Log-in to the Lavasoft support center and download the Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition file (Ad-AwareAE.exe) here (click)

Once downloaded double-click the Ad-AwareAE.exe file and follow the on-screen instructions in the Installation Wizard to install. Ad-Aware 2008 will be uninstalled during installation of Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition.

Your computer must be restarted to complete the installation. Click the option to "Restart now." At this point, you also have the option to enter your e-mail address to receive Lavasoft News and special offers.

Click "Finish" to complete the installation process.

Your computer will restart and Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition will be completely installed.

If you're experiencing a 'connection error' when clicking web-update please try updating from the start menu or use one of the workarounds below.

*Go to, C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware and right click on
AAWService.exe, select properties in popup menu and in the
Compatibility tab. Change the Compatibility mode to "Run this program
in compatibility mode for: Windows XP" , click ‘apply’ then ‘ok’. Do
the same for Ad-AwareAdmin.exe and then retry the web-update.

*Go to Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services and locate "Lavasoft
Ad-Aware Service". Stop the Service (if started) and then right
click/properties. Under Logon, check "Allow service to interact with desktop", click OK and restart the service and then retry the web-update.

To resolve this, please follow the instructions below to delete the broken definitions file and restart your computer.

Go to the following location and delete the core.aawdef file.

Location: (2000, XP) - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\core.aawdef

If you cannot see "Application Data" you will need to "Show Hidden Files and Folders"-
* Click "Tools" on the menu (hold the Alt key if you cannot see the menu bar)
* Click "Folder Options".
* Click the "View" tab and find "Hidden files and folders" folder
* Turn on "Show hidden files and folders"

Location: (Vista) - C:\ProgramData\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\Defs\ core.aawdef

Then restart the computer and restart Ad-Aware.

After the Definition File has been pulled or pushed to clients, it will not be deployed until a scanning operation has been invoked by the Ad-Aware Enterprise Server service. The updated Definition File will not be activated even if Ad-Aware 2008 Professional starts a new scan. The only way to activate the new Definitions File is to run a scan that is invoked by the Ad-Aware Enterprise Server service.

We recommend that you arrange a scan to occur soon after (10 minutes, for example) a scheduled updating task finishes. Once both tasks are complete, the Definition File on client computers will be updated.

After a scan is finished you get the 'Scan Results' screen, where detected objects are separated into critical objects and privacy objects. The total number of critical objects and privacy objects detected during the scan are listed at the top of each tab.

In the 'Critical Objects' tab you can either select each object individually by checking the box beside it, or use the selection options in the context menu.

For each selected critical object, you can choose to:

* Add to Ignore: Add the object to the Ignore List; keep the item on your system and make sure it is not detected in future scans.
* Quarantine: Add the object to the Quarantine; isolate and back-up the object in quarantine, where it does not pose a threat to your system.
* Remove: Delete the object from your system.

Privacy objects: Go to the 'Privacy Objects' tab.

You can either select each object individually by checking the box beside it, or use the selection options in the context menu. For each detected privacy object, you can choose to:

* Add to Ignore: Add the object to the Ignore List; keep the item on your system and make sure it is not detected in future scans.
* Remove: Delete the object from your system.

Finally, click 'Finish' to get to the 'Scan summary' screen.

The Ad-Aware Enterprise Server uses the IE proxy setting to access the Definition File from the Internet. To determine if your Ad-Aware Enterprise Server can download the Definition File:
* Click the "Check Ad-Aware Definition File" button. If clicking the button results in a success message, the connection is working. If you get a failure message, do the following:
o Click "Start Menu" to open "Control Panel," "Internet Options," "Connections" and then "LAN Settings." This will display more settings for the TCP port that you can modify to pass your proxy server.
* If you have modified the settings and still cannot successfully connect to the Lavasoft publishing server (and have no problems using IE) please give the Ad-Aware Enterprise Server service a service account to bypass the Proxy Server.

The Error message "SSL download failed" is caused by Ad-Aware not getting access to the Internet.

First of all, make sure that your system is connected to the Internet.

If you are using a proxy server, make sure to configure the Ad-Aware WebUpdate settings.

1. Open Ad-Aware and navigate to the WebUpdate->Proxy settings menu.
2. Enable the ?Use proxy? option and enter the URL to your proxy server.
3. Save the new settings and try a webupdate again.

If you still have problems, try this:

1. Turn off all security software like Firewalls (check your router firewall as well) and any Antivirus programs.
2. Restart Ad-Aware and try to do a webupdate if you haven't activated the automatic update.

If you do not get an error message and successfully manages to update, you need to configure your security software to grant Ad-Aware network access, before turning them on again.

Our notification emails may get filtered as spam. Make sure to check your mail-client's spam-box or spam-filter for our mails.

