Lavasoftusa, adaware product does not work company cannot fix it to work Internet

Never pay for any of these anti-spyware programs, but DO check download.com for many of the free ones that are on the market.

Some of the better ones I have used are SpySweeper, Spyware Doctor, Adaware Away, and Spyware Blaster. The last one available from http://www.JavaCoolSoftware.com innoculated rather than finds the actual files.

The fact that your brower was hijacked and you could not go to the right page, is indicative of your having spyware on the system. Catch 22..

I have also found that whe it is so out of control the only fix is to back up data, and reformat and reload all. Lotta work, but then keep this crap off system, by running the best of the free tools...

OOPS...I made a boo boo, sorry, I gave you bad info...SPYBOT is NOT a Lavasoft program, I just got it off their download page. That is what confused me. It is a free ware Licensed Under the name "Safer Networking Limited" my apologies... to Patrick M. Kolla, the author of this freeware

Dear Sandy,

It looks like Jeff and I have had similarly good experiences with the Ad-Aware program, and he is correct that you need to run some Anti-Virus program first, however...you don't have to search for the one that he recommended, cause it is also made by Lavasoft and can be found on their download page where you got the Ad-Aware. I know that I love the Ad-Aware program, but I also know that you are not happy with Lavasoft. You should be aware that the SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY program is a LAVASOFT program as well.

It is a good program, but if you don't want to use a Lavasoft program, don't get that one.

Also, you need to know that there are some bad programs out there (not SpyBot, it is a good program)..there are some programs which pretend to be Anti-virus and/or anti-spyware, which are in fact actually spyware themselves...so be careful to get a program that you know is a good one. (check the anti-virus bulletin board for advise)here is the link:
http://www.free-av.de/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi

ALSO, remember any program that you get must be updated as soon as you have it. Most programs want to run at once and that is good, but as soon as the program has finished, click to update (there is usually a button somewhere on the screen)Then after it has updated, run it again.

If you don't want to work with Lavasoft, (I have had good luck with them!) you might consider Norton (I prefer SPYBOT myself) or someother well known program that has a good "track record". I really do think you should give Lavasoft another chance, but I think you should do it knowing that is what you are doing...you shouldn't be fooled into giving them another try.

Dear Sandy,

It looks like Jeff and I have had similarly good experiences with the Ad-Aware program, and he is correct that you need to run some Anti-Virus program first, however...you don't have to search for the one that he recommended, cause it is also made by Lavasoft and can be found on their download page where you got the Ad-Aware. I know that I love the Ad-Aware program, but I also know that you are not happy with Lavasoft. You should be aware that the SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY program is a LAVASOFT program as well.

It is a good program, but if you don't want to use a Lavasoft program, don't get that one.

Also, you need to know that there are some bad programs out there (not SpyBot, it is a good program)..there are some programs which pretend to be Anti-virus and/or anti-spyware, which are in fact actually spyware themselves...so be careful to get a program that you know is a good one. (check the anti-virus bulletin board for advise)here is the link:
http://www.free-av.de/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi

ALSO, remember any program that you get must be updated as soon as you have it. Most programs want to run at once and that is good, but as soon as the program has finished, click to update (there is usually a button somewhere on the screen)Then after it has updated, run it again.

If you don't want to work with Lavasoft, (I have had good luck with them!) you might consider Norton (I prefer SPYBOT myself) or someother well known program that has a good "track record". I really do think you should give Lavasoft another chance, but I think you should do it knowing that is what you are doing...you shouldn't be fooled into giving them another try.

Dear Sandy,

It looks like Jeff and I have had similarly good experiences with the Ad-Aware program, and he is correct that you need to run some Anti-Virus program first, however...you don't have to search for the one that he recommended, cause it is also made by Lavasoft and can be found on their download page where you got the Ad-Aware. I know that I love the Ad-Aware program, but I also know that you are not happy with Lavasoft. You should be aware that the SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY program is a LAVASOFT program as well.

It is a good program, but if you don't want to use a Lavasoft program, don't get that one.

