Software review – Ad-Aware 2007
Wednesday, 14. October 2009, 18:22:02
This post is slightly Outdated : Click here for Updated post 
As a constant beta tester of Lavasoft, I was happy to get the latest version of this software. Hehe, I remember the first version of Ad-Aware – which was fast, but didn’t have a huge database. And I also remember spywares, which tried to hide from this software – or even blocked it from running – and of course, sometimes, they wiped it from the computer.
But as time passed, the new versions of the software became even faster, and their anti spyware technology called CSI (Code Sequence Identification), became better and better.
So let’s look at the new version.
Since I didn’t upgrade my license to the new version (yet), I’ve tested the free version.
The first shock came when I saw the size of the free version – 23 Mbytes! OMG, what did they put into it?
Since the beta versions of the “pro version” were smaller.
Ok, let’s download it – second shock – there are no mirrors – yet – it can be downloaded only from download.com. Of course thousands tried (and still tries) to download it – my download speed was about 8(!)/Kbytes /s – so it took me an hour to download it
Ok, so let’s install the software – third shock – for a second I saw “installing services”- wtf?
I thought that only my mind tricks me. OK, so computer restarted – let’s start with the program – since I’ve “beta-tested” it enough the GUI (graphical user interface) was familiar.
It didn’t change much – it is modern and still too “pure” – but hey – who needs a fancy GUI, if the software works great?
Just after I’ve started the software, I’ve noticed something.
The free version includes Ad-Watch! LOL!
This is the biggest mistake what Lavasoft ever made...
Why?
Free version should only contain only the main scanner because –
- The size of the installation file would be around 6 Mbytes
- Those who buy the software can download it from Lavasoft’s own servers.
- Now cr@ckers don’t have to “buy” a copy of it – they get everything…
- Ad-Watch is avalible only in pro /plus version
So I’ve closed the program and looked at the services. Aaaaand…(the next shock) Lavasoft’s service “eats” 20 Mbytes of RAM… As I’ve looked at it, it came out that it is the Ad-Watch software’s service…
Let’s stop for a moment – Users have to download a “huge” file, which installs a completely unnecessary service, which uses 20 Mbytes of the users precious RAM.
Now this was completely unnecessary…
Ok, so let’s stop the service – and set the services starting properties to “Manual” – so if the main program needs it – it can start it.
Ok, so I’ve “manualized” the service, let’s look at our brand new program – And (the next shock) “You can customize the scan properties only in the plus or in the pro version”…
OMG, what have they done!!!!!!
This was an unfair “step” from Lavasoft…
Ok, so let’s run the full scan, and let’s see what the settings are. And next shock – it is freakin’ slow – wtf? It’s even slower then webroot’s software… OMG… Ok, let’s drink a coffee.
After I drank my coffee, I’ve looked at the log file – the software needed 10 minutes to complete – the previous version needed about 4 and half minutes to complete.
Ok- who cares, if the software is better?
Let’s look at the settings:
Ad-Aware 2007 Settings
===========================
Skipping files larger than 1048576 kB
Ignoring infections with lower TAI than: 3
Extended Ad-Aware 2007 Settings
===========================
Unloading known modules during scan
Ignoring spanned files when scanning cab archives
Scanning registry for all users
Using permanent archive caching
Reanalyzing results after scanning before displaying results
Trying to unload modules prior to removal
Let Windows remove files currently in use at next reboot
Removing quarantined objects after restore
Logging Ad-Aware events
Blocking Pop-Ups aggressively
Deactivating Ad-Watch during scans
Writeprotecting system files after repairs
Including Ad-aware command line parameters in log file
Include info about ignored objects in log file
Including basic settings in log file
Including advanced settings in log file
Including user and computer name in log file
Include reference summary in log file
Creating log file for removal operations
Including module info in log file
Include Alternate Data Stream details in log file
Create and save WebUpdate log file
Scan Statistics
===========================
Method: Full
Scan tracking cookies.............................: On
Scan ADS filestreams..............................: Off
I thought that it is slow, because it scans for ADS filestreams too… But it doesn’t…
It also skips files which are bigger than 1 GB…
You may say that a “normal” user doesn’t have files which are bigger than this – BUT, if you make a back-up with winrar – and it is bigger than 1 GB? Then what? Nothing?...
