Fuck you, Ad Aware

Fuck you, Ad Aware.

You are a piece of garbage. Thanks so much for destroying the internet for me.

I see that another doper had recommended you, so I downloaded and ran you.

And what did you find? 224 objects. I am using the automatic “wizard” approach, and you take care of all 224 for me. Great! That was painless.

And I haven’t been able to access the internet since. This was 3 hours ago. I have since scanned for viruses, deleted all internet temporary files, deleted and disabled all cookies, run scandisk, defragged, and cold booted the system. And I still can’t use the internet.

But how am I posting this message? Good question, I’m glad you asked.

Every single session on the internet is now following this pattern:

First page: Loads slow (30 seconds), browser hangs for 20 seconds after everything is loaded – hyperlinks and toolbar buttons unavailable during this 20 second “blackout”.

Second page: Loads very slowly (1 minute), browser hangs for a full minute after everything is loaded.

Third page: Loads extremely slowly (2.5 minutes), browser hangs for several minutes after everything is loaded.

Fourth page: Internal browser error - press “OK” to close browser.

The nice thing is that it doesn’t matter what those pages are. No matter where I go, this happens.

Fuck you, Ad Aware, and a special go fuck yourself to the piece of human excrement who recommended it.

WTF am I supposed to do? How in the fuck can I fix this fucking mess?

Any help is desperately needed. Although I am seriously concerned I may never be able to get back here to read it.

I remember, just a few hours ago, when I could, for instance, check my fucking hotmail. Boy those were the days.

Fucking piece of shit.

You’ll forgive me if I don’t preview.

Generally, AdAware gives you the option to “restore” the files that it deleted - I had to do this when Kazaa stopped working for me because AdAware had deleted one of its files. If you open the quarantine list, you can restore the files you just quarantined.

How strange. I update and run AdAware at least twice a week. It’s never, ever treated me like that.

Yeah, I’ve never had any problems with it either.

I think maybe Ad Aware isn’t your problem.

What browser do you use? Maybe AdAware deleted a piece of spyware that’s required for the browser to run?

[Disclaimer]Please note: I am not a computer programmer, tech person, etc., but rather just a person who has had similar experiences in the past and have fixed them in the following manner. So please take the following bit of advice knowing that.[/Disclaimer]

I have, on at least two occasions, had my internet suddenly go kaput on me. Whether it was due to a downloaded virus or my computer just decided to screw me for whatever reason, I don’t know. Again, I’m not a programmer or computer tech, so I have no real way of knowing the source of the problem.

Anywho… To fix it, I did what is known as a system restore. From how I understand the process, every month or so, your computer takes a snapshot of sorts of what is going on at the time. By doing a System Restore, you take your computer back to one of these “Restore Points”. I always take things back at least 3 months or more. In doing a System Restore, no documents saved since the restore point are lost, and the whole process is completely reversible.

To do a System Restore, first click on the “Start” button on the taskbar, then Programs, Accessories, System Tools, then System Restore. Follow the prompts and you should be good to go.

As if I hadn’t said this enough… I am not a computer tech of any sort, nor do I pretend to be one, so take this advice with that in mind. This is one - reversible -suggestion based on a problem I had in the past and what I did to fix it. Good luck. Keep us posted (if you can).

DoperChic

Download and run this winsock fix. That should do it.

AdAware user of several years. Great program. Solved many a spyware problem for me. I’ve never had this problem Ellis, and as a previous poster mentioned, you can restore all of your removed files by:

1- Opening program
2- Clicking on the link on the front of the page that says “Open Quarantine List”
3- Click on the quarantined items
4- Click button at bottom of page that says “restore”

You may need to reboot for these changes to take effect.

Go to AdAware’s support website: www.lavasoftsupport.com and post your problem. Psst- http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=24016

This is a much better response than cussing, bitching, and blaming people who make a free product that works pretty fucking good.

Sam

That’s my guess. There’s a lot of spyware out there masquerading as useful programs; if you remove the spyware component, the software will often cease working completely. I believe this is covered in the Adaware help files. Have you installed anything that “aids” browser performance? Have you tried accessing the internet with another browser?

Per what TMINC said, unless you were hasty enough to delete the quarantined files before you knew the system worked proply post cleanup, you can un-quarantine them to get your system operation back.

Some spyware/crapware applets are (IMO) borderline virus-like in what they do to your system, and the low level stunts they pull. About half the time I use adaware for a badly infested systems some spyware/adware applet has re-assigned internal IP addresses, and when they are removed the browser does not have the proper default addresses. When this happens I have to download and use a winsock repair tool afterwards before the internet will operate properly again.

Something got it’s filthy little tendrils into your system config or your browser. When adware clipped it your system suffered. Restore your quarantine file and start looking through the objects. Remove them again one at a time and see which is the culprit. Then go online and look for a way to remove that file without screwing everything up.

I see now I was way slow on the draw. Teach me to chat and post at the same time.

Ad Aware is not the AntiChrist.com. Gator is the AntiChrist.com.

Hmmm… You’re sure Bonzi isn’t the AntiChrist.com?

No, Bonzi is The Beast.com.

My Fun Web Products are the horsemenoftheapocalypse.com

Isn’t it funny how the OP blames Ad Aware AND the person who recommended it, but not him or herself for using the “auto” option. These things aren’t infallible.

Get over yourself, admit you fucked up, restore your quarantine list and get on with your life.

FilmGeek - ad aware and spybot S&D user because of these boards.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. How can you call someone a piece of human excrement for telling you what tool is normally used to fix your problem?

OP: “How am I going to cut these vegetables??”
random Internet user: “I would use a knife.”
OP: “Asshole! Now my hand is bleeding! Fucking knives! This is bullshit!”
random Internet user: “Um, you’re supposed to hold it by the handle…”

I was also wondering why he/she wasn’t blaming the 224 (!) pieces of spyware that were on his/her system to begin with.

I’m not crazy about adaware or spybot. They both work for somethings, but even with updated definitions, they were missing a piece of spyware on my PC.

Webroot’s Spysweeper is, in my opinion, better than either of them. But, like crack, the first one’s always free. They give you a free install and free updates for 30 days but then after 30 days you pay for the updates. SpySweeper is a little overzealous in wanting to quarrantine some of your cookies, but overall I liked it the best of the three.
Here’s a link to PC Magazine’s review of the product.