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Ad-Aware 2008 Free
Version: 7.1.0.7
Downloads Count: 15,422,711
License Type: Free
Price: Free
Date Added: May 27, 2008
Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista
File Size: 18705 KB
Author: Lavasoft
- Ad-Aware 2008 Free 15,422,711
- Spybot Search & Destroy 8,157,400
- CWShredder 904,639
- Windows Defender 788,621
- SpywareGuard v2.2 (formerly Browser Hijack Blaster) 476,132
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Add Your Review
Most recent User Reviews for Ad-Aware 2008 Free
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Reviewed by: teacha1
08-16-2008
Duration of ownership: 3 Years
Strengths: Very thorough.
Weaknesses: Slower than molassess compared to previous versions.
Overall Evaluation: Heavy firepower when you need it.
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Reviewed by: BearGFR
08-01-2008
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: There aren't any
Weaknesses: CPU/resource hog (their registry tool is the culprit), daily crashes, crash "loops" that you have to use task manager to get out of.
Overall Evaluation: It's an embarrassment and an insult to what used to be a good product. I purchased the 2008 Pro upgrade and have regretted it since the day I installed it. Avoid this thing like the plague. I've reported issues to their tech support and they have been completely non-responsive. I've completely uninstalled it and have written their sales department asking for a refund of my upgrade fee.
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Reviewed by: lions
07-18-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Months
Strengths: None!
Weaknesses: Couldn't uninstall 2007, did what it said, but didn't completely uninstall, so reinstalled and uninstalled. Then I installed AA 8 and now it says I have AA8 but version 7.1.
Overall Evaluation: I would uninstall it if I could!
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Reviewed by: ajtrek
07-09-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Days
Strengths: Free, and is a good second option to your primary product.
Weaknesses: None, as a free product
Overall Evaluation: Ran the SmartScan twice...did not find any threats worth mentioning. Both scans took 26 and 24 minutes to complete respectively. I have a CPU and RAM monitor on my desktop. CPU usage averaged about 35% with spikes of 65%-70% upon opening an application/program. RAM usage was about 3% additional. Had MSOutlook and IE7 running during scans and encountered no problems. I'd have to agree with another reviewer that using a dual core processor as I am with sufficient RAM (I have 4G's)will probably make a difference. FYI, my OS is Vista Ultimate.
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Reviewed by: Prokingdom
06-21-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Months
Strengths: Ad-Aware SE=Tons of strength...Ad-Aware 2007=little strength....Ad-Aware 2008=no strength at all
Weaknesses: Sluggish scan and alway incomplete,if you tried open some other program while scanning,the scanner will give you a error msg and close the program,i think you really need to have a good computer to use this program.After update when you want to scan it say scanner is busy,i only can continue by close it and end it process and restart.Even updating it still freeze.i don't think it had a much different from this free version and paid version
Overall Evaluation: I had use back Ad-Aware SE Personal,althrough it not supported by lavasoft anymore,i am still able to get it's defination update from softpedia.com.Ad-Aware 2008 had a very serious problem,but lavasoft seem doesn't care about it despite a lot of us gave feedback to lavasoft.it also maybe a plan to make us pay for the program to make it Lag-free
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Reviewed by: marikavs
06-20-2008
Duration of ownership: 5 Years
Strengths: Wouldn't know (can't install it...)
Weaknesses: Can't install it.
Overall Evaluation: My previous review(06-20-2008)got lost when I tried to edit out a typo, but since aaw doesn't install I don't suppose it matters. I'll take Prokingdom's word for it and try reinstating SE.
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Reviewed by: heathwater
06-18-2008
Duration of ownership: 4 Days
Strengths: Finds some products that SpyBot S&D and CCleaner miss.
Weaknesses: Installs it's self as a service.
Overall Evaluation: 2007 version was better, I now consider this software bloatware and am not remcomending it's use for me friends. Highly recomend switching the service to "Manual".
