I have Ad-Aware 1.06r1 and am trying to download the latest definitions. But when I do so via the Ad-Aware program by choosing "Check for Updates Now", it comes back as an error.

Anyone know why this is? Is the site just down or something? Or could it be another problem?

The definitions I have from last time as of now are:

Definitions File Loaded:
Reference Number : SE1R161 19.03.2007
Internal build : 201
File location : C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware SE Personal\defs.ref
File size : 1067789 Bytes
Total size : 3484451 Bytes
Signature data size : 3443986 Bytes
Reference data size : 39953 Bytes
Signatures total : 91502
CSI Fingerprints total : 6493
CSI data size : 321694 Bytes
Target categories : 15
Target families : 1074

Thanks!

Can you tell us what the error message is?
Does it begin to download and then "hang" at around 5 percent?
I just downloaded an update for the same definition file without any problems.
Regards,
John

That's exactly it. It hangs at 5% for like a second then says "Error Retrieving Update".

Thoughts? Thanks!

Servers could be busy.
Try again later, or if that doesn't work, another way would be to download the definitions file, and install them manually.

Close Ad-aware.
Delete the defs.ref file (C: \ Program Files \ Lavasoft \ Ad-Aware SE Personal \ defs.ref)
Download the latest definitions file, in a ZIP file, from (This is a direct download):
http://download.lavasoft.com/public/defs.zip
Save the file to a temporary location.
When the download is complete, unzip the contents of the file to the installation directory of Ad-aware (Default Location: C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-Aware SE Personal)
Reboot.
Open Ad-aware, and confirm the success of the update.

I would try later, first.

I'll wait and try again.

If it's not the servers, what would cause that all of a sudden?

Thanks!

Okay, I'm still having the problem...

Before I did it all manually, why would this problem suddenly come up?

And does this mean I'll have to do it manually every time?

Thanks!

It's not an unusual problem, especially on the day the updates come out.
I've had the same thing happen on several occasions.

A lot of people use Ad-aware, and they are all trying to update at the same time, which will overload the servers.
I just tried, and was able to update.
I find the best times to update, are late at night, or a couple of days after the updates come out.

I didn't realize an update just came out...

But I just tried again this morning and the same thing happened. I'll keep trying for another day at different times of the day/night, but if it still doesn't work, is that indicative of another issue?

Thanks!

I am also an Ad-aware user. I have never had a delay on updating, at any time of the day. Just for the test, I have just updated - took about 10-15 seconds. Perhaps you should uninstall and reinstall.

Yeah, this is seeming weird now... But I've never had any problem with this install, so why would I suddenly have an issue? Is there anything that could cause this problem?

Thanks!

Hi Bloomcounty!

I've had the exact same problem appear on my work laptop, for no apparent reason. What I did was manually download the definitions and unzip them into the proper folder and renamed the previous definitions to defs.ref.old This is what the automated update does.

After that, I still had problems retrieving updates, but it eventually went away on its own
So I never discovered the source of the problem.

As an experiment try this:
- try to check for updates with the program (not manual) while in safe mode WITH networking (you'll need networking for internet access)
- what operating system are you using? I have a laptop that runs Windows 2000 SP4 and a desktop that runs Windows XP, SP2. Both machines were fully patched at the time. I ONLY had this problem on the Windows 2000 machine. The XP comp did not experience this error.

I'm thinking that one of the updates somehow had a bad or corrupted code that may have interferred with an Operating System process under Windows 2000.

Good luck!

Thanks for the post! I have a laptop with Windows XP SP2.

I don't know how to do the safe mode with networking thing you mentioned... and am a bit fearful with messing with more stuff.

I've also noticed that when I try registering to post on their message board, I get this error:

IPS Driver Error
There appears to be an error with the database.
You can try to refresh the page by clicking here

IPS Driver Error
There appears to be an error with the database.
You can try to refresh the page by clicking here

...don't know if that's indicative of a problem on my end or theirs...?

Thoughts?

If worse comes to worse, I'll download them manually then delete the old ones as suggested.

Thanks!

Reboot your computer. When you see the manufacturer's welcome screen, but BEFORE you see the Windows XP welcome screen, tap the F8 key repeatedly. Keep tapping it until you get to a menu. Select the option for Safe Mode with Network support. Hit the enter key. Windows will boot into safe mode. Your desktop will look much different in safe mode and your graphics will be poor. This is normal and no cause for concern as Safe Mode only loads basic drivers.

To reboot back into normal mode, just reboot the computer, but don't hit any keys, let it boot normally.

Check out this:
http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/lofiversion....php/t4559.html

It's a lengthy thread, however there is a possible solution about 1/3 down the page. Go to the Edit Menu (Firefox or IE) and select: "Find on this page". For IE, a pop-window will appear, in Firefox a bar will appear at the bottom of the page.

Enter this EXACTLY as shown: 08:06 PM
Your page will jump down to the post by LS CalamityJane. Read that, and the ones below it. It talks about DNS servers or something.

A shot in the dark....but maybe you should check it out.

