Scan faster by scanning less

If Ad-Aware is taking too long to run, you can speed up its scanning (this does pose a security risk, after all, what is the point of scanning for bugs and viruses if you are going to do it hastily?!).

1. Open Ad-Aware.
2. Click the button that looks like a gear ("Settings").
3. When the “Settings” dialog opens, click the "Scanning" button.
4. From here, you can decide whether or not to scan within archive files (if spyware is in an archive, theoretically it is not doing damage unless installed). Plus you can decide whether or not to scan active processes, the registry, your Hosts file, and more.
5. Click "Proceed" when done.

Check for updates

If you are using the Ad-Aware software to scan and remove spyware from your computer, you should always check for updates every couple of days or once every week. To check for updates, open Ad-Aware, then click the "Check for updates now" button. Click "Connect" when prompted and follow the onscreen prompts. As soon as you've finished updating Ad-Aware, be sure to run a scan to help ensure no spyware has reached your machine.