Ad-aware
Ad-aware is a free multi spyware removal utility, that scans your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware components and lets you remove them safely.

New features in Ad-aware 5
Advertising systems currently detected
Commandline parameters
Adding custom language modules
Ad-aware plus
Read the Ad-aware FAQ
Tutorial

Many options like scanning depth or automatic modes can be set in the preferences menu.Ad-aware features an easy to use wizard-style interface, guiding you through the scanning and
removal process.

A detailled log file can be created automatically or manually after scanning.

Ad-aware runs under Win9x/ME/NT40 and Win2000

New features in Ad-aware 5

Backup and restore functionality
Now you can build backups easily before removing spyware components or fixing your registry.
The included backup-manager lets you reinstall a backup with a single mouseclick.

RegHance integration
Ad-aware 5.6 lets you open\jump to any detected registry key if RegHance 2.0 or later is installed.
You can export a registry-bookmark file of all selected registry keys, that can be opened for further analysis with RegHance.

Multi language support
Ad-aware contains swedish, dutch, english and german language support by default,but you can add your own custom language modules easily.Read here to learn how. The language can be changed while Ad-aware is running from within the preferences menu.

New user interface
Ad-aware 5 features a more flexible user interface then the previous versions. You can now minimize the main window during scanning, for example.

Entirely new Manual included
The new manual is more complete then the previous one, and more easy to understand.
An updated FAQ page has been Included as well.

Shell integration
Optional shellextension to scan a particular drive\folder from the explorer
Right-click on an drive or folder to let Ad-aware scan it on the fly.

Exclude list to let Ad-aware ignore certain components
Now it is possible to let Ad-aware ignore specified components, and keep them remaining on your system.
You can add components found during a scan directly from the resultlist to an exclude list, which is also supported by Ad-watch.

Scanning of removable drives
It is now possible to scan removable drives and, unlike in previous versions, select particular drives to scan.

Ad-watch upgraded to v2.3
Ad-watch has been improved as well, and uses now even less resources.
The support of excluded components has been added (edit the exclude list from within Ad-aware) as well as several enhancements and improvements



Parasites detected by Ad-aware:

Adware, Alexa 1.0-5.0, Aureate v1.0,2.0 + 3.0, Comet Cursor v1.0 and v2.0, Cydoor, Doubleclick, DSSAgent, EverAd, EzUla, Expedioware, Flyswat, Gator, Hotbar 1+2, OnFlow, TimeSink v1.0,v2.0 and v5.0, Web3000, Webhancer, Transponder and more... (updated regulary)


Command line parameters supported by Ad-aware

Ad-aware handles command line parameters to automatize the scanning and removal process.
It can now be started from a sheduler and log-files can be created automatically,additionally you can
pass parameters to run Ad-aware minimized in the background.

The following commands are supported:

/auto = run Ad-aware in automatic mode
No user input is required, Ad-aware will automatically scan and remove any recognized spyware component.
We recommend passing the /log parameter along with the /auto parameter.

/hide = minimize while running
Ad-aware does not show up while scanning.
This parameter makes only sense if automatically mode is set too.

/log "(destination)" = creates and saves logfile to the destination path.
f.e. /log "C:\Temp" will store an logfile in the C:\Temp folder, containing the date and time of scanning in the filename.Please dont forget the quotes.

Please notice that this path will not be created by Ad-aware, if the specified path is invalid, the logs will be placed in the Ad-aware folder. if no destination path is specified, logs will also be saved to the Ad-aware folder.

/full = performs a complete scan
if this parameter is used, Ad-aware will scan the memory, registry and all fixed drives, ignoring the user-configuration specified in the configuration menu.

Editing or installing language modules

Since version 5.0, Ad-aware supports custom language modules.
To add your own module, please follow these steps:

In the folder where Ad-aware is installed, open the \Lang folder and make a copy of the "english.ini" file, and name it according to the language you want to add. (example "italian.ini" for an italian module)
Please don't change the file extension, it must remain .ini.

Now open the file with notepad, and translate the strings to the new language.

here is a small example:

; button captions <-- comment, will be ignored
1068=Speichern. <-- strings, insert the appropriate word in your language
1069=Zurück...
1070=Report...

Note : it is important that you don't change\mix the line numbers, they are used to identify the strings.

Make sure you don't exceed the length of the particular strings too much,
for example if a string reads "next" it is recommended to translate it to "weiter" in german, rather then "fortsetzung" :)

Special characters:
# : stands for a linebreak(carriage return), used in long strings, for example in dialog-messages.
%D : a variable which holds a value. (example : 'scan complete. %D items found') please dont remove them, Ad-aware inserts the appropriate value during runtime.
comments start with a ";" and will not displayed.

After saving the file, you can supply a small 16 x 10 bitmap that represents your country.It will be displayed beneath the module-name in the Ad-aware configuration menu.

You may add bitmaps with a different size, but only 16 pixels will be shown horizontally, 10 vertically.
This is required to make the graphic fit to the used font-size.I suggest you open one of the delivered bitmaps and change it, then save it under a new filename.

In order to have Ad-aware combine the bitmap with the .ini file, it must have exactly the same filename (just with a .bmp extension)

For example :

Dutch.ini (language module)
Dutch.bmp (optional country flag)

If no country flag is supplied, a default image will be used.

To test and install the new language module, copy both files into the Ad-aware\Lang folder, and choose the new language in the options menu.

Please send your language modules to language@voiceofthepublic.org if you want to publish it on our download page.

Please notice that we cannot publish multiple versions for a language, as long as the new version is not an improvement to the existing version.

Thank you for your contribution!

Ad-aware plus
For those who want to support us, there is a special edition of Ad-aware - Ad-aware Plus.

Ad-aware Plus consists of Ad-watch, a realtime spyware-monitor watching your memory and registry for spyware that tries to install or change your system, and an improved Ad-aware application.
It has been designed with the purpose of providing additional security for your system.

Ad-watch is a spyware-monitor add on for Ad-aware that silently runs in the background, waiting for spyware that tries to install or modify your registry.
If spyware is detected, Ad-watch triggers an alarm, unloads the spyware module and
For example, it is impossible to install the WebHancer parasite while Ad-watch is active.

Ad-watch can be auto started with windows, and minimized to a tray icon.
All actions performed will be written in the output window you'll see below, and can be saved to disk on demand.