We send out notification mails from noreply@lavasoft.com, make sure that this address is allowed.
If you have a t-online.de mail account, consider changing to a webmail account, as all our mails is blocked by t-online or Internet Service Providers (ISP) that is owned by Deutsche Telekom.
You are able to change your registered mail address by logging in to the support center, and editing your details.

These problems are related to not being able to start the Ad-Aware service (aawservice.exe). This usually occurs during the final part of installation or startup of the program. To resolve the problem follow the instructions below:

A) Make sure you have Admin Rights

In order to install Ad-Aware you will need to be logged in to Windows as an Administrator or have sufficient rights on your Windows user account.

Some user accounts may not have sufficient privileges. If you are unsure, contact your system Administrator or the person who has installed Windows on your computer.

B) Try to restart the Ad-Aware Service manually

1. Close Ad-Aware
2. Go to Windows Start menu, choose 'Run...', type in 'Services.msc' and in the service window, stop Ad-Aware 2007 Service.
3. Open Ad-Aware to restart the service.

C) Use the latest installer

If neither of the above works, the Ad-Aware Service has probably been removed or blocked by 3rd party software. These programs need to be configured to trust any Ad-Aware processes or files.

1. First of all, turn off any Internet Security program temporarily, but be sure to turn them on again after you have completed the reinstallation procedure.
2. Uninstall Ad-Aware by using the ?Add or Remove Programs? facility in the ?Control Panel?.
3. Download the latest version of Ad-Aware from the Support Center or https://secure.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
4. Install Ad-Aware.

First of all, download or update to the latest version of Ad-Aware.

The most common cause for problems starting Ad-Watch is that Ad-Aware has not been registered yet or that the software has not been restarted since the activation. Please be sure to register your software with your serial number in order to activate the advanced features in Ad-Aware Plus and Pro.

You can start Ad-Watch by opening the Ad-Watch menu in Ad-Aware and click ?Start?, or by double-clicking the Ad-Watch icon on your desktop.

When the License has expired, Ad-Aware will revert to the free edition. If your license time has not expired but the program has reverted to the Free edition, first please reboot your computer. If the software is still not activated correctly please re-enter your serial number in the 'Manage License' screen. You can get your serial number by logging into Lavasoft Support Center here (click). If you receive any error message when trying to re-activate the software or you need to transfer your license to a new PC please contact our support team through the Lavasoft Support Center here (click).  Please include the hardware fingerprint and your license information, which can be found in the 'Manage License' screen.

Lavasoft ThreatWork is a feature of Ad-Aware that allows you to submit suspicious files for analysis via ThreatWork, an alliance of global anti-spyware security volunteers actively fighting online threats. After a scan, you can use ThreatWork to submit detected suspicious files directly to Lavasoft research analysts for an in-depth evaluation of a possible threat. After scanning using behavioral "Heuristics", the ThreatWork dialogue window will appear if an object selected for removal is not in Lavasoft?s Detection Database.

To submit a file via ThreatWork, in the ThreatWork dialogue window, select a suspicious file and select ?Submit.? You can also submit files via ThreatWork using drag and drop functionality. To submit a file, open ThreatWork through:

Ad-Aware (8.1, Anniversary Edition and later):

Ad-Aware's System Tray icon or from the Start menu / All programs / Ad-Aware / Toolbox / ThreatWork.

Ad-Aware 2008:

Start menu / All programs / Ad-Aware / ThreatWork.

From the ThreatWork window, you can submit files by either dragging and dropping files for submission; or by selecting items using the ?Add? button.

THE AD-AWARE ARCHITECTURE Ad-Aware consists of two main parts, the Service and the Graphical User Interface (GUI).

The GUI is the part of the program a user sees and needs in order to interact with the program itself; it contains menus, buttons and other controls that are necessary for a user to run the program. User action is passed from the GUI down to the Service, which contains the core functionality of the program.

The Service executes the action, and then reports the results back to the GUI, where it is presented to the user. What Is a Service? Services are Windows applications that are launched at system startup and then run in the background, not visible to the user.

What is the Benefit of a Service-Based Approach to Malware Removal? Malware that emerges today is increasingly complex, displaying wildly varying behavior and operating on many levels in the system. In order to stay a step ahead of these ever-changing security threats, an anti-spyware tool needs to be more powerful, multi-faceted and flexible than ever before.

The implementation of Ad-Aware as a Service facilitates this needed power and flexibility since a service runs with elevated rights on the system. This means that the user can work in user-mode while the Service maintains the elevated rights it needs in order to properly detect and remove malware infections.

How Does This Affect Resource Use? During a scan, the CPU use of the Service will vary parts of the scan are labor-intensive and require a lot of processing power, which can make the computer's performance sluggish. Other parts require less computing power and have little impact on the overall performance of the system. When the service is idle, virtually no CPU power is required, making the impact on system performance negligible.

