How to Corner for Ad-aware
Ad-aware is a free spyware removal tool. It scans your system looking for spyware, and at the end it allows you to delete what it has found. There is another spyware removal program called Spybot Search & Destroy that I would recommend checking out, and using with Ad-aware. Feel free to check it out on my Spybot Search & Destroy page. In order for this program to be accessible with Jaws for Windows, then you must first download and install the scripts written for ad-aware. At this point, I want to thank Dean Schmidt for donating his time and developing the below scripts! With these scripts installed, you will find the program very user friendly with Jaws for Windows, and should have no problem using Ad-aware. Dean Schmidt has his own web site which I would invite you to visit at Accessible Programs.com. To download the current version of Ad-aware or the necessary scripts, just hit enter on the proper link below!
Ad-Aware
SE Build 106 Download
Ad-aware Scripts
for Jaws 4.02
Ad-aware Scripts
for Jaws 4.5x
Ad-aware Scripts for
Jaws 5.x
Ad-aware Scripts for
Jaws 6.x
For help with the installation of the above scripts refer to Installing the scripts section below.
Installing the scripts
How to scan my computer for spyware
How to update my definitions
How to delete my quarantined items
Dean Schmidt made it easy to install the above scripts by packing the scripts with an installer. If you have never downloaded from the Internet, or just want to review the process of downloading from the Internet, feel free to check out my Downloading From The Internet page. After downloading the scripts, do the following:
1. After
finding the file on your computer, hit enter on the file.
2. This will put you in a list of files. You will see the file setup.exe. Hit
enter on this file. It might ask you if
you are sure you want to open this file, just tab to either the yes button, or
the run button and hit the space bar.
3. The setup installation program starts so it can install the scripts.
4. Hit space bar on the next button.
5. This will bring up the accessible programs user agreement, arrow up to
agree, then tab to the next button and hit the space bar.
6. This will bring up the versions of Jaws you have on your system. Make sure
the radio button is checked for the version of Jaws you want. Then tab to the
next button and hit the space bar.
7. The next screen is for the number of Jaws users you have on your system. If
only one, then tab to the next button and hit the space bar.
8. The next screen will tell you the directory that the scripts will be installed.
This should be correct for the version of Jaws you chose. Tab to the next
button and hit the space bar.
9. Next, the directory where the script help files will be installed is listed.
To change this, use the browse button supplied. To leave it with the default
directory, just tab to the next button and hit the space bar.
10. The scripts and help files are then installed.
11. The next screen is information for you, after reading, just hit the space
bar on the next button.
12. It might tell you that because of the version of Jaws you are running that
the scripts need to be recompiled. For
help doing this, just refer to my recompiling scripts
page.
13. To close out the installation program, just hit the space bar on the finish
button.
NOTE: After installation is complete, you will find a new entry in your start menu. It is called Ad-aware Scripts. In its submenu you will find a few items, one of which is access to the ad-aware help files which will supply some helpful information about the program as well as the scripts. You will also find an option in the submenu to uninstall the scripts if you ever need to do this. Once installed, after starting ad-aware, you can hit Insert H for a list of Jaws shortcut keystrokes for the program.
Most computers have spyware running on them, and the user does not even realize it! Spyware can get on your computer just by simply surfing the Internet. Most spyware is harmless, but there is some spyware that can really take control of your system and really eat up your resources. It is because of the harmful spyware that it is recommended that you scan your system about once a week.
To scan your system:
1. Start up ad-aware.
2. After loading, you should be on the status button.
3. Tab once, and you should be on the scan now button. Hit the space bar on the scan now button, or
just hit the shortcut keystroke control S.
4. You are now on the scan mode screen.
You can choose from a smart scan (the default), and a full system
scan. Just arrow up and down to change
the type of scan you want. Hit control
N for Next to start scanning.
5. Ad-ware will start scanning your system, and every now and then you might
hear ad aware announce the type of items it is scanning, like deep scanning
registry, or deep scanning local drive.
During the scan, you can hit control O to hear how many objects have
been scanned, Control shift O to hear how many critical objects have been found
so far, and control shift C to cancel the scan.
6. Once the scanning is complete, if spyware is found, ad-aware will make a
sound and tell you how many critical objects were found. If not Jaws will tell
you scanning is complete, 0 new critical objects found.
