Depending on the speed of your computer, hard drive, memory, etc., when Ad-Aware performs system scans for spyware and adware, it may cause other software to stop running at full speed. If your computer is running slowly while Ad-Aware operates, you can force it to scan as a background process. This means Ad-Aware will take more time to scan your system, but it will not eat as much CPU time, theoretically allowing your other running software programs to run at close to full speed.

1. Open Ad-Aware.
2. Click the button that looks like a gear ("Settings").
3. When the settings dialog opens, click the "Tweak" button.
4. Double-click "Scanning Engine" to open the tree.
5. Check "Run scan as background process (Low CPU usage).
6. Click "Proceed" to close the dialog box.

Print This Tip

Get E-Mail When New Tips are Online

Return to the Ad-Aware page.