Also, you need to know that there are some bad programs out there (not SpyBot, it is a good program)..there are some programs which pretend to be Anti-virus and/or anti-spyware, which are in fact actually spyware themselves...so be careful to get a program that you know is a good one. (check the anti-virus bulletin board for advise)here is the link:
http://www.free-av.de/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi

ALSO, remember any program that you get must be updated as soon as you have it. Most programs want to run at once and that is good, but as soon as the program has finished, click to update (there is usually a button somewhere on the screen)Then after it has updated, run it again.

If you don't want to work with Lavasoft, (I have had good luck with them!) you might consider Norton (I prefer SPYBOT myself) or someother well known program that has a good "track record". I really do think you should give Lavasoft another chance, but I think you should do it knowing that is what you are doing...you shouldn't be fooled into giving them another try.

Dear Sandy,

It looks like Jeff and I have had similarly good experiences with the Ad-Aware program, and he is correct that you need to run some Anti-Virus program first, however...you don't have to search for the one that he recommended, cause it is also made by Lavasoft and can be found on their download page where you got the Ad-Aware. I know that I love the Ad-Aware program, but I also know that you are not happy with Lavasoft. You should be aware that the SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY program is a LAVASOFT program as well.

It is a good program, but if you don't want to use a Lavasoft program, don't get that one.

Also, you need to know that there are some bad programs out there (not SpyBot, it is a good program)..there are some programs which pretend to be Anti-virus and/or anti-spyware, which are in fact actually spyware themselves...so be careful to get a program that you know is a good one. (check the anti-virus bulletin board for advise)here is the link:
http://www.free-av.de/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi

ALSO, remember any program that you get must be updated as soon as you have it. Most programs want to run at once and that is good, but as soon as the program has finished, click to update (there is usually a button somewhere on the screen)Then after it has updated, run it again.

If you don't want to work with Lavasoft, (I have had good luck with them!) you might consider Norton (I prefer SPYBOT myself) or someother well known program that has a good "track record". I really do think you should give Lavasoft another chance, but I think you should do it knowing that is what you are doing...you shouldn't be fooled into giving them another try.

I am glad that you keyed me into the fact that there is a support problem. I kinda fiqured that already though, because the free program is not people friendly. If Lavasoft sees this, I wish they would fiqure out a way to let people know that the FIRST thing they have to do is upgrade/update. And perhaps give some simple, people friendly, instructions rather than just flinging a person to their web page with no instructions.

HOWEVER, I recently had some major problems with virus', trojan's and other malware. I was running my Upgraded and Updated Norton, (The newest available and not a free program, either) when I picked up the malware. I was referred to the Lavasoft Ad-aware program by AOL and I thought I would try it, as it was free.

The free Ad-Aware program picked up a lot of problems, such as data miners as well as other malware and virus'. It cleaned out most of them, when the AOL spyware program and Norton didn't even see them. It is true that there was 1 malware program that it couldn't get rid of, but none of the anti-virus programs could either. It required a special removal tool that was designed for removing that particular trojan.

It is also true, however, that AD-AWARE IS NOT PERSON FRIENDLY. You MUST read the manual, and it is really not designed to remove virus' but is a great program to protect your computer against other malware, such as data miners.

I was so impressed with the performance of the Ad-Aware program that I will be buying the full program and will continue to run it in conjunction with my Anti-virus programs, even though I know that they have support problems. I do think that, as a reputable company, they SHOULD refund your money, as the program did not work properly for you and would have had you had PROPER Support. Afterall, the Support is part of what you are buying when you buy this type of program.

sandy,

adaware is not a bad program at all. I have used it for well over a year in combination with spybot. The downside to these programs is that they do not remove all spyware on their own, that's why I use two. Also, they do not remove viruses that can download the spyware to your pc. I have only used the free version of adaware and have been satisfied with it. I suggest you download spybot search and destroy (can be found by doing a search on google) and using it with adware. Just, install spybot, update and run the software. After that is done, run adware.

Also, I suggest you get an updated virus software. I prefer Norton as its new versions detect more types of spyware viruses. But both Norton and MacAfee are good. Both have a free trial you can get via the net.

Also, your comment about having it download with all available updates. A company can not consistently update their downloadable software to have every update. That would rise cost and depending on the company and the frequency of updates cost many extra dollars that would be passed on to us as consumers.

I am sorry you have had so many problems. Hopefully I helped some..