In my case the process adb.exe starts when i connect the phone, and then when I adb devices then I have your problem, and killing the process does not help it is resurrecting like a stubborn zombie, as long as the phone is connected.
so my solution was to disconnect the phone, then kill adb.exe process, then start it by adb devices and connect the phone
After that when i command adb devices i ma getting the same prompt about killing adb out of date, but this time on the second line is * daemon started sucessfully*
win xp
htc sensation
the new eclipse adt sdk bundle from google so i suppose up to date.