7. On the scan summary page, you can either hit the space bar on the summary
button, or use the shortcut keystroke control U to read you a summary of the
scan results. The scripts use the Jaws
cursor to read the summary of scan results, so after hearing a summary of the
scan results, hit your PC cursor key to turn the PC cursor back on, then hit
control N for the next button.
8. You are now on the scan results screen which consist of four tabs: scan
summary tab, critical objects tab, negligible objects tab, and the scan log
tab. You will start out on the scan
summary tab. Hit the right arrow to
move to the critical objects tab.
9. If you want to mark all critical objects to be deleted, just hit control M
to mark all objects. If you want to go
through and only mark certain critical objects, just tab one time to be in the
list of critical objects, then just hit the space bar while arrowing down the
list of objects to mark the objects you want to delete. After you have marked the critical objects
you want to delete, hit control N for next.
10. A dialog box will pop up warning you that you are about to delete these
items, hit the space bar on the Okay button.
11. Your done, you can alt f4 to close out of the program. It is recommended
that you run ad-aware until 0 new critical objects are found.
Lavasoft can release updates to the definitions for ad-aware at anytime. It is normally a wise thing to check for updates before scanning your system. You must be connected to the Internet before you can check for updates.
To check and install updates:
1. Start up ad-aware.
2. Once ad-aware is loaded, you will be put on a status button.
3. Shift tab two times to go to the web update button, and hit the space bar.
4. This will bring up a update dialog box, tab to connect and hit the space
bar.
5. Ad-aware will automatically go out on the Internet and check to see if there
are any new updates available.
6. After checking, Ad-aware will either tell you that it found updates, or no
updates are available, and give you an OK button. Hit the space bar on the OK button.
7. If Ad-aware found updates, it will automatically download and install the
updates, then give you a finish button when it is done. Hit the space bar on the finish button to be
brought back to the web update button.
8. If there is no updates available, then it will just give you a finish
button, hit the space bar on the finish button to return to the web update
button.
9. Your done! To start a scan, just tab
three times to the scan now button or hit the shortcut keystroke control S.
When you scan your computer with ad-aware, and delete the items that it finds, ad-aware actually quarantines the items and does not actually delete them off of your system. The reason for this is for safety reasons. In case you delete something that should not be deleted, ad-aware quarantines the items in case you need to undo what you have deleted. For this reason, every now and then, you should empty your quarantined items.
Another thing Ad-aware does, is it makes a text log file of the results of every scan you do of your system. It does this so you can look at the results of the scan and see what was found and what you will be deleting. Along with the quarantined folder, you should also time to time empty the log file folder. Both folders are found in the same directory.
Below you will find the directory of where this quarantine and log folder is located.
For Windows XP:
For those who don't need step by step directions, the directory is:
C:\Documents and Settings\(your user name)\Application Data\Lavasoft\Ad-aware
Step by step instructions:
1. Hold down the Windows key and hit the E key to bring up windows explorer.
2. Tab once, arrow to local drive C, and hit enter.
3. Hit D until you hear Documents and Settings and hit enter.
4. Arrow down until you hear your user name and hit enter.
5. Hit A until you hear application data, and hit enter.
6. Hit L until you hear Lavasoft and hit enter.
7. Hit A until you hear Ad-Aware and hit enter.
8. If you arrow up and down you will hear the names of the two folders you are
looking for, quarantine and logs.
9. One at a time, hit enter on each folder, hit control A to select all of the
items in the folder, then hit the delete key. Once you delete the items in one
folder, hit the back key to go back to the list of folders, then you can enter
the next folder. Once you have emptied the quarantined folder and the logs
folder, your done!
For Windows 9X, ME, and 2000:
For those who don't need step by step instructions, the directory is:
C:\Program Files\Lavasoft\Ad-aware SE Personal
Step by step instructions:
1. Hold down the Windows key and hit the E key to bring up windows explorer.
2. Tab once, arrow to local drive C, and hit enter.
3. Hit P until you hear Program Files and hit enter.
4. Hit L until you hear Lavasoft and hit enter.
5. Hit A until you hear Ad-aware SE Personal and hit enter.
6. If you arrow up and down you will hear the names of the two folders you are
looking for, quarantine and logs.
7. One at a time, hit enter on each folder, hit control A to select all of the
items in the folder, then hit the delete key. Once you delete the items in one
folder, hit the back key to go back to the list of folders, then you can enter
the next folder. Once you have emptied the quarantined folder and the logs
folder, your done!
If you have any helpful advice in using ad-aware, please send comments to info@blind-corners.com.