Before You Scan:

All of this software is designed for Windows 98 and above. Users must be logged into Windows with administrative priveleges before they continue.

If your computer is unable to access the internet, then you must perform the downloads on a functional computer (such as a friend's, a neighbor's, or a functional campus machine), and save the respective downloaded files onto a CD-RW or a USB Flash Drive.

You can significantly decrease the amount of time required to scan your computer if you clear out all of your temporary directories. These are located at:

• C:\Windows\Temp
• C:\Windows\Prefetch
• C:\Documents and Settings\ username \Local Settings\Temp
• C:\Documents and Settings\ username \Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

1. Download & install

   LavaSoft Ad-Aware SE Personal and related updates can be found at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/. Download the installation executable and save it to your desktop.

   If your machine is not able to access the network, download the executable and the latest definition file from a functional computer. Once you have them, save them on a USB flash device, or burn them onto a CD-RW, then copy them to the desktop of the affected machine.

   Double click on the installer to get started. You'll have to read and accept a license agreement. Install the software in the default location and continue. You'll be presented with the following screen:

   

2. Install updates

   If your computer is able to get online, select OK. Ad-Aware will search for and find its appropriate update file, and you can choose to download and install the file automatically. If you cannot get online, choose Cancel. You'll need to install the latest updates manually. Unzip the latest definition file you downloaded off the LavaSoft website. Inside of it, there is a "defs.ref" file. Place this file in your C:/Program Files/Lavasoft/Ad-Aware SE Personal directory. Windows will ask you if you want to overwrite the existing defs.ref file. Choose Yes. When you are finished, restart Ad-Aware. You should see the following screen:

   

3. Scan your computer

To scan your machine for spyware, select Scan Now from the left menu, choose Full System Scan from the menu, and click Next. Ad-Aware will now scan your computer. This may take several minutes. When Ad-Aware has finished scanning, it will present you with its results. You can click on the Next button to see the list of critical objects:



To remove the critical objects, right click on one of them and choose Select All Objects from the menu. Now, click Next. This will remove all the files in the list. A window will pop up, asking you if you want to continue. Click OK. Once you're finished removing the files, click on the Open quarantine list link. Right click the new auto-quarantine file, and Delete the archive. At this point, you can exit Ad-Aware.

4. Troubleshooting tips
   • Ad-Aware doesn't work without its definition updates. If you can't get online, you'll have to download the definitions from another computer and manually install them into the Lavasoft/Ad-Aware folder in your C:/Program Files directory.
   • Run Ad-Aware once a week, or if you suspect you have a spyware infection.
   • For best results, run Ad-Aware while in Safe Mode. You can start your computer in Safe Mode by rebooting your machine and tapping the F8 key while Windows is loading.

   • Ad-Aware works best when used in conjunction with programs like Spybot Search & Destroy, and Microsoft Antispyware (beta).

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