Ad-Aware Internet Security 9.0

[MidnightCowboy]

The new release of Ad-Aware Internet Security 9.0 has been getting some attention recently, and a few favorable reviews in other places. Knowing that a lot of folks also took advantage of the free 12 month pro license recently offered by CNET, I thought I'd have a look myself.

Like most of these things the install process lulls you into a false sense of achievement until the updates begin The main signature file was just over 60MB though, which is less than some. Otherwise the install process itself was quick and easy.

Once the program had updated and a reboot was requested, this is when a few issues surfaced. I'd already seen a few examples in the Lavasoft forum but considering the install numbers for the program, these appeared to be less than for similar software. I'd also purposely left my other security software running (Privatefirewall and WinPatrol) as most folks don't seem to heed the advice to switch 'em off Certainly having Privatefirewall set to manual mode did not help to smooth the final install and re-initialization path for Ad-Aware. Nevertheless, a few frozen alert windows later and everything seemed happy.

After reboot I attempted to enter my license key for the pro version (received via a promotion) and although it showed as being "accepted", the program then displayed an "unfortunately Ad-Aware has encountered a problem and needs to close" message.

Another reboot and a new message informs me that my license has expired and I'm totally unprotected A second attempt to load the key was this time successful and after that everything worked as it should, including integration with Privatefirewall and WinPatrol.

This program like some others offers a choice between simple and advanced modes with an accompanying range of settings. I chose to do a full scan of my system which took a fraction under an hour to complete for both my C and external E drives. The result found one reported trojan in a non installed FLV player .exe. This same false-positive is returned by most other AV's. One slight downside to the scan results is that the full file path to the offending item is not shown. This though you can see by exporting the scan log to your desktop and viewing it before deciding what action to take with what it's found.

I never see resource use as an important issue unless you have a low powered, which mostly means old, computer. What's more important is that you can understand and work with the security software you choose to install. Big fat figures spinning round in your tray don't help either Windows or third party programs to do their job. If this concerns you though, try doing without a few of the toys most folks accumulate to leave more resources for the important programs that need them. In summary:

• does it use more than Avira? - yes
• does it bother me - no
• does it slow things down? - a bit but then so does MSE and a whole bunch of others

The reason why I like Ad-Aware (so far) is that there are very few differences between the pro (paid) and free versions, making this much less of an upgrade scam than those dished out by some vendors. In fact most of the additional features are contained in the Total Security package but the use of a better third party firewall and some other readily available freeware easily compensates. I use "better" here subjectively because the Lavasoft firewall is as good as anything else at filtering network traffic. Using something like Privatefirewall which also has an advanced HIPS though offers the opportunity for significant added protection, providing you know how to use it.

I'm not convinced that "advanced" rootkit removal is worth having either (pro version). If you get one you'll either need a system rebuild or (depending on the type and level of infection) be able to remove it easily enough with a third party tool.

A really good point is that download protection is also included in the free version but unfortunately this is restricted to IE.

I do get tired of these things quite quickly if they begin to mess me around but failing this I'll keep it running on this machine and let everyone know how I get on.

[Anupam]

Thanks a lot for this short review MC.

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by Anupam

Thanks a lot for this short review MC.

No problem. Just thought I'd take a look since Kendall took the trouble to post the CNET offer here

Like a lot of this type, it's taking a while to adjust to my system but is already speeding up. This is not bad considering I also elected to install IE9 and the Trend Micro Browser Guard with it. In general I'm certainly finding response times with Ad-Aware more than acceptable but in any case I'd sooner lose a few seconds now than a few hours if something goes wrong having chosen speed over security

If what I've read about this is correct, Sunbelt Vipre powers the AV in the free/pro versions and GData in the Total Security Package.

Vipre is Strong on proactive technology so the free version should be more than adequate for normal requirements.

I've experienced none of the other issues supposedly related to Ad-Aware so as a best guess I'd say that most of these will be related to poorly maintained or partially corrupt systems. If you intend to enjoy the pleasures of trying out different security programs then it's essential that they are installed and un-installed correctly otherwise what's left is likely to give you problems with your next choice. The same applies to system errors caused by other means. If you're having problems, especially with Windows error messages attached, then don't be surprised if sensitive pieces of security software don't install or function properly.

[bo.elam]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

This program like some others offers a choice between simple and advanced modes with an accompanying range of settings. I chose to do a full scan of my system which took a fraction under an hour to complete for both my C and external E drives. The result found one reported trojan in a non installed FLV player .exe. This same false-positive is returned by most other AV's. One slight downside to the scan results is that the full file path to the offending item is not shown. This though you can see by exporting the scan log to your desktop and viewing it before deciding what action to take with what it's found.

