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Introduction:
One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware’s reputation is well-justified. The latest version continues the publisher’s tradition of adroitly addressing user concerns, but isn’t yet perfect.
As usual, Lavasoft did not add any bells and whistles to the application, but maintained only its functionality, integrating it in a beautifully drawn GUI incapable of giving a hard time to any type of user, regardless of user computer skills. Actually, it is the same interface as last year’s, with slight changes here and there, but nothing major.

Overview:
Building on the improvements made in version 8, former Ad-Aware users should be glad to hear that the program installs faster than it used to. Without a doubt, though, this version of Ad-Aware improves greatly on what has come before. It loads faster during your boot cycle, and scans are faster. Empirical tests noted that while the Quick Scan finished in less than 10 minutes for version 8, the current version’s Quick Scan finished in less than three minutes. Previous files that had been falsely detected as threats weren’t flagged this time around, probably due in part to Ad-Aware’s behavioral detection engine. Called Genotype, it’s based on heuristics and uses a one-pass scanning system; Genotype isn’t directly exposed to users, although you can opt in to anonymously contribute data from the Settings menu. The new version also explicitly calls out in the scan windows what the scan looks for.
New users should note that Ad-Aware Free performs faster than integrated antivirus and anti malware programs in part because only the paid version of Ad-Aware comes with an antivirus engine. Other important features are disabled in the free version. While root kit detection is present, behavior-based heuristics and real-time registry protection are not. Ad-Aware Free cannot scan networked drives, and even a basic feature like the scheduler remains off-limits to nonpaying customers. The proprietary real-time defender Ad-Watch Live has been reconfigured to run more smoothly in the background, however, and long-time fans will notice the change. Ad-Aware continues to make improvements and seems to be unwilling to rest on its malware-removing laurels, but the free version is undeniably hamstrung. With behavior-based threat detection and integrated real-time monitoring, Ad-Aware focuses on core consumer security needs. Instead of adding layers of bells and whistles–thereby slowing your computer and scans down–we have decided to focus on what really matters. Ad-Aware provides advanced threat protection, and is significantly lighter and faster than our previous versions.
What’s new in Version 8.1.0?
Version 8.1.0 includes new anti-malware technology with new Genotype detection and behavior-based heuristics, new usability features that allow you to tailor the program to fit your needs, and the community collaboration that will allow you to customize Ad-Aware to your needs.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
•    Ad-Aware 2008 poses absolutely no problem when it comes to managing its options and ease of access to the features, regardless of the user’s computer skills.
•    The application provides comprehensive information on the state of the computer and options enabled, while scan options make available the necessary features to thoroughly verify the computer for malware. Automatic scanning is ensured by the flexible scheduler that also works for retrieving the latest updates.

Cons:
•    The greatest downside of the application is the fact that all options are displayed in the interface, although many of them are restricted to plus and pro versions.
•    There is no trial for the most feature-heavy of the versions, the Pro edition.