Using AdAware is fairly simple. Most options can be ignored unless you really feel like being tricky, so don't be intimidated by the loads of different buttons you are presented with when you first open Lavasoft's nifty little app.
The first order of business is to update AdAware. Adware scanners work very similar to virus scanners, if they're not updated, then they can't find all of the new nasty variants of malware that's out there. Click on the 'Check for updates now' link on the bottom right portion of the program, right above the Start button.
The next window that opens up should say: 'Performing WebUpdate'. Click the Connect button, and if there are newer definitions available, you should see the following window:
Click OK, and wait while it downloads the file. Once it's done it will say 'WebUpdate Complete', following that, click Finish. **Note: If you are connected, but get an error when attempting to update, see this.
Now that we're updated, we're ready to rock. Click the Start button. On the following page, select 'Perform full system scan' and click Next. This is the part where AdAware will scan for all of the lovely spyware, and since we've selected to scan the entire computer, it's probably gonna take a while. Get up, and go make yourself a sandwich.
Once the scan is done, click Next. It will now show you a list of the adware that it's found, most of which will likely be tracking cookies. Right click on the list, and select 'Select all objects'.
Once you see checkmarks next to everything, click Next. The following screen will pop up:
The number will vary from system to system, of course, so go ahead and click OK. AdAware will then go through what is sometimes a lengthy process of quarantining and deleting all of the adware that it found. This really does take forever sometimes, so you may want to walk away. After it finishes, AdAware will bring you back to the first screen. Go ahead and close it because you're done!
**Occasionally you will be asked to let AdAware run on reboot to remove some items that it couldn't delete. Go ahead and let it do this.