Install and Use Ad Aware for Spyware Removal

If your computer has slowed down quite a bit, crashes a lot more than it used to, and seems to put out a constant stream of pop-ups and ads, chances are good that your computer is infected with "adware." Adware is a term for files and programs that get put on your computer without your knowledge or consent, in order to display ads to you. Adware not only slows down your system, it can sometimes create a security risk. Some Adware programs send personal information to third parties, about what you do with your computer so they can send you "relevant" advertising. Ad-Aware is a free product which finds and removes this Adware. This article will show you everything you need to know to successfully install and use Ad-Aware.

Note: The red spider shown in the screenshots indicate which button or item to click.

Steps

Downloading Ad-Aware

  1. In your internet browser, go to the Ad-Aware Spyware Removal Software.
  2. When the page loads, scroll down a bit and click on the name of the site you want to download from. They are all good sites, but wikiHow recommend choosing Download.com for ease of use.
  3. When the Download.com page loads, click on the green "Download Now" button or the link next to it.
  4. After you click, a new page will load which informs you that your download will begin soon. In a few moments, the dialog box shown below should appear on your screen:
  5. Click the "Open" button. A progress bar should appear which tells you how long the download will take. When the download completes, the dialog box will disappear from the screen automatically and the box shown below will appear:

Installing Ad-Aware

  1. Close any other programs you have running (except your web browser), and click "Next." The box shown below appears:
  2. Review the license agreement and click "Next." If you have installed Ad-Aware before, the box shown below will appear. If you've never installed Ad-Aware before and you see a box that says something different from the one shown below, skip ahead to step 5.
  3. If you see the box shown above, it means that you've installed Ad-Aware before, and you need to uninstall the previous version. Happily, this is simple. "Yes, uninstall previous version of Ad-Aware" should be automatically selected. If it isn't, select it and click "Next." The box shown below will appear:
  4. Uninstall successful! Click "Next," and the box shown below will appear:
  5. If you have never installed Ad-Aware before, this is the box you see after completing step 2. It lets you select the location on your hard drive where you want to install the program. Unless you are an intermediate or advanced user, it is strongly recommended to click "Next" and let install to the default folder. The next box you will see is shown below:
  6. Leave the "Anyone who uses this computer" option selected and click "Next." The box shown below will appear:
  7. Click "Next" to begin the installation. A box like the one shown below might appear for a few moments. It will disappear by itself after a short period which depends mostly on the speed of your computer.
  8. Once the stuff shown above disappears, you will see the box shown below:
  9. Installation is finished! Uncheck all of the checkboxes you see and click "Finish."

Updating Ad-Aware

  1. Now it's time to fire the program up and take it for a test drive. The first thing you need to do is look at your desktop. A new icon will be there, and it will look like this:
  2. Double-click the icon to start the program. In a few seconds, you should see this screen appear:
  3. Before a scan, you should always update the program. Remember, spyware and virus programs do not provide good protection unless they are updated regularly. To begin updating, click the icon that looks like a globe with a ring around it. When you do, the box shown below appears:
  4. Click "Connect" to connect to the Lavasoft server. After you click "Connect," the box shown below appears:
  5. Click OK to get the update. Next, you'll see the box shown below:
  6. How long the update will take depends on your internet connection speed. When the update has downloaded fully, you'll see the box shown below:
  7. Your Ad-Aware program is now updated. Click on "Finish" to continue.

Running Ad-Aware

  1. You should now see the full Ad-Aware screen. Look for the area of the screen shown below:
  2. Click "Scan Now." On the screen that appears, you will see a section like this:
  3. Select "Use custom scanning options" and then click the "Customize" link. On the screen that appears, you will see a section like this:
  4. Click on each of the red X marks to change them to green checks. Please note that no matter how many times you click on the second and third items from the top, they will remain gray X marks. Only click on red X marks, and click them all until they are replaced by green checks. When the screen looks like what is shown above, click "Proceed." On the screen that appears, you will see a section like this:
  5. Select "Use custom scanning options" and click "Next." (Please note that it doesn't matter whether there is a green check or a red X next to "Search for negligible risk entries.") The scan will begin, and the next screen that appears will feature lots of file names and other gibberish that flashes by very quickly. You can safely ignore all of this. As the scan progresses, you will probably see something like this:
  6. Unless your computer is clean, Ad-Aware will find all kinds of bugbears and trolls lurking on the hard drive. As the scanner finds each problem, the count of "critical objects" will go up. The picture above shows 41 problems found, but you may have many more.
  7. Depending on the speed of your computer and the number of files and programs on your hard drive, the scan can take quite a while (30-60 minutes, sometimes more). When the scan is complete, you will see something like this on the screen:
  8. This lets you know how many problems were found. Click "Next." On the screen that appears, you will see a section like this:
  9. This is the nasty stuff that we want to get rid of. To do that, right-click (click with the right mouse button) on any of the listings. It doesn't matter which listing you right-click on. After you right-click, a menu will pop up. It looks like this:
  10. Click on "Select all objects." This places a checkmark next to all of the spyware files found by Ad-Aware. Your screen should now look like this:
  11. Click "Next." The box shown below will appear:
  12. Click "OK" to get rid of the spyware once and for all. A box will appear that says "Quarantining selection," followed by a box which says "Deleting selection." Both of these boxes will disappear on their own. You don't need to click anything else. After the "Quarantining" and "Deleting" boxes disappear, you will see the full Ad-Aware screen again. You can now close the program, you are finished!

Tips

  • When too much spyware is loaded on your computer, it eats up your system resources and you notice a drastic slowdown. You may also notice tons of pop-ups that seem impossible to stop. In addition, your web browser may take you to the wrong sites, and after a while, it might quit working altogether. In fact, if you use Internet Explorer and you don't have any spyware removal tools, chances are your computer is infected by hundreds of problem-causing objects.
  • Please note that if you use Internet Explorer as your internet browser, you should update and run Ad-Aware at least once a week. If you forget what to do, you can always refer to this page for a refresher course.
  • The purpose of most spyware programs is to show you ads and/or send information about you to advertisers. Most often, the spyware will inform the advertiser about all of the websites you are visiting. Some spyware programs use this information to show you targeted ads. Spyware can be installed on your computer just by surfing the web. Websites place spyware on your system because advertisers pay them to do so. Spyware is almost everywhere (except on wikiHow).
  • Ad-Aware is one of the best spyware removal programs available. It is a free product, but don't let the price fool you. For most users, Ad-Aware will kill spyware as effectively as anything else on the market. This article shows you how to install and use Ad-Aware in order to wipe out spyware and keep your system running at its best. However, you improve spyware removal rates by running several programs.

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