As for memory use, the service does require a bit of memory, most of which is needed for storing the threats in the Detection Database. It is important to note, however, that when the Service is not in use, the lion's share of this memory is paged to the Swap file. In non-technical terms, this means that the hard drive is used to store data that is not currently in use, and then retrieves the data when needed, which makes the actual working memory (RAM) available for other applications.

We recommend that you first update the software and then carry out a complete scan. Follow these steps:

1. If you use WindowsXP, deactivate the system recovery.

If you need any details on this, please refer to Microsoft support.

2. Start the computer in safe mode (press F8 during restart).
3. Open Anti-Virus Helix, go to the Scanner window and start the scan of all local drives.
4. After the scanning, please, delete manually the viruses from archives, which could not be deleted by Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix and were reported in the logfile (AVSCAN*.LOG).
5. For absolute certainty, after deleting all viruses, we recommend that you carry out another scan.
6. Restart the computer (in normal mode) and reactivate, if necessary, the system recovery.
7. Update Anti-Virus Helix.

We strongly advice you to schedule regular Microsoft updates, for closing eventual security holes.

If this procedure does not have the desired results, please, send us the infected files. http://upload.lavasoft.com/upload/submit_file.php

(Important: Please make sure to install the correct driver for the operating system you are using!) 

For a 32bit operating system.
Go to, (the default installed location)
C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\drivers\32
Right click on the 'lbd.inf' file and choose install, reboot the computer.

For a 64bit operating system.
Go to, (the default installed location)
C:\Program Files(x86)\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware\drivers\64
Right click on the 'lbd.inf' file and choose install, reboot the computer.

If you are online behind a proxy server, you will need to have your proxy server settings correctly configured to update Ad-Aware.

Go to Settings -> Updates and click proxy settings.

Tick the box beside "Enable Proxy"

Enter your proxy server address (in the format, proxyaddress:portnumber ), your username and password and click 'Ok'

There are different ways to access a new installation file of Ad-Aware, depending on how you purchased your software.

Purchased online
Please contact general support at Lavasoft.com providing your full name and email presented at the time of purchase

Physical box purchase
Please refer back to your installation CD and input your enclosed license key.

Ad-Aware Free is available from Lavasoft's website.

All activated reseller accounts are given a standard 25% discount rate. This can increase over time with exceptional sales performance and consistency.

You can also log into the Partner Center, and visit the Place an Order section of the Partner E-Store. After you select a product, enter the appropriate seating number, and click "Buy Now," your discount pricing will automatically be calculated.

If you have an existing account, but can not remember your current discount rate, please contact our distributor, element 5, to retrieve your specific account information.

There are different ways to access a new installation file of Ad-Aware 2007, depending on how you purchased your software.

For retail shop and online retail customers:

* If you registered your copy of Ad-Aware 2007, you can update your old version of Ad-Aware 2007 by logging in to the Support Center (or to the Partner Center, if you are a Lavasoft Partner.) Under "Resources," click on "Product Downloads." Click the link for your product, and follow the directions on the screen. (If you have not registered your Ad-Aware 2007 Plus or Professional, see your installation CD where the registration is printed.)

For element 5 customers:

* To upgrade your old version of Ad-Aware 2007 to the current version, login to the Support Center (or Partner Center, if you are a Lavasoft Partner).You will find download information (on products you have a valid license for) in "Product Downloads" under "Resources." By clicking on "License Info," you can see if you need to renew your license to download the program. Information on "License Renewals" can also be found in the Support Center or Partner Center.

If you want to sell our products you must register as a reseller. Upon successful registration you will receive a discount of 25% on purchases.

The boxed versions of Lavasoft products are only available in the USA. For a list of retailers in you area, please contact our World Wide Sales Department.

Microsoft has included new security features in Internet Explorer 7 that makes it difficult to run active content like to Java Applet used to decrypt Lavasoft Secure E-mails. This can be solved by modifying the security settings of Internet Explorer 7. Contact your local administrator to change the appropriate settings. You can also use an alternative browser like Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer 6 or older to open the secure e-mail.

Pulling and pushing are two methods available for clients to get the Definition File from the Server. If you are using Ad-Aware Enterprise on a large network (more than 20 clients in the same domain) pulling offers a better performance. When the number of nodes in the network is less than 20, the two methods deliver similar performances. Pushing is more suitable for the "Force Updating" option found in the "Scheduled Updating" option panel.

The Connect feature is only available to Ad-Aware Pro customers.

Please see this link: http://lavasoft.com/download_and_buy/product_comparison_chart.php

It is likely that the receiver is using some sort of e-mail filtering software which removes the encrypted files attached in the e-mail. This software can be either installed locally or on the e-mail server. One reason can be that the filtering software does not recognize the file format since it is encrypted and therefore removes the file. Try to use different encryption formats the circumvent this problem. You can also try to send the encrypted file inside a compressed folder (.zip).

When programs are installed and uninstalled, or settings are saved in the registry, the entries are not removed automatically - resulting in an increased registry size. The outdated entries that are no longer valid result in a corrupted registry.