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Reviewed by: HA2000
06-17-2008
Duration of ownership: 2 Years
Strengths: It is the best out there
Weaknesses: The latest version can not be updated. I tried it on 3 different computers with same result.The blogs do not offer any solution
Overall Evaluation: It used to be a very good program. I found spyware terminator and switched to it since it can not be updated
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Reviewed by: emuny01
05-12-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Days
Strengths: None noted or that are available on the free verxion
Weaknesses: Nothing is available for the free verxion. It does not even scan. All you get is the opening screen and some ADS.
Overall Evaluation: STINKS BIG TIME. DO NOT DOWNLOAD. WASTE OF SPACE ON THE HARD DRIVE. YOU CANNOT EVEN TRY THE FREE VERSION. YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW IT WILL WORK WITHOUT BUYING IT.
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Reviewed by: RodeoRider
05-10-2008
Duration of ownership: 4 Years
Strengths: Earlier free versions worked very well. This version of Ad-Aware 2007 Free is just OK; not in same league as other versions. You get what you pay for.
Weaknesses: Takes forever to scan my PC. Likes to freeze my PC and I have to reboot to clear the problem.
Overall Evaluation: I tried the Ad-Aware 2007 Plus 30day test version. What a waste! Slowed my PC to a crawl and grabbed all few RAM. Don't waste your time/effort on this dud. I uninstalled both versions and my PC now runs much faster.
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Reviewed by: 007rjc
04-27-2008
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: This version of this long standing favourite is truly horrible. A full scan with the previous version would take about 20 mins but with this version it takes about 4-5 hours. I had trouble getting updates. It seems that the main motivation behind this version is to sell other services - it really is a hard sell.
Overall Evaluation: I have now uninstalled this version and have reloaded the previous version. Ad awares reputation has been harmed by this version.
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Reviewed by: PeterCayce
04-19-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Months
Strengths: Addendum to previous review. See below.
Weaknesses: Addendum to previous review. See below.
Overall Evaluation: ADDENDUM TO MY PREVIOUS REVIEW BELOW: For comparison, I just tested this new Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007 on my older Windows XP laptop with a single core Pentium 4 processor (with 500 MB RAM). Both the full scan and basic scan work in my free version (a previous reviewer said he could only do a full scan with the free version, but I am able to do both). The scans work more sluggishly with my older laptop, however the entire full scan only took 21 minutes and 40 seconds to complete. My computer did "freeze" a bit when trying to do other tasks. I actually had to wait for new screens to open slowly. In short, my older (single core Pentium 4 CPU with Windows XP) computer runs far more slowly than my new dual core processor with VISTA (although I don't believe VISTA has anything to do with the speed of the scan. I believe that 3GB of RAM along with the dual processor makes all the difference). The Windows Task Manager did show my CPU running a little high on my older Pentium 4 single core processor, but not exceptionally high. This basically confirms my theory. A dual core processor (along with 3GB RAM) make scanning my computer so fast and easy that I don't even know a scan is occurring -- unless I'm watching the Ad-Aware progress screen. With a dual core processor (and 3GB RAM), I can quickly and easily minimize the Ad-Aware window and work on other tasks with no delays, no freezes, and no problems whatsoever. Hopes this helps some of you who are trying to decide whether to download the new Lavasoft Ad-Aware spyware detection program. PeterCayce.com
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Reviewed by: petercayce
04-18-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Months
Strengths: This program worked quickly and very smoothly. No problems whatsoever. But my professional guess is that you need a dual core (or dual channel) processor to efficiently run this Lavasoft program. I have to admit I was very hesitant on downloading this program due to the various negative reviews I read here. I don't usually write comments, but since I do read them for assistance, I thought I'd post this comment here for some of you who had the same concern I had about downloading the new Lavasoft. I too had no problems with the older version of Lavasoft AdAware SE. But -- again -- I do believe that you need a dual core processor to effectively run this program. PeterCayce.com Send me an email if you want additional feedback.
