any ideas why my ad-aware se personal will not update,keeps saying unable to read download definitions?

Question

worked previously until up graded it,tried deleting all files but main lavasoft file will not delete.

Answer 1

i uninstalled it then downloaded the new version works fine now .hope this helps

Answer 2

First off, my apologies this is so long, but it really is the best process to get rid of stubborn, plaque-like software.

Surf over to to www.filehippo.com, download the latest Crap Cleaner (or CCleaner) and install it on your computer, with an icon on your desktop. It's a gem of a utility, as you will see.

Now I'm going to have you boot your computer into Safe Mode to delete the last of the Lavasoft files. Safe Mode is just that, a mode for problem-solving. Do a restart on your computer and as soon as you see the initial booting gobbletygook, start hitting the F8 key. If you caught it before Windows started, you will get a old-style DOS-like menu offering you several options to boot into to Windows. Pick the one that starts Windows in Safe Mode with no networking. This brings up Windows with the least amount of "stuff" turned on.

Now, do a Control-Alt-Delete and select the Task List button. See if there's any AdAware software running in the Applications tab. If there is, left click to highlight it, then click the End Task button. Now click on the Processes tab. Click the Image Name column and the column will sort alphabetically. Look again for anything from AdAware. As before highlight and click the End Process button again.

Close out Task Manager and open Windows Explorer. You should be able to delete the last of the Lavasoft files.

Still in Safe Mode, crank up your Crap Cleaner program. With the top broom Cleaner icon depressed, click on the check boxes by the Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer, and System options. Click on the Advanced button and click thru all the warnings. Then remove the green checks from all options but Old Prefetch Data and the IIS logs. Now click on the Analyze button. It's going to go thru and find every extraneous temporary and/or useless log file on your computer. It will also clean out your cookies and temp files as well, so you might have to redo some web stuff like your Google Preferences.

When it's done, click on the Tools gear icon and click on the Startup option. Look in here to see if there's any reference to Lavasoft or AdAware. If you see anything, click on it and then hit the Delete entry button. Be careful, if you delete the wrong thing, a program won't start up with Windows anymore.

Now click on the Issues registry icon and check both the Registry and File Integrity options Click on the Scan for Issues button and let it do it's thing. When it's done scanning, click on the Fix Selected Issues button. When it asks do you want to save the registry, click yes or Ok and save it to your desktop, or better yet to a floppy disk. Then click to fix the problems. When it's done, pull out the floppy and do a restart on your computer.

Boot it in Safe Mode again and run the Issues scan again. Keep running this scan in Safe Mode and saving the registry until it doesn't find anymore issues. Now boot your computer in regular mode. Just like in Safe Mode, run the Issues scan again, but this time use a different floppy than was used in Safe Mode. Run it until it reads clear. Now, everything weird that AdAware and possibly Microsuck..er...soft has done will be fixed.

On the malware killer side, I personally prefer Spybot Search and Destroy in concert with Spyware Blaster, but that's just me. You can download them both from filehippo as well.

Good luck and compute in peace!!!

Answer 3

Yea...there's your problem was updating and it left other files behind...try right clicking on the file(s) to delete, properties, then uncheck the read only box....and apply to subfolders.
Then save and delete...then Reinstall the program from scratch & update it.

Answer 4

Man, I'd get on www.techguy.org/ and ask people there with lots of experience. Sounds fishy, like maybe you may have some hijacked files or something. Unless the update didn't load properly!

Answer 5

Uninstall and reinstall.

Remember this program needs updating almost daily

Answer 6

delete then reinstall. I had this problem......it's like a cd that skips on the one part of a cd. Try it should work after. takes about5 minutes or so.

Answer 7

uninstall and reinstall sounds like the installation is corrupt.