Customer Reviews

Lavasoft Ad-Aware Plus Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I first used the free version of Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE, and found it did a great job finding and removing ad-ware and spy-ware. The trouble was, I would find new spy-ware following each visit to the web.

By purchasing the "Plus" version, you get an additional feature, "Ad-Watch". Ad-Watch runs in the background similarly to an antivirus program. It stops ad-ware and spy-ware before they have an opportunity to work. Without Ad-Watch, any spy-ware or ad-ware will be active until you run Ad-Aware to remove it.

I still run Ad-Aware on occasion, but by allowing Ad-Watch to run, I have yet to find any spy-ware that has installed itself. Ad-Watch busts it before it has an opportunity to install and run. I enthusiastically recommend this product.

I find Ad Aware better than SpyBot which gets rec's from all the popular magazines. Why? The interface is more sophisticated. Spybot is not very intuitive and requires more clicks of the mouse to do what you want. Ad Aware is more of a one-click solution.

But the worst thing about Spybot is that, during a trial on my client's pc, it would not update. An attempt to update the definitions file would result in a progress bar which stalled midway through. You could leave it there for hours, and the process would never complete. This, on a fully functional broadband internet connection. After that happened, I uninstalled SpyBot, then installed and registered Ad Aware directly from Lavasoft.

Lavasoft's baby is a first-rate program that, with the important addition of Ad-Watch which you must register to use, effectively puts an end to spyware.

Diego, below, must be confused. There is never a charge to update the program or to download definitions. I used Ad Aware for two years without paying for it (it's free) and only registered to get the Ad Watch program to protect my elderly parents from nasty spyware which had disabled their PCs.

I read recently a review of Ad-Aware in PC WORLD. The writer was mentally retarded. He claimed, falsely, that Ad-Aware possessed no real-time spyware blocker. What he was doing was comparing the FREE version of Ad-Aware to the PAY versions of programs like Webroot. Is that fair? No. Nevermind. "Please discontinue my subscription to PC WORLD, because I insist upon intelligent articles, and detested reviews that are influenced by bribery."

I think there needs to be a law where anyone who reviews anything should disclose how much they were paid by a certain vendor. In the case of PC WORLD I would estimate a mere $10,000, but that's enough to buy the writer's daughter's braces, isn't it?

If you drop $27 on Lavasoft you get the Real-Time spyware blocker which works like a charm. And you can take your copy and share with friends and elderly parents, ho-ho-ho!

You will find, however, that the Pop-Up interceptor is overly aggressive and can't be used all the time. It tends to cause problems on certain web sites. I recommend just using the most critical protections.

If you're curious, download the free edition directly from lavasoft. Then if you like it, register and get Ad Watch. I think you will like it.

The criminal organizations that write and distribute spyware bundled inside their games or utilities should be prosecuted the same as virus writers, because their junk disables or reduces the performance of infected PCs. Spyware is no better than smashing my car windshield with a hammer. Uninfecting a PC potentially costs $100 and up, and requires a few days of down-time. I think this is a law enforcement matter, and that the police should be knocking on the door of the guilty corporations. Executives that made the bad decisions should serve jail-time, same as any vandal who has caused millions of dollars (collectively) of property damage.

The reason major players in the PC marketplace are silent on spyware is it's driving lots of new PC purchases. People find their old PC (infected with spyware) isn't as fast as it used to be, and they think the solution is to buy a new one. The real solution is to install and register Ad Aware. But a non-technical person will not know this, and most people are non-technical including many people I care about. I am angry at the way the computer scene is today, and how non-technical people are getting the shaft.

slowed a new system down too much when running in backgroud. Went back to free verison.

Ordered version 1.06, but was sent v. 1.05. Lavasoft website will upgrade the old version if I send them my order number. However they will not accept an Amazon number. Amazon customer support said sorry, that they would accept a return and provide a refund.I will be more careful where I buy software in the future.

For more than a year now, I have been using Ad-Aware. I love it. The program scans for spyware, adware, hijackers, keyloggers, and common trojans (but Norton is the one that takes out the trojans).

So far, I am happy with this product. Even though I have never had anything bad on my computer (just cookies...mmm, cookies), my friend sure has had his share with MiniBug, Axela, eZula, FunWebProducts, and some others, and Ad-Aware completely removes it. And it does it all for free (yes, you can get the personal version free at Lavasoft's website).

So what's something that Ad-Aware Personal doesn't do? Real-time. You'll notice on the personal version that if you click on Ad-Watch to enable Real-Time, it will state "Realtime protection not avaliable in the personal edition.". So, I checked out the plus edition.

So, I did a test on an old computer, and installed eZula. That's right, it didn't go through. Right when it reached, an Ad-Aware pop-up stated "eZula was found at C:/(whatever). Would you like to remove?". Wow! Amazing!

