected to my computer while I'm trying to install or uninstall AdAware are my C drive and two DVD drives.

I am trying to install Ad-aware onto my computer with XP as well and I have received the exact same error message that has been posted on this thread.
It says that activity monitor has not passed compatibility.

I was attempted to reinstall ad-aware because I have recently been infected with some sort of malware that is causing my computer to shutdown and I found that ad-aware was able to solve this problem for others.

I doubt it has anything to do with the error message we are getting, but hopefully we get a solution to this issue.

Hi guys,

visitor and I have been in contact with Lavasoft about this issue. Lavasoft seem to think that this error must be a result of an infection on your machines:



I've informed them that sberner has been given the all clear from Blade, unfortunately we can never rule out the possibility you still might be.

So, my suggestions:

• I suggest that you try installing another security program - see if you get any problems with that.
  • If you do, then you are probably infected. (Re-)Post in the HJT for help
  • If you don't, then try running a scan with the program to see if it detects anything
    • If it does, remove the infection and try installing Ad-Aware
    • If it doesn't then post back and let us know
• Alternatively, try reverting back to a system restore point which is far enough back to be before any infection but not too far so that your system is still stable and all your important programs are installed.

Casey

Casey - Since I have been given the all-clear by Blade but the problem persists, are you saying that for now Lavasoft has provided all the suggestions it can; and I should either give up on AdWatch and run AdAware without AdWatch (which seems to be an option) or give up on AdAware altogether and try MalwareBytes or some other spyware scanner? I'm not complaining, just trying to understand your advice for me now. Thanks for all your help.

Seth

Yes, Lavasoft does not think it's related to their software, mainly since it's not a widespread problem which indicates it's system-specific. Of course, they're not encouraging you to scrap their software, but to continue checking for malware infections.

A HJT analysis is not a 100% guarantee of system cleanliness - that's only achieved by wiping the hard drive. Lavasoft suggests trying a system restore point in hopes that it will be before the alleged infection. Also they recommend trying to install another popular security program to see if the same problem exists since malware often prevents installation of these programs and/or connection to Windows Updates or other security websites.

I'm not sure that a system restore point is a good option, since I first experienced the Activity Monitor warning while installing AdAware quite some time ago - a year or two - and much has happened on my system since then that I don't want to lose. I am not being prevented from connecting to Windows/ Microsoft updates or other updates. AdAware seems to run fine now, and other spyware programs that I have tried in the not-too-distant past seemed to have worked. As far as I can tell, the AM warning comes up ONLY when the AdWatch component of AdAware is being installed. This of course does not rule out that something in my system is causing the problem. Two other people in this thread have also mentioned the same problem, and of course we may all have the same problem with our systems.

But as you know this problem was raised in conjunction with a different program - Kapersky, or something like that. Lavasoft might want to contact the maker of that other program to see what they determined, or to see in what ways AdWatch installation is like the installation for that other program.

One last detail that might be relevant, I don't know. I have Bit Defender virus scanner. It told me that a file <plsaturn.dll> is a virus. I sent them the file, they then told me that the file is not a virus, and they are changing their definitions to exclude the file. However, Bit Defender is still telling me that my system is infected with an uncleanable plsaturn.dll. I have uninstalled plsaturn.dll and it does keep coming back, but I have found nothing indicating that it is in fact a virus. I think that the problem is that Bit Defender on my system is remembering the previous positive and is telling me not that I have a virus now, but that I had a virus that was never taken care of. Would you want to look at the file and see what you think?

I'm not going to do a hard drive clean - my drive seems to be functioning fine other than the AdWatch problem, and I'm not going to take on a task I don't know how to do well. Sorry I can't run AdWatch, not everyone can run everything. If Lavasoft determines that there is an identifiable cause for what I and a few others are experiencing is there some way you could let me know? Can I give you my email in a way that won't open the spam floodgates?

I'm not sure that a system restore point is a good option, since I first experienced the Activity Monitor warning while installing AdAware quite some time ago - a year or two. But as you know this problem was raised in conjunction with a different program - Kapersky, or something like that.
I didn't know the Activity Monitor problem dated back that far. I've only been here about 9 months, and the only Kaspersky problem I remember was a false positive which deleted Ad-Aware's mia.lib file. That problem has since been resolved. The Lavasoft team member who has been giving us feedback has been around 3 yrs, but it didn't ring any bells.

I have uninstalled plsaturn.dll and it does keep coming back, but I have found nothing indicating that it is in fact a virus. I think that the problem is that Bit Defender on my system is remembering the previous positive and is telling me not that I have a virus now, but that I had a virus that was never taken care of. Would you want to look at the file and see what you think?
There should be a way to allow the .dll file in Bit Defender's white list. Take a look at one of the detections and see if you have that option. I'm not a security expert, so my looking at the file would be meaningless. But there are a couple online sites where you can upload the file and it will analyze it, returning results from a number of security programs:

http://www.virustotal.com/

http://virusscan.jotti.org/en

If Lavasoft determines that there is an identifiable cause for what I and a few others are experiencing is there some way you could let me know? Can I give you my email in a way that won't open the spam floodgates?
Sorry, we don't provide help via email. You can subscribe/track this topic by clicking "Options - track this topic" on the top-right corner of post #1. Then at the top of the page, you click "My Controls" and on the left margin, you'll see "Subscriptions - View Topics". That way you have a quick-click reference without having to search the forum later.

Update - Lavasoft has closed this issue on their end since they believe it's not related to Ad-Aware, but rather something else on the system despite clear logs in the HijackThis forum. I guess you'll have to Google to find more info like the threads I posted earlier to see if a fix has been found. Since one of my links was from safer-networking, perhaps Spybot already has it in their detections.