Adaware used to do the same on my XP installation , basically I just uninstalled it and went for a spyware scanner that didn't freeze the PC - many freeware scanners out there that are reliable , even better if backed with a reliable AV with realtime scanner . I daren't suggest any because Digerati will probably shoot me but , Avast Home AV free edition , Malwarebytes Anti-malware free edition and Spywareblaster are more than adequate in conjunction with each other . All relatively low on resource usage too .

Most scanners I've used seem to get bogged down in the system32 cab files on a full system scan , smart scan is always an option i.e the program scans the most likely locations of spyware . Custom scan is always a choice too , here you choose which area's of the system to scan . Music and Video files for example rare contain spyware . Upon installation any spyware classed within the " Program Files " spectrum are normally detected upon installation .