The Windows registry is the central database of Windows and stores information about every program installed on the system. For more information about the registry, see the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Registry

As long as you hold a valid license, you can log in to download the latest version of Lavasoft Personal Firewall here.

When logged in, select your product from "Your licenses" ? "Download software".

Double-click the file once downloaded and follow the on-screen instructions in the Installation Wizard to install

Click 'Finish' to complete the installation and to launch Lavasoft Personal Firewall

When the Ad-Aware Tray icon has an exclamation mark over it, this means that an Ad-Watch update has being downloaded but the computer has not being restarted for Ad-Watch to be fully updated.

Restart your computer to complete the update

Windows and many open applications are constantly using various temporary files. Since these files are in use, they cannot be modified by other applications. As a result, the operation "Shred System Files" will usually generate the result "Operation completed with errors". If you wish to remove more files, simply restart your computer and try again. The operation "Shred Free Space" can also be used to ensure that there is a bare minimum of sensitive temporary files on your system.

The Subscription Center is used to keep track of your software subscription and also helps you to keep your software up-to-date. You will always need an active subscription in order to use the application. When you first install the application will be able to run the application for free during a "grace period". When this evaluation period expires you will need to purchase an activation code. This code is used to activate your subscription. This subscription feature is becoming standard for most security products and helps to ensures that you are using the latest version of your security software.

The Subscription Center is used to keep track of your software subscription and also helps you to keep your software up-to-date. You will always need an active subscription in order to use the application. When you first install the application will be able to run the application for free during a "grace period". When this evaluation period expires you will need to purchase an activation code. This code is used to activate your subscription. This subscription feature is becoming standard for most security products and helps to ensures that you are using the latest version of your security software.

Yes. If you hold a valid license for Ad-Aware SE Plus or Professional you will be able to update to Ad-Aware 2007 Plus or Pro, free of charge.

Customers with a valid Ad-Aware SE license can now update their software to Ad-Aware 2007 through the Support Center. All license updates to 2007 have been automatically extended to cover the update delay.

To update your product;

1. Log-in to the Lavasoft Support Center to retrieve your Ad-Aware 2007 serial number.
2. Open the 'License Info' menu.
3. Click the 'Update license to Ad-Aware 2007' button below your valid license to activate the serial number which will be sent to you in an email.

Make sure you are running the latest version, which is Enterprise 2.1, The version is shown in the "About" menu. You can also go to the control panel, add/remove programs, and check the version from there.

The latest version, Enterprise 2.1 can be downloaded from the 'your licenses' section of the support center https://secure.lavasoft.com/support/supportcenter.

It may have multiple causes. Usually you can find a more detailed error message in the corresponding logfile.

Maybe the Internet connection is not available at the moment.
To check it, try to open an Internet page in your browser (e.g. www.lavasoft.com). If it does not work, please contact your administrator or Internet Service Provider.

Another cause could be a proxy server, which you have not yet set in the Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix configuration.
In this case, type the connection data of your proxy server in the following area:

Extras -> Configuration -> General (Expert mode) -> Update -> Web server -> Proxy

If you use a firewall, the error cause could be a blocked connection.
The list below contains the processes your firewall should allow:

• sched.exe
• avcenter.exe
• avguard.exe
• avgnt.exe
• update.exe
• avesvc.exe
• avmailc.exe
• avconfig.exe
• preupd.exe

All these files are located in Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix installation directory (C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\).

Windows and many open applications are constantly using various temporary files. Since these files are in use, they cannot be modified by other applications. As a result, the operation "Shred System Files" will usually generate the result "Operation completed with errors". If you wish to remove more files, simply restart your computer and try again. The operation "Shred Free Space" can also be used to ensure that there is a bare minimum of sensitive temporary files on your system.

Please contact us for more information on how to activate your software subscription if you do not have access to an Internet connection.

After installing Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix from a commercial CD-ROM, an Internal error may occur during update.

On the last line of the Updater's logfile you can read the error message: "Critical error: cannot find the commapp_dir_av variable"

In order for the Update to work, please download the newest installation file of Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix from our website and install it again, after you uninstall the older version.

http://www.lavasoft.com/support/supportcenter/index.php

Ensure that the Rules Wizard firewall policy is on, by right clicking on the Firewall icon in the Windows System Tray and and going to Firewall Policy. This will help you control all the connections that do not come under any rule.

If the problem persists
In the product's main window click Event Viewer. See what is blocked and why (in the Allow/Block Reason column). Modify the appropriate rule.

If this does not help, temporarily disable the Lavasoft Personal Firewall product protection and check if the application is still blocked. To currently disable the product protection, right-click the product icon in the system tray and select the Suspend Protection option. Select the period of time for suspension and click OK.

Check if the application is still blocked,if it is, click Settings ? Network Rules. If you see the application in the Blocked list, drag it to the list of Custom Access. If it is already in the Custom Access list, drag it to Trusted.