Weaknesses: The problems some people are having (i.e., 100% CPU usage, computer "freezing up," lengthy spyware scans, etc.) are probably being caused by not having a dual core processor. It seems that this new version of Lavasoft software runs into problems with a single core CPU (even with a Pentium 4 Processor). If you are having this problem, it's probably time to give in a get a dual core processor computer. And for some of you who don't really know what a dual core processor is, this basically means the computer has two "brains." A one core processor is notoriously slow when running a CPU intensive program such as a spyware or virus detection program. If you are still unsure what I mean, open up Windows Task Manager. You will then see how much CPU usage (percent of the computer's "brain)' is being monopolized by any spyware or virus detection program. Especially newer programs like this Lavasoft spyware detection software. PeterCayce.com
Overall Evaluation: A good program. B+ or better. I use this along with Spyware Blaster, Spybot Search & Destroy, Windows Defender, A-Squared Free, and AVG AntiRootkit Free. I also use IceSword, but don't try this one unless you know what you're doing. It confuses most people because there are no driections. The guy who designed is Chinese and speaks/reads no English. This free but excellent rootkit detection program won't help you much if you can't figure it out on your own. PeterCayce.com [cursory proofreading only; excuse any typos]
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Reviewed by: captdanf
03-25-2008
Duration of ownership: 4 Years
Strengths: Previous versions were solid performers. This one is a total hack.
Weaknesses: Doesn't like to complete scans, freezes computers (and I use both XP and VIsta machines), even BSOD a few times. Massive resource hog, even on high-end machines. They took a good program and flushed it down the john.
Overall Evaluation: Extremely poor performance. I was involved with the beta testing, and found it frought with problems, which I dutifully reported. Doesn't look like they fixed any of the problems, just rushed the beta program to market. I have tried 2007 version several times to see if they fixed the problems, as I had been quite pleased with the earlier version (even had paid for it! lol!). But alas, this is lost to crapland, Just got Spyware Doctor and it is working GREAT! Yeah, had to shell out a few bucks for it, but well worth it. At least for now, give Ad Aware a wide berth.
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Reviewed by: kaseman20
03-14-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Days
Strengths: It used to be quick and it would clean up my system fast but I am unable to tell it's strengths since it freezes up when I use it.
Weaknesses: My computer freezes up when I use it
Overall Evaluation: I am stunned that so many people have no problem with this program. I have tried this on a Window XP computer, on Vista, when we no longer could get updates for the old version. I then read you recent review and tried it again. The same thing happend, my computer froze. I shut everything down when I installed it (firewall, anti-virus, etc...) and it did the same exact thing again! Sorry, the old was awesome, but I will NEVER use the new version!
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Reviewed by: hikerbear
03-13-2008
Duration of ownership: 2 Months
Strengths: It works on my XP Home SP2 without a glitch.
Weaknesses: Scanning takes a bit of time and with the free edition you have to scan your whole system.
Overall Evaluation: I don't understand why PC World gave it such a glorious review after reading all the poor reviews that arepresented. A comment or two about some of the reviews. 1. If you download and install without registering-skip this part of the install, then it is Free, limited, but free. 2. I find that it runs my Athlon XP 1800+ CPU at 100%, but the temp stays the same. Spyware Doctor does the same thing and both slow the system down if you try to do anything while scanning. I think this may be normal. I don't have much spyware so all it finds are cookies so far. I find that uninstalling it presents problems after the uninstall and you have to modify the registry to stop the boot message. Type the message into Google and the answers are there. Overall : So- So Nothing to get excited about. Roger
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Reviewed by: hdavison
03-09-2008
Duration of ownership: 4 Years
Strengths:
Weaknesses: Won't run on new Vista machine. Had used Ad-Aware with never a problem under Windows XP and probably Windows 98. ---Instantly get "Microsoft Windows" box stating that "Ad-Aware 2007 has stopped working" even though it never came up.
Overall Evaluation: If you can get it to run, past usage recommends it.
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Reviewed by: bigmac1950
03-07-2008
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: N.A.
Weaknesses: Can't complete scan! I updated from SE to 2007. Am using Windows XP. When I run a scan, program goes fine until it gets to "Scanning folders (Conditional)" and stops. The runtime clock continues. I've uninstalled 2007 once and re-downloaded and installed it. Doesn't work as it is supposed to.