It also skips “spywares” which TAI (Threat Analysis Index ) (previously known as TAC) is lower than 3…
And there are a few annoywares which TAI rating is 2… And it skips them… No comment…
And the next funny thing is, the line : “Blocking Pop-Ups aggressively”… No comment…
But it doesn’t end with this!
When I’ve noticed the next 2 lines, I was almost laughing myself to death :
In the Extended Ad-Aware 2007 Settings:
“Include Alternate Data Stream details in log file”
And now let’s look at the Scan statistics:
“Scan ADS filestreams..............................: Off”
ROFFLMAO!
Ok, so let’s move on – I’ve installed 30 different spywares, and 10 different adwares. It detected all of them and removed them w/o a request for restart – COOL!
So in fact you can’t change the settings, but at least the software is better – or can you?
And the answer is YES! You can change the settings!!!
I’m not kidding!
You can change the scanning settings if you want!
This is the funniest thing what I’ve ever met:
If you run the software from command line with the software’s scanning syntaxes, you can change most of the settings…
So you have to make a shortcut, and put all syntaxes in it, and you can customize most of the settings (Thank God)
Well at least you can configure a few things in the software…
Today a new version came out… I think it is not the last…
You may ask now a few questions:
Is the free version better then the previous free version?
Hard question…
It knows more, but you can’t configure it (or at least not everything) – however most users don’t have bigger files than 1 GB, and they mostly don't need ADS scanning.
So my answer is YES.
Is it worth to download the free version ATM?
No…
Why?
If you don’t want to waste 1 hour with the download of the new version every second day, you should wait a few weeks for a really stable version.
Is it worth to buy it?
YES!
Should we wait a few weeks before we buy it?
YES!
Why?
If you don’t want to waste 1 hour with the download of the new version every second day, you should wait a few weeks for a really stable version.
Overall the software is better, but slower than the previous version. Since it is still not a stable (If it would be a stable version,they wouldn't update it in the 2nd day after its release...) version and it is not Vista ready I would give it 3.5
from 5
©By Stomyr
As a constant beta tester of Lavasoft, I was happy to get the latest version of this software. Hehe, I remember the first version of Ad-Aware – which was fast, but didn’t have a huge database. And I also remember spywares, which tried to hide from this software – or even blocked it from running – and of course, sometimes, they wiped it from the computer.
But as time passed, the new versions of the software became even faster, and their anti spyware technology called CSI (Code Sequence Identification), became better and better.
So let’s look at the new version.
Since I didn’t upgrade my license to the new version (yet), I’ve tested the free version.
The first shock came when I saw the size of the free version – 23 Mbytes! OMG, what did they put into it?
Since the beta versions of the “pro version” were smaller.
Ok, let’s download it – second shock – there are no mirrors – yet – it can be downloaded only from download.com. Of course thousands tried (and still tries) to download it – my download speed was about 8(!)/Kbytes /s – so it took me an hour to download it
Ok, so let’s install the software – third shock – for a second I saw “installing services”- wtf?
I thought that only my mind tricks me. OK, so computer restarted – let’s start with the program – since I’ve “beta-tested” it enough the GUI (graphical user interface) was familiar.
It didn’t change much – it is modern and still too “pure” – but hey – who needs a fancy GUI, if the software works great?
Just after I’ve started the software, I’ve noticed something.
The free version includes Ad-Watch! LOL!
This is the biggest mistake what Lavasoft ever made...
Why?
Free version should only contain only the main scanner because –
- The size of the installation file would be around 6 Mbytes
- Those who buy the software can download it from Lavasoft’s own servers.
- Now cr@ckers don’t have to “buy” a copy of it – they get everything…
- Ad-Watch is avalible only in pro /plus version
So I’ve closed the program and looked at the services. Aaaaand…(the next shock) Lavasoft’s service “eats” 20 Mbytes of RAM… As I’ve looked at it, it came out that it is the Ad-Watch software’s service…
Let’s stop for a moment – Users have to download a “huge” file, which installs a completely unnecessary service, which uses 20 Mbytes of the users precious RAM.
