Hey asshole, AdAware is to blame, not the OP. Try searching for “adaware winsock” on Google. Whoa, look at that, it recklessly deletes registry keys necessary for browser operation! It can also fail to remove spyware attached to winsock! Sometimes it’s even necessary to reinstall Windows XP!
AdAware is a reckless piece of shit masquerading as a trustworthy program for removing spyware. In my experience, I’ve seen three laptops with their internet connection broken within the last year by AdAware. One of those laptops was mine.
If a doctor accidentally cut off my hand when I went in for an infected fingernail, I’m going to be pissed at the doctor’s incompetence, just like the OP is, and I’m going to have a right to complain.
Bluetrust - Computer programmer for 15 years
Owner of AloofHosting.com
This is an excellent analogy. Except that unlike a doctor, neither AdAware or the SDMB user who recommended it were performing a service for the OP, but instead providing the OP with a tool to fix a problem. And doctors get paid. And having to reinstall Windows isn’t quite the same as losing a hand.
On second thought, it’s not a good analogy at all.
[quoteCurrent versions are not known to have this problem, as great care is being taken to avoid it.[/quote]
Yeah what a horrific piece of shit. They had a problem in early versions that they took ‘great care’ to aviod in newer releases.
We should take them out and burn them alive for their free program that wasn’t perfect from the moment it was developed.
Seriously, though - “piece of human excrement” for recommending in good faith a program with a bug that affects very few people? Come on, now. Your own quote suggests that they’ve fixed it, and the site hosting the fix tool continues to recommend Ad-Aware for spyware removal. As does the site you quote, in fact.
Adware and Spybot use different methods so they get different results (like reg cleaners for instance…I run three and they all get different things)
I use Adware and Spybot on a regular basis. Spybot never gets anything anymore but the first few times I used it it really got some nasty crap out of my system that adware didn’t do anything to.
Plug! Plug!
Now seriously, when Ad-aware finishes scanning your system it presents you with a list of items that are by default unchecked, i.e. they will not be deleted unless you make an effort to delete them. Usually, the great majority of what it finds are cookies. If they’re there, it will discover running processes such as Gator.
Anyway, if you have the option to delete or not delete a file, and you even have the option to restore the files you’ve deleted…
What was that line about casting the stone if you’re without sin?
Out of curiosity, can you tell us the URL where you downloaded Ad Aware? As far as I know, www.adaware.com and www.ad-aware.com are two different locations. One is Ada Ware, one is Ad-Aware.
I confess I’m no expert in either program, but I did observe when I tried going to adaware.com I didn’t seem to get to exactly what I wanted. Ada Ware claimed (when I last visited) to have a spyware-removing program.
Well, obviously, use what you think is best for you. But, as stated above, last time I had spyware on my machine, both spybot and adaware were not picking it up.
Spysweeper got it. I’ll stick with them.
But, you are correct that that scan takes a while. I usually kick it off when I about to step away from the PC and let it run.
IME, Adaware is less caustic, Spybot is more thorough.
I run Adaware first because it’s less likely to prune something necessary, and if Adaware still hasn’t managed to kill whatever is annoying my user, I run Spybot and cross my fingers.
My software doesn’t damage users’ computers irrepairably.
And that wasn’t a plug of my site, but a statement of my qualifications. I manage 8,000 websites – photos of your cat looking cute aren’t going to make or break my business.
I’ll add to my original statement of dislike for AdAware that once it breaks the internet connection, the restore feature doesn’t return the system to its pre-AdAware state. If it did, I’d have said, “sometimes it screws up, but just hit the restore button and try another program.”
Apparently your software is so good that you’ve never needed to release an updated version, as you seem to have glossed over the text of your exact quote. Bolded text is my emphasis.
Now, neither of us know what version of AdAware the OP used, but you do look a little fast on the trigger there, sport. Unless, of course, you’ve never written a bug.
I’ve never written a bug. I write features. I’ve written features to erase pay history, features to create a blank screen, features to … well, features to do darn near anything the user never knew they wanted!
Woo! 8,000 websites! that really qualifies you to rubbish Adaware. Do any of your websites host ad banners for Gator, Bonzi buddy, Claria, My Fun Web Stuff, Precision time, Date manager, or any of the other crap that clogs up machines?
I use Adaware on a considerable number of machines and have found it to be a thoroughly brilliant tool.
But I suppose my qualifications don’t include managing 8,000 websites so maybe my opinion doesn’t count. I don’t dance the hoochie-coo either. :rolleyes:
I have used AdAware on literally hundreds of different computers in the last two years, and only two of them suffered any ill effects, ie winsock damage, which was easily repaired. And that was with Adaware 5.0, which had a problem with winsock and newdotnet.
Yeah, but if you look close, they are not all the same items. Spybot finds stuff that Adaware doesn’t, and vice versa. Just yesterday I serviced a computer that had 842 items cleaned under Adaware, then Spybot found an additional 65 items. I use both, the old belt-and-suspenders approach.
I do tech support one of the largests ISPs in the States. To my knowledge ad-aware is the only 3rd party software we recommend customers install. We aren’t even allowed to recommend an anti-virus program for fear it will damage something on the computer and we will be held responsible.
I’ve never gotten a call where someone has had a problem with it either.