Please contact us for more information on how to activate your software subscription if you do not have access to an Internet connection.

The reason is that both AOL and the above mentioned Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix products use a WebGuard to check the data traffic. This causes a conflict.

Because you are not allowed to deactivate the AOL Webguard, you have to uninstall Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix WebGuard as follows:

• Go to Start -> Settings -> Control Panel => Add or Remove Software (XP) / Programs and Features (Vista)
• Select Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix
• Click Change => Modify => remove the check-mark for Anti-Virus Helix WebGuard
• Click Next until Finish
• Restart the computer

Afterwards, the Internet connection runs without interruption.

When I click on the Ad-Watch icon on the desktop nothing happens?

This happens when Ad-Watch has already started and is running in the background.

To open the Ad-Watch interface, just double-click on the Ad-Watch icon in the system tray and click 'Settings'.

Once you click on the Ad-Watch icon (when Ad-Watch is not already loaded) it will open the program on the status page, just minimize the screen to load Ad-Watch in the system tray.

This is a heuristic warning and it indicates a virus suspicion. You can move the file to Quarantine. In the Quarantine menu you can send us the file, we can check it thoroughly and add it to the detection database if necessary.

A manual scan is targeted at a single computer. A scheduled scan is targeted at all clients within the group that have been selected for scanning in the Console. Unlike scheduled scanning, manual scanning does not allow you to change the scanning parameters before you run the scan; the current selected settings in the "Scheduled Scanning Options" panel are used. If you do not want to use the default settings, we recommend using a scheduled scan rather than the "Scan" icon.

To perform a manual scan:

* Select an individual client from the list of client computers.
* Click the "Scan" icon or the F11 key.

To perform a scheduled scan:

* Select the scanning options you would like to use.
* Select the days of the week and the time of the day when you would like to run the scan.

An Ad-Aware background scan is designed not to slow down your computer during scanning.

A background scan will only use available resources while you are using other applications.

If there are a lot of applications running (less resources available), the background scan will take longer depending on your computer's capabilities.

Once you have closed other applications, scanning will run at full speed.

It indicates that Ad-Aware is set to automatically update the definition file when starting Ad-Aware or in a scheduled update. This can be turned on / off under the Settings > Auto Scans tab "Update Definition File at Startup". A scheduled update can be removed from the ?Schedule Tasks? list in the Scan > Scheduler menu.

If you try to manually start a scan or update while a scheduled scan or update is running, you will receive a 5000 error.

When you see the spinning Ad-Aware icon in the system tray you cannot start a manual scan since the icon indicates that a scheduled scan is already running and therefore the Ad-Aware scan engine is busy and will produce this error.

To stop the scan you need to right-click the System Tray icon and select to terminate the scan. You can also force to terminate the scan by restarting the service:

1. Close Ad-Aware
2. Go to Windows Start menu, choose 'Run...', type in 'Services.msc' and in the service window, stop Ad-Aware 2007 Service.
3. Open Ad-Aware to restart the service.

Currently, Ad-Aware is available in an English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Flemish version.

Other language support is in development and will be available at a future date.

To automatically remove detected malware after performing a scan:

* Open the "Scheduled Scanning Options" option panel.
* Verify that the "Automatic Cleaning" checkbox is checked.

This will allow detected malware be removed after scanning.

Check if a Personal Firewall is active on your computer, other than Windows Firewall. Make sure it does not block the files avmailc.exe and avesvc.exe (Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix MailGuard's service and helper service).

If you still cannot activate Anti-Virus Helix MailGuard, please reinstall it.

Follow these steps:
• Open the Windows Control Panel from Start -> Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs (xp) / Program Features (Vista) -> Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix
• Click Change -> Select Modify and click Next
• Please deactivate the option for MailGuard in the installation wizard.
• Confirm the change and restart the system.
• After restart, please repeat the steps above and activate the MailGuard.

On-access scanning is done by the Guard, which scans files for viruses in real time, when opened, saved and run.

On-demand scanning, on the other hand, is done manually. You can select the drives and folders you want to scan.

• Open Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix and go to Extras -> Configuration
• Activate the Expert mode.
• Go to Guard and expand the Scan settings.
• Click on Further actions and disable the option to Use event log.

The scan log file is a detailed information log about the scan.There are two ways to create a scan log file.

From the Main Status screen click  'Statistics' and select the scan which you require the log file for from the scan statistics drop down menu.

Click on the "Export Scan Log" and save the scan log file as a text file to your computer.

Or-

After a scan is completed on the 'Scan Summary Screen',
Click on the "Export Scan Log" and save the scan log file as a text file to your computer.

Guard:

• Open Lavasoft Anti-Virus Helix and go to Extras - Configuration.
• Activate the Expert mode.
• Go to Guard and expand the Scan settings.
• Click on Further actions and disable the option Acoustic alert.