Well, I did one better and just looked at the newest posts on the Lavasoft board:

http://www.lavasoftsupport.com/index.php?showtopic=8112

And their standard response seems to be:



I'm not willing to mess around with this DNS stuff... Anytime I change something on my computer, it just leads to another issue and more time wasted.

I'm assuming that this is something that will fix itself at some point? And that it's a problem on Lavasoft's end of things, right?

I'm going to hold off on doing your test for now... but is there still any point in trying it if it is a DNS thing on Lavasoft's end? I mean, that's their issue, not mine in my computer, is that correct?

Thanks for the post and help/thoughts!

Same problem here.. has been going on for a number of days now..

Can't get to the Lavasoift Support forums either... connection keeps trying ...

No problems with ANY other web sites, etc...

Well, it appears it's an Earthlink thing -- and LavaSoft supposedly will be fixing it at some point. I seemed to successfully download the update manually though...

Ran into this problem too and thought someone might like to try one of the two solutions I worked out and posted on my blog. They both worked perfectly for me:

Ad-Aware SE Update Problem - Simply Fixed x2

Solution One (good): update your Windows HOSTS file with the following line:

82.99.19.11 download.lavasoft.de.edgesuite.net

Relaunch Ad-Aware SE (personal) and try the update process again. Should work like a charm.

Solution Two (better): Download the "not-so-public" updated Ad-Aware SE (personal) file from Lavasoft's forums.

Official Lavasoft Solution For " Error Retrieving Updates. Interrupts At 5% Download Completion

BE VERY SURE to uninstall your current Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE (personal) program first, then using the "fixed" downloaded from that page, reinstall Ad-Aware.

Now the update process should work like a charm.

NOTE: Don't re-download Ad-Aware SE (personal) from their "main site" link; the "fixed" file linked to above has been modified to point to a different update server name in DNS than in the "primary" file still being offered.

I know it seems that primarily Earthlink/affiliate DNS server users are having this issue, but I use OpenDNS and ran into it as well.

Either method worked great on fixing the 5% update download failure on my XP systems.

Hope this helps someone.

--Cheers

Thanks for the info. I think I, like many others, don't want to mess with our settings and would rather wait until Lavasoft gets the issues they're having with their servers fixed.

Is there anything wrong with just manually downloading the definition/updates?

Thanks!

that's exactly what i do.
i pause protection, so that there is no conflict. then i go right down the list of programs that i have downloaded, adaware, spybot, superantispyware, asquared, avg antispyware, and spysweeper. i update all of them manually. then when i'm done computing, i scan in safe mode. never a problem that way.

How do you pause protection in Ad-Aware SE Personal (free edition)? It's not really always running, right?

Ditto with Spybot? (I don't use tea timer.)

And AVG downloads through the program, so that has to be running, right? Never had any problems with that...

Also, why do you do your Spybot, Ad-Aware, and AVG scans (the three I use) in safe mode? And how do you do that?

Thanks for the post!

No, the free version of Ad-Aware does not include any protection running in the back ground that needs to be disabled and if TeaTimer isn't running you don't need to disable anything there either. I believe what is being suggested is to temporarily disable your firewall and antivirus when performing certain tasks.

You shouldn't have to do this when updating a program like Ad-Aware but sometimes it helps. However, when installing any kind of security program, and sometimes just any program, it is always a good idea to disable your firewall temporarily--if nothing else because some will drive you nuts warning you about all the files that are being added or changed. Most antivirus programs lately are including Intrusion Prevention Systems that work similar to firewalls and other protection measures that can also cause problems, so disabling them when installing will help with a clean and smooth install.

If you read the Lavasoft support thread ClausValca posted, you'll see this is what is being suggested. Since that is posted at their forum, it should fix the problem you are experiencing and you won't have to change any settings on your PC. Have you tried that yet?

There are some anti-spyware apps that have real time protection that can interfere with changes that you want to make or pester you asking if you want to allow them. Mostly that happens with apps you pay for like Ad-Aware's Pro version that includes Ad-Watch. However two free ones that I know about that can also do this is Spybot's Teatimer and MS Antispyware.

I wouldn't be so worried about these type programs that just scan and clean--if you don't like that it has this problem and don't want to use their fix for it, use something else--there are plenty of good free antispyware programs available. It's just better to prevent infections in the first place rather than have all these cleaning scanners designed to help you after you get infected.

As far as safe mode there is a tutorial here: Safe Mode

The reason to run removal scans in safe mode is because only the most basic drivers and programs are running in there--you will see far fewer processes in Task Manager there. In normal mode malware that may be running can have ways of protecting itself from removal. In safe mode it won't be running (except in some extreme cases), so detection and removal goes much more smoothly.

Thanks for the post. I didn't really want to uninstall Ad-Aware and lose my settings, and then reinstall and then have to go back through and tweak it again. I don't mind downloading the definitions manually. There's really no difference in the new version program other than fixing that, right? Any reason not to just keep doing it that way?

I only use Spybot, ZoneAlarm free, AVG free, and Ad-Aware. But I'll look into scanning in safe mode next time. Would I do that with Spybot, AVG, and Ad-Aware?

Thanks!