· now compatible with Windows 95/98 again
· improvements in the malware URL blockers
· solved a vulnerability in aswRdr.sys (CVE-2009-4049) (special thanks to Giuseppe Bonfa)
· here I am with another beta refresh of avast 5 (version number 5.0.221).
· I don't have a change log at this time but a number of the things discussed here should be fixed in this build, as well as a good number of others that we found internally.
· Again, it should be possible to reliably install this version over an existing avast 4.8 (or previous 5.0) installation. Actually, upgrading from v4.8 is a good test case and we would appreciate your feedback on how well it works.
· improvements in the Explorer right-click scan
· improvements in the localizations (French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Polish, Russian and Chinese localizations should now be complete)
· Add and Submit commands in the virus chest now working
· fixed a few memory leaks in the GUI process
· boot-time scan logs now in the Scan logs folder (this feature is still unfinished)
· added controls for actions on infected files inside archives
· fixed the Block command in the Ask dialog
· improvements in the silent installer
· the program is now working under Windows 2000 (SP4 or higher)
· definition updates (GUI gets refreshed, new defs get reloaded etc)
· ability to make config changes under non-admin users (or non-elevated in case of Vista/W7)
· WebShield now working after changing its settings (if upgrading from a previous beta, and you had this issue, you need togo to WebShield's settings, Web scanning page, and ccheck the Scan all files radio button)
· better About box
· added help files (English and a few other languages)
· sizes/positions of windows are now persisted
· minimize button works as expected
· ability to view report file after a scan
· added "persistent cache" feature log - should be useful to troubleshoot AvastSvc.exe CPU usage peaks. The log file is called Logusntr.log
· solved a memory leak in the GZIP unpacker
· solved vulnerabilities in AavmKer4.sys, aswMon2.sys and ashWsFtr.dll (special thanks to Giuseppe Bonfa, Alex and Maxim A. Kulakov)
· improvements in some unpackers (WinExec, Installer, ZIP)
· improved memory scan, especially under 64-bit operating systems
· fixed a possible deadlock condition when copying system files from some removable media
· fixed a possible problem with access rights when deleting infected files on reboot
· Web Shield: minor stability fixes
· Internet Mail: smtp.gmail.com and smtp.live.com now ignored on port 25 (as these are SSL only)
· improved healing of some infected files
· various fixes and improvements in the scanning engine
· Web Shield now scans pages compressed with the "deflate" algorithm
· performance optimization of Standard Shield under Windows Vista
· improvements in the automatic sample submission system
· improvements in the URL blocker
· minor improvements in some unpackers
· improvements in the false positive submission system
· speed optimization in kernel-mode components
· XML scan reports now generated in UTF-8 format (allow for non-Latin characters)
· improvements in the malware submission system
· minor improvements in some unpackers
· improvements in the rootkit scanner
· Network Shield: solved a problem occurring on systems with missing TCP stack
· improvements in the malware submission system
· minor improvements in some unpackers
· improvements in the rootkit scanner
· Network Shield: solved a problem occurring on systems with missing TCP stack
· improvements in some unpackers (Zip, 7-Zip, WinExec, Installer)
· fixed incompatibility with ext2fsd driver
· fixed a problem in The Bat! plugin (causing orphaned thebat.exe processes after the program was closed)
· added new unpacker "droppers" (by default turned on in all tasks including the real time scanner)
· fixed a problem with actions on infected files with special names
· Network Shield: added a component for blocking of malware URLs
· added the possibility of sending of statistical information about detected viruses
· added a new option of reporting of false positives
· improved the submission from the Virus Chest (now based on HTTP protocol)
· added a component for gathering of new samples from exploited pages
· implemented a limit of the maximum size of the selfdef.log file
· speed optimizations in the updater
· speed optimizations in the scanning engine
· solved a minor conflict with McAfee SiteAdvisor
· added support for the Windows Security Center in Vista SP1 (new API)
· minor fixes in the Web Shield
· removed support for ICQ a MSN Messenger alerts
