Free 1 year license of Lavasoft Ad-Aware Plus! (24 hours only this Friday!)
March 24, 2010 34
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Ad-Aware is a security software offered by Lavasoft. It comes in four different flavors and the features offered by the software vary on the version you have:
Ad-Aware Plus is the version users can get a 1 year license for free! The promotion is being sponsored by v3.co.uk and will only be open for 24 hours starting March 26, 2010. The promotion will start “from midday GMT, Friday 26th of March 2010 through to midday GMT, Saturday 27th of March 2010″. Take special note that the starting times are in GMT timezone; be sure to calculate what time 12 PM GMT is in your timezone (it is 8 AM EST for reference). Since the promotion has not started yet, I don’t have very much detail on how the promotion will work; the only thing I know is that the link for the free 1 year license will be available via v3.co.uk’s download section starting Friday.
Thanks Luffy!
I wonder how someone was able to register. 14 hours over, no confirmation email yet. Can´t login without confirmation. Register form says username alredy in use. How can be downloads the reason for undelivered mails? Are they that poor that they only got one server for webpage downloads and email? They said on another page they got 4 servers with 100mbit for downloads. The offer now is available for one more day but i doubt i will receive any mail in the time the offer still is on. I´ve never seen such an unprofessional giveaway offer ever.
I hope the posted hotfile link contains the right file and is clean. Seems the only chance to get this giveaway.
Fred:
I guess prospective users need to make the decision first as to whether this software is worth all the obvious hassle or not.
LavaSoft has no track record in the new fields in which it is claiming expertise, yet this product is clearly intended to replace software of already well-established provenance.
Methinks that not for the first time, the prospect of something being free will bedazzle many — rather than the prospect of whether it’s actually appropriate to their needs.
Software as ambitious as this appears to be merits an exhaustive review but as yet, I haven’t come across one.
Perhaps if you do manage to hook it, you could thoroughly test its AV capabilities and whatever else Lavasoft has incorporated — and report back here?
You have to register to avail of the free offer. But the registration is buggy – you can’t do it! Seems to be a Bogus Promo. :-(
@kunk0n0508: Is that the exact promotional giveaway for Adaware Plus?
~Joji~
Not sure about bogus, TBH.
It’s more likely cock-up than conspiracy. But your experience is typical of mine when it comes to so many of these ‘time-limited’ offers: a complete shambles from start to finish, and only after it’s all over does the developer materialise to say oops, sorry, hadn’t realised there’d be so much demand.
A developer incapable of legislating for demand doesn’t strike me as one over-endowed with much forethought. And if absence of forethought spills over into the developer’s products, then, um, well. . .
:oops:
Hi Everybody,
Could anyone please let us know the MD5 for the exe file for verification. Thanks
Mr. Kunk0n0508 gave us a link where a “Vietnamese Blog Site”, a technology/IT Site downloaded the file and uploaded it online through sites like RapidShare. I downloaded the file and it’s named “Ad-Aware_565-afublog.com.exe”. It looks like the promotional Adaware Plus. I’m not sure, but that’s what it says on that site. Just be sure to turn on translation to read what it says. In addition, the product key is already with the installer so once you finish installing Adaware Plus on your computer, it’s already activated. :)
~Joji~
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/hotfile.com/summary/@Joji:
Is there any evidence that the files hosted by hotfile.com are trustworthy, and have not been modified and impregnated with exploits ?
See http://download.cnet.com/windows/
That I tend to respect.
If you search for “All software on Download has been tested to ensure it’s 100% free of spyware, viruses, and other malware” you will find this gives a link to their software policy.
That PLUS THE HIGH REGARD in which Download.com is held means I have no expectation of problems when downloading from there – but I still keep my FireWall and A.V. on full alert regardless.
Hotfile.com appears to host whatever they are given,
and appear to have no software policy, nor any indication that they test for malware.
An MD5 checksum would be useful, but only if certified by Lavasoft. n.b. MD5 is now crackable, i.e. a virus can be introduced and then a bit of extra cryptography magic will cancel its effects upon the MD5 checksum. SHA encryption gives more peace of mind.
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/hotfile.com/summary/
That indicates the web-site itself is good and tends to NOT annoy with pop-ups, but siteadvisor itself makes no comment about uploaded malware.
User comments indicate that malware IS a problem.
Alan
@MikeR:
It states it is anti-spyware, anti-virus, & anti-rootkit, plus the Adwatch features, so thats one reason for 104 MBs
TO those who had problems with downloading & kept getting the free version (like I did):
Just go to this link. log-in & download
http://store.v3.co.uk/?act=details&id=4636
Here’s an updated message from them:
“Important – Distribution & Activation
Ad-Aware Plus 8.2.1 (1-PC, 1-Year) is licensed exclusively from Lavasoft as part of this promotion and is strictly prohibited from general distribution. This software is available to V3.co.uk Software Store members. Store membership is free. If you subscribe to the store newsletter, you can unsubscribe at any time.
You will only be able to activate the product within the 24 hour period whilst the promotion is available. Please activate during the period of this promotion. The promotion runs between midday GMT Friday 26 March through to midnight GMT Sunday 28 March.
The serial code is built-in to the software. Activation is automatic, as soon as you start Ad-Aware Plus. Do not try and register as this will result in an error. You should receive a 12-month license automatically and the license expiry date can be confirmed with ‘Manage License’.
Note that a number of people, with Ad-Aware Free installed, have reported that this download does not activate as the Plus Edition. We’ve made Lavasoft aware of this situation and expect an answer by Monday.”
——————————-
My humble & free advice:
If you have Ad-Aware Free installed– REVO it, reboot, run CCleaner for remnants, then look in program files & program data for any leftovers. Adaware uninstalls quite well & using this to remove traces SHOULD avoid problems with trying to install PLUS over free version.
After installing & updating, I went to settings & made updates manual & disabled AdWatch for now, so I can add protection 1 item at a time later, to see how it behaves with all its mates.
Hope this helps.
Al