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November 26th, 2004 16:00
Ad Aware SE 1.05 Problems
Has anyone installed Ad Aware SE personl 1.05 and had any problems? My system is entirely hyjacked by this app which I installed yesterday (11/25/2004). I had been running Ad Aware 6 with no problem and uninstalled it as part of the SE install. All applications open Ad Aware rather than themselves, including the Ad Aware Uninstall app so I can't uninstall it! The only way I can open IE is via the desktop icon, so I can get to the Internet, and same with Windows Explore via My Computer icon. Otherwise their short cuts and all other programs are somehow linked to Ad Aware. I can't run regedit or anything else from the Start/Run command line, even in Safe Mode. If I rename the Ad Aware executable, then all the other programs error out, with a message that its executable can't be found. Even on boot up, most of my Start Up programs (e.g., ZoneAlarm) are now Ad Aware executions. I did two System Restores using a month old checkpoint via Safe Mode and still have the same Ad Aware problem.
I can't get the Lavasoft Forum to work, so I can't get help from them.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
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jwatt
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November 26th, 2004 16:00
I checked Lavasoft's forums, Wilders Security Forum, and DSLReports' security forum for any similar reports, and didn't find any. I also didn't find any reports of DNS hijackings, which could have caused the IP address for Lavasoft's download site to point to a rogue site.
Where did you download the program from?
It sounds like the registry entry HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe's default value of exefile has been corrupted, or else the entry for exefile, HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command, default value "%1" %* has been corrupted.
Can you start anything with the Task Manager? Can you edit the registry remotely from another machine on your LAN?
There may be a way of editing the registry through the Recovery Console, but I haven't found an explanation of how to do that. Does anyone else know?
(Edit to remove suggestion that had already been tried, and add another one.)
Jim
Message Edited by jimw on 11-26-2004 12:31 PM
Dr. Lawrence Ho
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November 27th, 2004 02:00
rwmanz
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November 28th, 2004 22:00
Jim and Lawrence H,
Thanks for the info, Jim. I subsequently got in touch with Lavasoft via their forum and have been working with them the past few days. Long story short, I did find a few Trojan Downloaders on my system using on-line scans from several vendors and Lavasoft also provided info on potential Registry problems they found at Symantec, as you mentioned. However I could run virtually nothing on my computer without Ad Aware executing until I discovered today the right click context menu "Run as..." item for executables which allowed me to run programs without Ad Aware interfering. So I uninstalled Ad Aware, still had a problem executing programs (a "could not find path..." message instead of Ad Aware executing) ran RegEdit to check for the items as you mentioned (nothing needed to be corrected) and also deleted a few leftover Lavasoft keys (nothing suspicious). The other programs then executed normally! I then ran TrojanHunter which fixed the identified downloaders, turned off System Restore to clean out the Restore Point folders (two of which contained the TDs) as suggested by Lavasoft and rebooted. A final run of both Mcafee and TrojanHunter scans, both clean, and a clean Restore Point now created, I'm good to go.
I downloaded the Ad Aware SE Personal 1.05 from PC World and I provided this info to Lavasoft.
Thanks for your assistance.
Bob
Message Edited by rwmanz on 11-28-2004 06:58 PM
jwatt
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November 29th, 2004 00:00
Whew! That was a close call! I'm glad you got Lavasoft involved, and very glad you resolved the problem! I actually wonder why "run as" worked, given that "run" didn't...but I'm glad it did! Do you happen to remember what the leftover Lavasoft keys were?
Jim