Overall Evaluation: SE was much better! Very poor response by the Ad-aware team with regards to resolving the bugs. I am surprised this issue isn't fixed yet, as i've come across this concern on multiple forums already (with no resolution!).
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Reviewed by: Bubba99
01-31-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Days
Strengths: Good detector
Weaknesses: NOT FREE
Overall Evaluation: YOU CAN DOWNLOAD FOR "FREE". YOU CAN DETECT FOR "FREE", BUT YOU HAVE TO APY $20 TO REGISTER SO YOU CAN CLEAN UP YOU PC FOR "FREE".
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Reviewed by: exnewyorker
01-05-2008
Duration of ownership: 1 Days
Strengths: none
Weaknesses: causes 65% c,p,u, usage on my machine.
Overall Evaluation: tried it when first released, deleted it after trial. scan took much longer than SE. yesterday i found out there would be no further support for SE so i redownloaded 2007. it caused 65% cpu load and created slowdown on machine. deleted it from all registry enrtries & reinstaled old SE. will keep same till i find another spyware removal tool.
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Reviewed by: Neo7
12-26-2007
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: Excellent removal of spyware/ad-aware. I had the Plus version and the real-time protection is good at blocking out the bad stuff.
Weaknesses: The program consumes an unreasonable amount of resources to run (70 MB of RAM?). The program attaches itself to Windows too much (making it a nusience if you want it off).
Overall Evaluation: The interface was definatly updated to look more friendly, but the coding behind it could have taken a bit more care with. The GUI interface takes up 20-30 MB of RAM which is a bit on the unreasonable side. The realtime protection goes all the way up to 80 MB of RAM which is not pleasent. While the protection is among the best I've seen, I just don't think that the resource requirements are worth it.
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Reviewed by: intrepi
10-16-2007
Duration of ownership: 2 Years
Strengths: This software does detect and allows you to delete or quarantine spyware that will slow down your system until it crawls. This software will eliminate most spyware and keep your system running as fast as it should be.
Weaknesses: The support is with no exaggeration the worst of the worst. DO NOT BUY any more than a 1 year subsciption
Overall Evaluation: I bought my first year as a single year subscription. Then I bought a 3 year subscription after that and they lost all records of this subscription and now I have nothing and I'd never download, buy or subscribe from Ad Aware again as they are based in Sweden and much like MS, Creative and others who are bad to ridiculous when it comes to support.
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Reviewed by: metaluna
09-27-2007
Duration of ownership: 1 Weeks
Strengths: None that I could tell.
Weaknesses: Can't stop it from start-up and also begins a scan. My PC wouldn't boot up for about five minutes, even though I have plenty of RAM. I felt relieved when I removed it.
Overall Evaluation: A resource hog that has unnecessary features and I'm going to download the SE version again.
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Reviewed by: moorrbrt1
09-27-2007
Duration of ownership: 2 Weeks
Strengths: I hate to talk bad about Lavasoft, but there are no strengths.
Weaknesses: Can't turn it off. It stays on as a service. If you do turn the service off it won't update. Why would Lavasoft mess up a fantastic product?
Overall Evaluation: Sluggish scans, poor over all preformance. Very disappointed. Re-downloaded SE. and forturnately there are other alternatives as well.
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Reviewed by: pokey
08-31-2007
Duration of ownership: 6 Weeks
Strengths: None that I could see.
Weaknesses: Very slow scan - about 4 to 5 minutes for a smart scan (older versions of Ad-Aware did a smart scan in 1-3 minutes). This version caused slow downs while using the Internet. The slow downs were even more pronounced when using the Real Time protection. On some occasions not all spyware was deleted. (This was verified using Ad-aware SE Professional.)
Overall Evaluation: Overall I would not recomend Ad-Aware 2007. It is sluggish, it interferes with your internet connection and most importantly not all spyware is deleted on occasion. Also I found Lavasoft not to be as customer friendly as in the past. As a last statement I have been a loyal Lavasoft user of the full Ad-aware programs since I started using the Internet.