Anti-Virus Helix

• Open AntiVir and go to Extras - Configuration.
• Activate the Expert mode.
• Go to Scanner and expand the Scan settings.
• Click on Further actions and disable the option Acoustic alert.

User manuals are included in the installation files for all editions of Ad-Aware. If you cannot access your copy, please download a new copy from Product Manuals in the Support Center.

Detected objects are listed by family and are given a pre-selected SmartSet recommendation defined by Lavasoft experts. Lavasoft SmartSet makes scanning and cleaning as easy as possible by providing automatically configured settings for scans, and by providing recommended actions for found objects.

Licensing term starts: when your 25-character activation key is issued shortly after the purchase is confirmed. It does not depend on the exact time when you enter it into the corresponding program's dialog box.

For license purchasing information please contact sales@lavasoft.com

You are currently running an operation for shredding free disk space. This operations creates a temporary folder on each selected drive and fills it with large files until there is no more space left on the disk. This folder can also be present if the operation has terminated unexpectedly. If this folder is present without the Lavasoft application running it will automatically be removed the next time to start your application.

This is Windows reaction when the operation is shredding the empty disk space. It is safe to ignore this warning since the disk space will be made available continuously until the shredding is done.

It is likely that the receiver is using some sort of e-mail filtering software which removes the encrypted files attached in the e-mail. This software can be either installed locally or on the e-mail server. One reason can be that the filtering software does not recognize the file format since it is encrypted and therefore removes the file. Try to use different encryption formats the circumvent this problem. You can also try to send the encrypted file inside a compressed folder (.zip).

To order products as a reseller, click on the Reseller Login link to log into the Reseller Center. After you are logged in, select the product you are interested in ordering.

Lavasoft Partners can order through the Partner Center. Visit Place an Order in the Partner E-Store.

In order to Install Lavasoft Personal Firewall you will need to be logged in to Windows as an Administrator or have sufficiant rights on your Windows user account.

Some user accounts may not have sufficiant privilages. If you are unsure, contact your system Administrator or the person who has installed Windows on your computer.

This is Windows reaction when the operation is shredding the empty disk space. It is safe to ignore this warning since the disk space will be made available continuously until the shredding is done.

You are currently running an operation for shredding free disk space. This operations creates a temporary folder on each selected drive and fills it with large files until there is no more space left on the disk. This folder can also be present if the operation has terminated unexpectedly. If this folder is present without the Lavasoft application running it will automatically be removed the next time to start your application.

To update your e-mail address, please fill in the form on this page: http://www.lavasoft.com/mylavasoft/support/supportcenter/change_email_address.
IMPORTANT: Please provide your current registered mailing address, and the new e-mail address that you would like to use.

All versions: Ad-Aware Free, Plus and Pro use the same installation file. Before registration it is automatically installs to Free version. You need to register with your Serial Number to activate the full feature versions of Ad-Aware Plus and Pro.

A restart of the program is required after registration.

You can download the installation file from the Support Center. Use your registered email address and the password that you received with the email confirmation of your purchase/registration. To download your software, log in, go to 'Your licenses'. This will list your licenses and you will find the download links below each valid license. Click the link and save it to your hard drive.

Heuristics refers to a "preliminary detection" feature, which can also detect unknown viruses.

This is due to a complex analysis of the affected code and scanning for virus-specific functions. If the analysed code does meet such characteristics, it is reported as suspect.

This does not mean, however, that the code is a virus for sure; false positives may occur.
Please send us the files, that were heuristically detected, for further analysis.
You can send them using the submission form on our website:
http://upload.lavasoft.com/upload/submit_file.php

No.

Ad-Watch is not sold as a separate product; it is included in Ad-Aware.

No, it is sufficient to enter the Activation Code.

Please open the Ad-Aware program on your computer and click "Manage License" to view the current license state. If this is still valid please email general support at Lavasoft.com with your full name and email address at the time of purchase.

What exactly do you mean by "automatic application of program network access rules"?

With this system, rules that govern how various applications on your computer access the Internet will be automatically configured and applied based on the extensive default settings worked out by experts for each of the most popular software packages people use. This eliminates a lot of decisions a user has to make when a new connection is initiated on their PC. It relieves the end-user of having to correctly (and more importantly securely) configure the security product to handle different programs' access. Before this innovation, inexperienced users reported difficulties managing their firewall, but the addition of automatic rules creation makes working with the program amazingly simple by actual user reports and reviews.

Advanced users (who understand the inner workings of network traffic) can choose to disable this option during installation of Personal Firewall or on the Policy tab of the Settings menu for Lavasoft Personal Firewall

Lavasoft Personal Firewall may perform along with some other security products, but not with all of them. Lavasoft Personal Firewall will definitely not perform with security products containing firewalls. Therefore make sure that you delete such programs before installing Lavasoft Personal Firewall.