The false positive you mention here is old very old. When I had AdAware a
few years back I remember that it always detected that flv player exe you
mentioned. I never deleted even though at the time my knodledge about
what is safe or not was about 0 minus 20. Even then I knew that this file
was improperly detected. Its funny though that its still being detected even
though AdAware is using a different engine. It always bothered me that
scans did not show the file path of the files that are detected. No good that
is still doing it that way. Other than that seems a lot better than before
and that is good to know.
Thanks for your review MC.

Bo

[MidnightCowboy]

Just to update, and after a couple of days use I don't even notice this program is running.

I'm trying to emulate a majority user pattern so I've installed IE9 Beta which I'm now using for all my surfing. I have asked Lavasoft support if the download protection does work with the beta but as yet have not received a response. If it doesn't I'll revert to V8.

The link below shows a comparison study between several free antivirus programs. You'll probably need any adblock type filters disabled in order to see the charts.

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_..._challenge.php

I appreciate this was undertaken by Lavasoft themselves but I have no reason to doubt the results. At least they used common infections rather than saying "we detected XYZ" which no one else has heard of

I agree with the reviews I've looked at elsewhere (for anyone who took the free Pro offer) and that is stay away from the Autostart Manager in the Toolbox section. You can easily kill your system with this and make it unbootable. It serves no useful purpose by being there and IMO should not have been included.

Like Panda Cloud, I think the free version of Ad-Aware benefits by not having a raft of options to choose from during install or after. This will benefit average users who have no wish to spend time with additional settings and/or may not have the knowledge necessary to make the right choices.

It will be interesting to see if any of the recognized independent testers pick this up, but from what I see I would definitely add this to my options list

[MidnightCowboy]

Update: Lavasoft state that Ad-Aware does not yet support IE9 regarding download protection, so if anyone is using this combination and wishes to have this feature they will need to revert to IE8.

Instructions here

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/29112...plorer-9-beta/

I'm not a great fan of IE8 so I'll forget this and move back to Opera + my own judgment. The normal on-access (pro) or on-execution detection will still work of course should you try to run something bad.

Regarding Ad-Aware Internet Security though - running fine and faultless. In common with some other programs, at first start or when you open a folder full of .exe's there's quite a burst of activity. IMO programs that do nothing under these circumstances can't be doing much themselves

MC likes it

[bo.elam]

Originally Posted by MidnightCowboy

Regarding Ad-Aware Internet Security though - running fine and faultless. In common with some other programs, at first start or when you open a folder full of .exe's there's quite a burst of activity. IMO programs that do nothing under these circumstances can't be doing much themselves

MC likes it

Thats how I see it MC. I remember when using MSE people complained that
it takes a while, to be ready, when you open a folder full of executables. That
never bothered me and actually I took it as proof that MSE was working and
doing something.

Bo

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by bo.elam

Thats how I see it MC. I remember when using MSE people complained that
it takes a while, to be ready, when you open a folder full of executables. That
never bothered me and actually I took it as proof that MSE was working and
doing something.

Bo

Yes, in fact I decided to put the free version of Ad-Aware into my old machine. My tech has managed to resurrect it (again ) and although it's far from happy it is working. I stuffed XP onto it at the weekend and installed Ad-Aware yesterday. Being much less powerful than my main PC everything took more time, especially the re-initialization process after the updates finished. If anyone else is thinking of trying Ad-Aware please be patient during the install process and for about the next three reboots afterwards. It can take ages and even appears to have frozen but then settles down. It's also a good idea to disable any HIPS or behavior blocking programs you might have until after Ad-Aware is installed.

I was looking at another thread:
Best Free AV to run along with MSE in Win 7
Fortinet was being discussed. MC, you had mentioned that the only reliable tests so far for Fortinet, are the VB RAP results. I looked at the VB100, and noticed that Fortinet passed the last three, while Adaware Pro failed 2 of the last three, and Lavasoft Total Security failed the last two, and it was only tested twice. Fortinet did better in the last three tests than Comodo (tested twice), Lavasoft, CA, McAfee, as well as several other more obscure AVs. Just an observation...

[MidnightCowboy]

Originally Posted by JohnnyDollar

Just an observation...

Just an observation, but a good one.

Like I've said before, you can read what you like into all sorts of tests and even if the results are trustworthy they may not apply to your own needs and circumstances.

Fortinet enjoy a lot of respect from the commercial community so they must be doing something right otherwise customers would vote with their next budget application and go somewhere else. Also, the FortiClient bunch don't push this product as aggressively as some vendors so, being conditioned to a commercial world, a lot of folks suspect that it can't be much good

Their support package is also a bit weak so this too doesn't inspire a lot of confidence although in fairness they are no worse than a lot of others who say theirs is better.

I can see that I will have to revisit this again myself, and I will do as soon as I've given Ad-Aware a long enough run.