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Reviewed by: eaglestien69
08-29-2007
Duration of ownership: 2 Months
Strengths: Seems to clean alot but doesn't seem that fast to me.
Weaknesses: Can't find anyway to stop it from starting up as soon as my computer is statrted no matter how many different other tools I have used to knock it out of the start up and can't find anyway to get it out of the system tray at all! Just spent over an hour at their site looking for answers. All I found was other people that had the same question and if you use the FREE version you get no support from them that I couyld find anywhere! Like someone there said, "deffinately not ready for public use yet and the SE version is much better!"Also slowed my computer start up>
Overall Evaluation: Waste of time unless maybe you buy it?Stick with the free SE version. That's what I went back to.Much better and less hassles are far as I am concerned.
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Reviewed by: Kromaethius
08-03-2007
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: Better GUI Design
Weaknesses: Poor scanning and detecting, may be fast but when it misses so much.
Overall Evaluation: Even Microsoft Defender does a better job than this losey product. All my other spyware products does a far better job.
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Reviewed by: galaxtel
08-03-2007
Duration of ownership: 2 Days
Strengths: runs quickly, uses less computer resources comparatively to the older version
Weaknesses: Didn't find several critical object, found by trhe older version. Doesn't provide a good view of file info for the objects found
Overall Evaluation: not recommended
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Reviewed by: honesty
08-03-2007
Duration of ownership: 0 Months
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Overall Evaluation: it may at times interfere with my virus scanner....I liked the older version better
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Reviewed by: Blazer999
07-11-2007
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: It complements my other spyware utilities real well.....I don't expect one to find everything.....but this is not the same AdAware as the previous package.
Weaknesses: Full of bugs.....update phase shaky at best.....object removal questionable.
Overall Evaluation: I removed it from my system.......can't rely on it!!
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Reviewed by: roastbeefdinner
06-22-2007
Duration of ownership: 2 Weeks
Strengths: nice fast scan.....
Weaknesses: it wanted to have full access to my firewall......inbound and outbound.....and no matter how many times I tried to change the setting it would automatically change it back to full access, causing me to remove the program.
Overall Evaluation:
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Reviewed by: bezansonrs
06-16-2007
Duration of ownership: 3 Days
Strengths: I am a long term Ad-Aware SE user and have always had great faith in this product.
Weaknesses: I downloaded the new Ad-Aware 2007 three days ago. When it was installed it automatically removed Ad-Aware SE. The new version recurringly gives the error message "server is not available" when I hit "update." It gives the message "scanner is busy" when I hit the "scan" button. This has been 3 days of frustration.
Overall Evaluation: It is impossible to evaluate a product that will not perform as advertised. The press release is informative. The home page is great. Now if it would only work!!
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Reviewed by: yrrallezr2
06-12-2007
Duration of ownership: 1 Years
Strengths: no problems
Weaknesses: too many options
Overall Evaluation: Follwed recommendation and upgraded to 'Plus" version and have had hassle-free usage.
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Reviewed by: NancyNancy
04-11-2007
Duration of ownership: 5 Years
Strengths: Absolutely NONE.
Weaknesses: Only catches the well-known spyware. Variants and unknowns are not detected. Other scanners are just as free and work MUCH better.
Overall Evaluation: When running a scan with AdAware (without fixing anything) and then immediately running a scan with Spybot, Spybot would catch 3 problems while AdAware found nothing. This non-detection was pretty consistent with AdAware as I usually would use both spyware scanners just to compare results. IMO, AdAware is totally useless and is not any better than no scanner at all.
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Reviewed by: ismaelja
01-12-2007
Duration of ownership: 0 Months
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Overall Evaluation:
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Reviewed by: JACK
01-04-2007
Duration of ownership: 5 Years
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Overall Evaluation:
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Reviewed by: fletchrrr
07-28-2006
Duration of ownership: 3 Years
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Overall Evaluation:
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