

This puzzled my tech support contacts, as the product should work in Safe Mode. I tried scanning in Safe Mode, but Ad-Aware wouldn't launch. Ad-Aware installed fine, but shortly after the required reboot the system crashed with a blue screen of death. Some Trouble Scanning I installed Ad-Aware Free on 11 malware-infested test systems without incident. For an explanation of the various tests, please see How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.Īd-Aware Free Antivirus+ 10 lab tests chart The chart below summarizes the latest lab results. Ad-Aware received VB100 certification in just one of three tests. The only test results available are from Virus Bulletin tests in 2010. Little Help from the Labs Lavasoft has submitted the newly made-over Ad-Aware to independent labs for testing, but none of those results are available as yet.

This version also removes all nag screens pushing users to upgrade.

The free product also gains several other features previously limited to paid editions, including advanced heuristics, rootkit protection, gaming (silent) mode, download protection. Malware cleanup and real-time protection in the free product are now exactly the same as in Lavasoft's commercial products. The user can tweak performance settings for each of four scan types, lower to give more resources to other processes, higher to get scans finished faster. All settings are pre-configured for best security, and the security components use as little of the system's resources as possible. It grabs the latest malware definitions during install, so when installation finishes it's totally ready. Lavasoft designers aimed to create a product with maximal ease of use. Most of the changes are good, but, like many 1.0 products, Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 10 has a few glitches. There are changes under the hood, too, enough that it almost feels like a new version 1.0. Version 10's display is big and slick, displaying all features found in the free antivirus and in the full security suite (with the suite-only features grayed out). Version 9's main screen offered a slightly frumpy display with three giant buttons to check for updates, scan the system, and configure real time protection. Long-time Lavasoft fans will get quite a surprise when they load up Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 10 (free, direct). Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.
