Vista - Adaware problem

Hello,
I am using the 2008 free version of Adaware. (My computer has Vista) I did a full scan and after 13 seconds found over 5000 infections. I right clicked and selected the entire list to delete. A window came up that asked me to confirm I wanted to delete the files. I selected delete, but the window still showed the same number infections. It recommended a second scan, but the program crashed when I hit scan. I have restarted my computer several times, repeating the process, but I get the same results every time. I'd really appreciate help on this because this is an abnormally high amount of infections (most of them being malware). Thanks!

It's possible that the install was a bad one, I'd uninstall Ad-Aware and reinstall then try the scan again.

I'd also suggest you try SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes as I think they would give you a better report of the state of your machine.

What anti virus software do you have and also what does Windows Defender have to say about the state of your machine. ?

Hi JT88 and welcome to Vista Forums

In addition to what Joan has said, perhaps you might like to submit this query to their forums to see if anyone else has had the same or a similar problem. It could be that there is a bug in the program that manifests itself under certain conditions, and your contribution will help Lavasoft to improve their product. Here are a couple of useful links: Contact Us - Lavasoft and Lavasoft Support Forums (Powered by Invision Power Board)

I did a scan and windows defender says my system's running normally. I'm downloading SuperAntiSpyware now and will try reinstalling Adaware. I have Symantic Antivirus. I've found similar problems on Lavasoft's website, but everything they've suggested hasn't worked. Thanks for the help. I'll keep trying.

Ok, I've reinstalled Adaware and got the same results. The other programs I downloaded only found 2 infections. Something doesn't seem right considering Adaware stopped after finding 5000 infections. I'd really like to delete the malware asap.

I think if it was me I'd go with what the others found and delete them, I stopped using Ad-Aware on my XP machine when they brought out the new version after SE as it never did work really that well.
What did the others find, were they actually spyware or just tracking cookies ?

I agree. I doubt you have 5000 infections of malware on your system. Even if you did it would probably be down to a slow crawl and might even blow up!

Ad Aware likes to call cookies "infections"
These are probably just tracking cookies as this is what ad aware is most useful for. If you never erase your temp files and browsing data then you might have that many cookies present. This is most likely why you're other programs are only picking up two or three, not 5000. You can also try A Squared Free. As the name implies, it's free and will pick up cookies and malware. Some free online scanners that you might want to run to check are ESET NOD 32 online scanner and Dr.Web Cureit. Also, a good free Antivirus alternative is Avast Home Edition.

Thanks, that makes sense. The other programs did find a few spyware infections, but I deleted them. I use CCleaner to delete my temp folder quite a bit, but I'm also going to download a-square. Thanks again for all the help.

My 2 cents...

Lavasoft AdAware took a big dump with it's new version. It has been completely horrendous in my opinion at doing nothing but slowing a system down and false positives to what you are experiencing.

I suggest Spybot S&D as the definitive Anti Malware Prog. Still not 100%, but is a 100 times better than AdAware these days.

They used to ride side by side, but Adaware got bloated and commercialized. it's a shame really.

Agreed. Adaware used to work fine on my old desktop which is why I've been so worked up over it on my laptop. I do use Spybot, but it's disconcerting that it only detects a few items compared to the 5000 Adaware found. Still, it's better than leaving them on my computer.