One thing that is doesn't do is block most pop-ups. This is dissappointing, mainly because competetors like SuperAdBlocker/SuperAntiSpyware has a great pop-up blocker along with everything Ad-Aware has. But, SuperAdBlocker doesn't have real-time, and Ad-Aware does. I'd recommend getting both.

For now, if the computer is in a school, hotel, or airport of such, getting the plus edition wouldn't be a bad idea. But if you just use it for home, just keep the free personal edition. There aren't that many spyware programs that do things virus do, but I HAVE SEEN SOME that restart computers and add odd programs, such things trojans do. Though, for now, if you're not using this for public use, just have Ad-Aware Personal SE. If this is for public use, this is a great idea, and you may also want to get SuperAdBlocker for extra spyware protection and an excellent advertisement blocker (hell, now that I think of it, even if you have adware and SuperAdBlocker, it will block the adware), and Norton or McAfee for viruses or trojans (actally, every computer needs Norton or McAfee, unless it's a Mac or something).

As for Ad-Aware, it's an excellent program, and it's highly recommended. Maybe in feature editions, maybe well see a pop-up/banner/flash blocker that SuperAdBlocker/SuperAntiSpyware has.

I'm a PC mechanic. I have been using Ad-Aware with Ad-Watch (now called Ad-Aware Plus) for the last 5 years. It's pretty good at what it does, but there is newer technology that is going to replace it soon.
I've never had any problems with these program - it does NOT add any malware - it REMOVES it.
However, using Ad-Aware and Ad-Watch to their fullest does take some computer savvy - as it seems does any anti-malware on the market these days.
ALL of the other runtime problems the other reviewers here have reported are "fixable" by using the controls and tweaks in the software, so that you are not overprotecting your system - one example, the pop-up blocker in Ad-Watch is adjustable as to its intensity. However, this requires changing TWO settings - one in Ad-Watch itself and one in Ad-Aware.

And, yes, at times, I have had to turn Ad-Watch off to download a file or see a popup I wanted. Soooo? Software these days is not as "automatic" as the companies would have you believe.

If you're not willing to take the time to learn (which also means going to the company's online user forums and asking questions), just stick with what Windows offers, don't use Outlook or Outlook Express (major source of malware on PCs) and only look at websites you know are safe. (Kinda like the safest form of sex is abstinence - the safest form of surfing is NONE!!!)

Having purchased both Adaware and their personal firewall i can tell you that there are far better products that are available then these. But this company has the worst customer service that I have ever encountered anywhere. After getting computer generated responces from element 5 [ the company lavasoft hired to do their customer service] for over a week I removed their software and bought new software from another company. Beware of Lavasoft!!!! An awful experience!!!

The product was fine, but, I received an older version and as a result I couldn't properly update it even after registering it. As a result, I purchased the newest version available directly from Lavasoft and it works fine and I have had no trouble updating it. Why didn't you specify what version it was on your website; then I could have made an informed decision?

I have used Ad-Aware for years, and bought a 5-pack license of the Plus edition last December. The product has worked flawlessly for me on 5 different computers, and I received a free upgrade to their Anniversary Edition a few months ago. Ad-Aware Plus and a periodic cleaning of the registry with CCleaner and disk defragmentation keeps the computers running like new.

My only difficulty happened yesterday. I started receiving renewal pop-ups on my computers, so I followed the link to find out more. They offered a "1-year renewal" for about $20. This seemed like a good deal, since a new 5-license pack is $45. I made the purchase, and was surprised to find that 1) the renewal was good for only one of the 5 licenses, and 2) the "1-year" renewal started from the date of purchase (Oct 7) instead of after my current license expires (Dec 31). So renewing all 5 licenses when suggested would cost $101 and last only 9 months past my current licenses. Buying a new 5-pack license costs only $45 and lasts an entire year.

None of these details were mentioned on the web site when I made the renewal purchase. I contacted support, and they offered to refund my money so I gladly accepted. While I appreciate the remedy, the whole "1-year renewal" process is flawed to the extent that I question their ethics. This is sad, because Ad-Aware Plus has been a great product for me.

I present this review in the form of an complaint email I sent to Lavasoft (one which I recived no response.)

"I've been with you for years but am now going to move to a competitor. The reason is your program update system--every time you create a new version the program, it stops working and I have to go to your web site. And the instructions are confusing and I can't find my registration info from a year ago and when I do it does not work. This has happend repeatedly. And so so 3-4 days ago I wrote to your tech support (a web system pain in itself) and no one got back to me. Well forget it, I've had enough. You should make your updates of the program automatic like the updates of the data, which work fine. I like your program and I hate your update and technical support service...a bitter sweet experence with you"