But for Nicholas, and for a generation of early adopters, the name "Ad-Aware" would always evoke a specific, comforting memory. It was the memory of the first time they fought back against the noise, took back control of their digital lives, and watched that little progress bar wipe the slate clean.
The computer whirred. A few pop-ups flashed and died. When the process finished, the PC was silent. The incessant chattering of the hard drive stopped. He opened Internet Explorer. It snapped open, crisp and clean. No flashing banners. No mysterious redirects to gambling sites. Just the Google homepage, pure and white. adaware lavasoft