The number of firewalls is constantly growing, below is a list of the most used products incompatible with Lavasoft Personal Firewall:

* ActiveArmor Firewall (nVidia Network Access Manager)
* AGAVA Firewall
* Armor2net Personal Firewall
* AtGuard
* BlackICE Defender
* Check Point Firewall
* Comodo Firewall Pro
* Danware NetOp Firewall
* F-Secure Internet Security/Antivirus
* F-Secure Internet Shield
* Jetico Personal Firewall
* Kaspersky Anti-Hacker
* Kaspersky Internet Security
* Kerio Personal Firewall
* Look 'n' Stop
* McAfee Personal Firewall
* Norton Internet Security
* Panda Platinum Internet Security
* PC Firewall
* Quick Heal Firewall Pro
* R-TT R-Firewall
* Rising Personal FireWall
* Secret Surf Firewall
* Softwin Bitdefender Pro
* Sophos Clien Firewall
* Sygate Personal Firewall
* Tiny Personal Firewall
* TheGreenBow TGB::BOB
* Trend Micro PC-cillin Firewall
* ZoneAlarm Security Suite

Lavasoft Personal Firewall is incompatible with the following security products:

* BWMeter (Desksoft Network packet filter driver)
* NetLimiter Pro

Lavasoft Personal Firewalls partial performance with some of the listed products is possible only if you disable firewalls as well as other tools for controlling network traffic contained in those products. However, in such cases Lavasoft does not guarantee stable operation of its software.

Some errors cannot be deleted if in use by another user or program. This may be an essential file for another program and we do not recommend that you delete it.

OR

There may not be any errors and/or missing files left to fix. This may be because you previously scanned your computer and clicked ?Fix Problems?, which fixes all the problems leaving no missing files or errors left. The Fix Problems button only works when you have just scanned your system. Once you click on the Fix Problems button all the errors are fixed, and the button will not work again until you scan the registry again. If this does not solve your problem or you are still having trouble getting the program to work, please contact Technical Support for assistance.

Ad-Aware Business Edition offers the Centralized Management Control Tool for networks. Our central control tool gives your IT Administrator full control and centralized monitoring capability for your entire network. The Ad-Aware Business Edition control tool allows your IT Administrator to configure and manage all registered and active clients (network computer users), to see what computers are actively running Ad-Aware, to monitor reference file versions, and to evaluate the spyware/malware detection logs from previous Ad-Aware scans.

Yes, Lavasoft Personal Firewall can be installed on a server, but we do not recommend it. Lavasoft Personal Firewall is designed specifically to run on user workstations connected to a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet.

Lavasoft Personal Firewall does not provide several important functions that a server firewall must provide and all of its presets are applicable to workstations. A server firewall needs very different application traffic filtering settings, so if you install Lavasoft Personal Firewall on a server with the default settings, much of the useful traffic to and/or from your server will be blocked by default. In addition, a server firewall needs to be able to create rules based on different network adapters being used by the various workstations connected to the server. Moreover, some plug-ins do not affect transit traffic through a server.

You can install Lavasoft Personal Firewall on a server so it provides some firewall functions, but - for performance optimization - you must perform the following steps.

* Disable Host Protection to prevent popup prompts for user reaction every time an application component or critical system object is changed and an application performs some system activity (click Settings ? Host Protection and clear the Enable Host Protection check box).
* Disable Blocking private data transfer on the ID Block page.
* Switch off the Rules Wizard mode and select either Allow Most or Block Most.
* Disable logging (clear the Log debugging information check box on the Logs page).

If you login as Guest, the status of the Lavasoft Anti-Spyware Helix services is not shown and the tray icon displays the off state.

This is because the Guest account has very restricted rights and it cannot see the status.

However, the Anti-Virus Helix services are running and you are protected against viruses, even if logged in as Guest.

Yes. You can undo changes by navigating to the ?Backup Registry? tab and selecting either the Partial or Full Backups option, and then click ?Restore.?

Side-effects are common in IT world. The problem is usually solved by defining an exception.

Please insert an exception in Anti-Virus Helix's configuration, in Guard's Expert mode:
Start Lavaoft Anti-Virus Helix -> Configuration -> activate Expert mode -> Guard -> Scan -> Exception -> Processes to be omitted for the Guard

Please insert the following process names:

Zeichenprogramm.exe
p10.exe

After you restart the system, the software should run properly.

This option refers to the new virus scanning engine in Ad-Aware 2008 Plus/Pro.

In Ad-Aware 2008 Plus/Pro you can scan with or without the extended virus scanning engine.
This option is turned on by default. It is not included in Ad-Aware 2008 Free. To turn this option off go to the Ad-Aware 2008 settings and in the 'scanning' tab disable the option for 'use scanner extension' and click save.

Use Heuristics on extended scan:

During an extended scan, Ad-Aware will scan objects using Heuristics ? files are analyzed based on behavior to assess if they may pose a threat. This option is turned off by default. If you choose to scan using Heuristics, select the Heuristics level to be used.