Now this was completely unnecessary…
Ok, so let’s stop the service – and set the services starting properties to “Manual” – so if the main program needs it – it can start it.
Ok, so I’ve “manualized” the service, let’s look at our brand new program – And (the next shock) “You can customize the scan properties only in the plus or in the pro version”…
OMG, what have they done!!!!!!
This was an unfair “step” from Lavasoft…
Ok, so let’s run the full scan, and let’s see what the settings are. And next shock – it is freakin’ slow – wtf? It’s even slower then webroot’s software… OMG… Ok, let’s drink a coffee.
After I drank my coffee, I’ve looked at the log file – the software needed 10 minutes to complete – the previous version needed about 4 and half minutes to complete.
Ok- who cares, if the software is better?
Let’s look at the settings:
Ad-Aware 2007 Settings
===========================
Skipping files larger than 1048576 kB
Ignoring infections with lower TAI than: 3
Extended Ad-Aware 2007 Settings
===========================
Unloading known modules during scan
Ignoring spanned files when scanning cab archives
Scanning registry for all users
Using permanent archive caching
Reanalyzing results after scanning before displaying results
Trying to unload modules prior to removal
Let Windows remove files currently in use at next reboot
Removing quarantined objects after restore
Logging Ad-Aware events
Blocking Pop-Ups aggressively
Deactivating Ad-Watch during scans
Writeprotecting system files after repairs
Including Ad-aware command line parameters in log file
Include info about ignored objects in log file
Including basic settings in log file
Including advanced settings in log file
Including user and computer name in log file
Include reference summary in log file
Creating log file for removal operations
Including module info in log file
Include Alternate Data Stream details in log file
Create and save WebUpdate log file
Scan Statistics
===========================
Method: Full
Scan tracking cookies.............................: On
Scan ADS filestreams..............................: Off
I thought that it is slow, because it scans for ADS filestreams too… But it doesn’t…
It also skips files which are bigger than 1 GB…
You may say that a “normal” user doesn’t have files which are bigger than this – BUT, if you make a back-up with winrar – and it is bigger than 1 GB? Then what? Nothing?...
It also skips “spywares” which TAI (Threat Analysis Index ) (previously known as TAC) is lower than 3…
And there are a few annoywares which TAI rating is 2… And it skips them… No comment…
And the next funny thing is, the line : “Blocking Pop-Ups aggressively”… No comment…
But it doesn’t end with this!
When I’ve noticed the next 2 lines, I was almost laughing myself to death :
In the Extended Ad-Aware 2007 Settings:
“Include Alternate Data Stream details in log file”
And now let’s look at the Scan statistics:
“Scan ADS filestreams..............................: Off”
ROFFLMAO!
Ok, so let’s move on – I’ve installed 30 different spywares, and 10 different adwares. It detected all of them and removed them w/o a request for restart – COOL!
So in fact you can’t change the settings, but at least the software is better – or can you?
And the answer is YES! You can change the settings!!!
I’m not kidding!
You can change the scanning settings if you want!
This is the funniest thing what I’ve ever met:
If you run the software from command line with the software’s scanning syntaxes, you can change most of the settings…
So you have to make a shortcut, and put all syntaxes in it, and you can customize most of the settings (Thank God)
Well at least you can configure a few things in the software…
Today a new version came out… I think it is not the last…
You may ask now a few questions:
Is the free version better then the previous free version?
Hard question…
It knows more, but you can’t configure it (or at least not everything) – however most users don’t have bigger files than 1 GB, and they mostly don't need ADS scanning.
So my answer is YES.
Is it worth to download the free version ATM?
No…
Why?
If you don’t want to waste 1 hour with the download of the new version every second day, you should wait a few weeks for a really stable version.
Is it worth to buy it?
YES!
Should we wait a few weeks before we buy it?
YES!
Why?
If you don’t want to waste 1 hour with the download of the new version every second day, you should wait a few weeks for a really stable version.
Overall the software is better, but slower than the previous version. Since it is still not a stable (If it would be a stable version,they wouldn't update it in the 2nd day after its release...) version and it is not Vista ready I would give it 3.5
from 5©By Stomyr
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