Hi I'm new to these boards and have limited experience. I think I may have malware or a virus which has caused Ad-aware to malfunction. I get pop ups, my homepage has changed and I keep getting warnings that seem to me to be fake. When I try to updat ad-aware I get a message saying error connecting server please try again. I do try again but nothing works. Also ad-aware stops working and freezes when it gets to HKEY_Local_Machine/software/. The error report contains the following:

szAppName : Ad-Aware.exe
szAppVer : 6.2.0.236
szModName : hungapp
szModVer : 0.0.0.0
offset : 00000000

Please help. I'm at my whits end over this!

I suggest running HijackThis, and posting the logfile here for us to look at. Instructions on how to do this can be found here.

bjorkapple,
Before posting an HijackThis log lets see if we can get your Ad-aware running and get your pc clean of malware/Spyware
I recommend that you do a thorough Disk Defragmentation,
followed with Check or Scan Disk depending upon your version of Windows then
Please can you make sure that you have Ad-aware SE Build 106 and have used the WebUpDate feature to get the latest Definition file
The appearance of hanging usually occurs when 'Scan archives' is selected. Its not actually stopped scanning however. What's happening is Ad-aware is de-compressing/ unzipping files to check the contents for suspicious files, the Ad-aware re-compresses the files. This can take some time.
If this is the setting that's effecting your scans,
Try this
Open your Ad-aware,
Click the "Settings" (The Gear) button at the top right to display the "Settings" main menu.
Click "Scanning".
Un-Tick 'Scan within archives' and
then Click on "Scanning Engine"
then un-Tick (un-check) "Unload recognised modules during scan"
then Click on the Proceed button.
Also try shutting as many programs/process as possible. (I.E firewall Anti-Virus etc.) Please make sure that you
Unplug/disconnect your Modem before disabling your Anti-Virus/Firewall
Just remember to turn them back on
Then scan with Ad-ware by doing a "Full Scan" and post your logfile here by using the "reply" feature,

GRAFX

Scan with archives was never clicked and I don't know where to click "scanning engine". I performed the disk defragmentation and it didn't seem to help. I can't get ad-aware to configure or to scan anything past 5 %.

bjorkapple,

There was a problem with the server being down but this seems to have been resolved now so you should be able to use your WebUpDate.

open your Ad-aware,
click on the "Setting Tab (The Gear),
now click on "Tweak" (bottom button on the left hand side),
Click on "Scanning Engine" (On the right hand side)
then un-Tick (un-check) "Unload recognised modules during scan"
then Click on the Proceed button.
Once you done that scan doing a "Full Scan" and then post your logfile here by using the Add-Reply Feature .

GRAFX

I did that and it still freezes. I can't stop it before it freezes and quarentine what it finds either because when I hit quarentine it freezes too.

bjorkapple,
did you do a thorough Disk Defragmentation,
followed with Check or Scan Disk depending upon your version of Windows.

GRAFX

Okay I've done that and I haven't been getting any pop-ups but ad-aware still freezes.

bjorkapple,
Try to remove the objects selectively,
It may take a few scans to complete, but it should work for you. Reboot after each scan
please can you clear out your cache folder ie: temporary internet folder There are some free programs that you can use that will do that for you if needed like
CCleaner
(Note in CCleaner: go to >options > advanced > Uncheck "Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 48 hours"). but see CCleaner Set up
now use the WebUpDate
(to make sure you are upto date) if you want to clean your PC then scan by doing a
"Full Scan" then and once the scan has finished
Highlite one items that there seems to be a bunch of.
Right click and choose the command to highlite all of those entries.
Then remove them.
then Reboot (ie: Re-start your PC)
(Do this with all of the items with multiple objects then When you are reduced to just the others items with one or a few, remove them. )
Then re-scan doing a "Full Scan" and then post your logfile here by using the Add-Reply Feature .

GRAFX