In Ad-Watch you can also use this option to use the extended anti-virus database, to extend the real time protection of your system. This option is turned on by default. To turn this option off in Ad-Watch go to the settings and disable the option for 'Use scanner extension'.

"Rootkit" usually defines software, that after infiltrated in a system, it hides resources such as registry entries, files or processes. Thus it conceals the presence of attackers on the system, allowing them access at any time.

Yes, this feature has been integrated in Anti-Virus Helix.

If you use Internet Explorer 7.0 on Windows XP or Windows Vista, the following problems may occur. The exact cause for this behavior is not yet known.

• Suddenly desktop shortcuts do not work.
• Your saved Internet favorites are unavailable or broken.

Solution for

Windows XP
Create an exception for Anti-Virus Helix Guard to exclude shortcuts from scanning.

1. Open Anti-Virus Helix -> Extras ->

   Configuration and activate the Expert mode.

2. Select Guard -> Scan, click on File extensions and delete the .URL extension

   from the list.

3. Open Guard -> Scan -> Exception.
4. Under File objects to be omitted for the Guard, type .url and press Add.
5. Under File objects to be omitted for the Guard, press the browse button [...], select C:\Documents and Settings\\Favorites and press Add.
6. Save the configuration by pressing OK.

Solution for Windows Vista
Create an exception for Anti-Virus Helix Guard to

exclude shortcuts from scanning.

1. Open Anti-Virus Helix -> Extras -> Configuration and activate the Expert mode.
2. Select

   Guard -> Scan, click on File extensions and delete the .URL extension from the list.

3. Open Guard -> Scan -> Exception.
4. Under File objects to be omitted for the Guard, type .url and press Add.
5. Under File objects to be omitted for the Guard, press the browse

   button [...], select C:\Users\\Favorites and press Add.

6. Save the configuration by pressing OK.

All appropriate plug-ins from our previous Ad-Aware SE version were integrated into the new version and are now a part of the base technology for the current product. With the new web update program available for software updates, we are now able to provide direct updates to your program, eliminating the need for most plug-ins.

We will, however, continue to release tools periodically to address new and highly malicious threats that cannot be removed solely by the Ad-Aware program.

AAWTray.exe maintains that little icon that sits in the System Tray close to the Windows Clock.

However, it does a lot more than this.
It is also responsible for bringing up the MiniMessages and shows the status of the Ad-Watch Live! system by changing what the icon looks like.

The user can also start the Ad-Aware interface from the Tray application by double clicking the icon.

This is the front-end for the Ad-Aware system. “Ad-Aware.exe” manages all the interface features that you see when working with Ad-Aware; It provides the user interaction with the Service.

In the background it is communicating with AAWService.exe, asking it to perform tasks like Scan the system, change settings, etc.

In return, AAWService keeps the GUI up to date with the latest Real-time Protection status, license information, scan progress, statistics and so forth.

Ad-Aware Game Edition is a seperate program and is not available via Ad-Aware 8.1

Most features are similar in Game edition and 8.1

The User Interface is tweaked in Game Edition.

As long as you hold a valid Ad-Aware Enterprise license, you are entitled to a free upgrade to Business Edition.

Inportant: Before installing Business edition, uninstall your current version of Ad-Aware Enterprise.

Log-In to the Lavasoft Support Center, go to My Downloads and follow the download link to the latest version.

Download and begin the installation process.

No, "Toolbox" is only available in Ad-Aware Pro

Once installed, the first time you start the management console you will be prompted to activate using your serial number. This serial number was sent via email shortly after your purchase was processed.

To activate Ad-Aware business Edition using a new serial number, please complete the following:

• Log into the Ad-Aware Business Edition console
• Click on License from the left menu
• In the License Details, click on Register License
• Enter your serial number sent at time of purchase and click on Register

Check to see if your firewall is blocking communication with Ad-Aware Business Edition's, Admin service and Application server. Ensure the following ports are open for the Administrator Service, Report Services and Application Server; respectively 8080, 8081 and 3000.

If this still does not work, temporarily disable/turn off firewall and antivirus programs and reinstall AAWBE.

Check your network for other software and hardware set-ups which may cause connectivity issues.

Consult the product manual regarding the system requirements and installation prerequisites.

This is the main Ad-Aware service that runs in the background, and is considered the "central hub" of the program.
It runs the Real-time Protection (RP) engine, as well as maintaining the Definitions, Whitelists and Blacklists.

It also makes sure that all the other parts of the system are kept up-to-date with the whole Ad-Aware application. For example, when a user changes a setting in the Ad-Aware interface, AAWService "echoes" this change to everything else so they know about it immediately.

AAWService.exe normally runs as a Windows Service (but can be run interactively in a terminal for development or Support reasons). When started, it also starts the Tray Application for Ad-Aware.