I think the ad-adware server may be having problems. None of my machines can download the new reference list, either. The latest refrence file lists the date as 2002.
Spybot can replace adaware for now. Spywareguard and Spywareblaster from Javacool Software are good, too. Free and efficient.
I got hammered today as I was setting up my wife's new XP machine. A shockwave install pulled down an IE homepage re-direct, a searchpage re-direct, and a BHO for some reason, but spywareguard stopped all 3.
I think Firefox, Mozilla or Opera are safer than IE in that regard.
Seconds on the AVG and Regseeker recommendations. Free and good for what they do.
Antivir PE is another free AV. I use AVG memory resident and set Antivir up to run a scan at night. Antivir does a good job scanning inside archives, and AVG will spot badguys when Antivir unpacks them into the Temp folder on it's pass through.
I've been using the free Sygate Personal Firewall as of late, too. It has a light footprint and will block outgoing requests at the application level.
I use linux hardware routers/firewalls even for my home network gateway, but I think the ability to block outgoing applications is worth running the firewall on a workstation.
Can't be too careful.
longjack
Just tried to update Ad-aware from work, and it did the same thing my two home computers did--show 5% complete and stop.
I updated Spybot successfully, though.
"Spywareguard and Spywareblaster from Javacool Software are good, too."
I'll give them a try.
"I think Firefox, Mozilla or Opera are safer than IE in that regard."
I read an article on Firefox the other day, and plan to try it.
"Antivir PE...Sygate Personal Firewall..."
I'm using Panda Titanium and Zone Alarm Pro with XP SP2 at home.
Funny thing, though...on one of my machines the disk write light flashes like a heartbeat monitor, and at just about the same speed. I thought maybe I'd been highjacked, but Zone Alarm blocks outgoing traffic, so I don't know what the deal is.
"I think the ability to block outgoing applications is worth running the firewall on a workstation."
I'm on the company LAN at work, so I have to let the Alpha Geek take care of that.