· solved incompatibility with System Safety Monitor
· improved compatibility of the self defense module with XP SP3 (and its installation)
· minor enhancements in the Web Shield (detection of streaming content)
· minor fixes in the updater
· solved incompatibility of the avast self protection module and the System Restore feature (Windows XP/Vista)
· solved keyboard/mouse lags in some games (e.g. World of Warcraft)
· "Quick" scan now quick again (in the previous version, it was usually slower than "Normal" scan)
· fixed slow resuming from hibernation (on certain systems)
· improved stability of aswSP.sys kernel driver
· fixed deleting of infected files in some nested archives
· shell extension: under Windows Vista, shortcut targets are now correctly scanned
· boot-time scanner now correctly displays warning messages about corrupted archives
· improved scanning speed in the Simple user interface
· improved handling of scan exceptions
· self protection: improved detection of changes in the INI file
· start of the "avast! Mail Scanner" service should now be fast again
· fixed a problem with avast being installed in a directory with name containing non-Latin characters
· fixed entering of the license key (didn't work in certain configurations)
· improved detection/healing of MBR rootkits
· avast can now correctly handle the case when the INI file is missing/corrupted
· the "Disable startup rootkit scan" option on the Troubleshooting page now effective
· P2P Shield: added support for Azureus Vuze and Qtrax
· taskbar messages from Internet Mail should now correctly handle most common character encodings
· fixed problems with the boot-time scanner on FAT[32] partitions
· small improvements in some unpackers (WinExec, RAR, CHM)
· fixed the message announcing the license key going to expire soon
· on 64-bit Windows, avast now detects both 32-bit and 64-bit version of the WHS connector
· the avast Home / Pro Edition comparison window is now correctly displayed even under Windows 9x
· avast! now contains a built-in anti-rootkit protection
· avast! now comes with a built-in anti-spyware protection
· new self-defense function to prevent active malware from terminating avast! processes as well as corrupting avast! files and registry items
· scanners now display a progress of current scan (percentage of work done)
· fixed a vulnerability in AavmKer4.sys kernel-mode driver (problem applies to Windows NT/2000/XP, 32-bit only)
· improvements in boot-time scanner (detection & removal of hidden or hard to delete files)
· boot-time scanner will not start when booting into Safe Mode (the program was "invisible" in that case, no progress/messages could be seen)
· improvements in many unpackers
· ACE and RAR unpackers now work even in boot-time scanner
· IM Shield: added support for QQ
· improvements in handling of NTFS streams
· Internet Mail provider now displays the name of the sending/receiving program in the tooltip of its taskbar icon
· implemented a protection against false positives in critical system files
· removed a small memory leak in one of avast! drivers (Windows Vista and XP 64-bit only)
· added support for 64-bit WHS connector (available in WHS Power Pack 1)
· greatly improved performance of the updater, especially in cases where many increments are being downloaded (e.g. avast! installations with outdated virus definitions)
· silent installation now also includes scheduled tasks, if any
· resolved a compatibility issue with Acronis TrueImage (XP 64-bit only)
· compatibility tests with Vista SP1 and XP SP3
· fixed a vulnerability in TAR unpacker (special thanks to "Sowhat" of Nevis Labs)
· improvements in various unpackers (winexec, installer, CAB, NTFS Streams)
· boot-time scanner now functional even with USB keyboards
· speed improvements in the Outlook plugin (Windows XP )
· Web Shield: compatibility improvements
· Internet Mail provider: improvements on Windows Vista
· CAB unpacker now working in boot-time scan
· RAR unpacker modified so that it is now more tolerant to certain corrupted archives (issue reported by Thierry Zoller of n.runs AG)
· Professional Edition: scheduled scan progress icon now accessible even in Windows Vista
· Windows 9x/ME: fix in the Mail Protection Wizard (related to Mozilla Thunderbird accounts)
· fixed a bug in the scan area selection dialog in Windows NT/2000
· optimizations in the updater
· removed mail heuristics false alarm (related to TNEF attachments)
· fixed a problem in the boot-time scanner (prevents the intermittent "Unhandled Exception" errors)
· added Inno Setup unpacker
· speed optimization of certain operations (e.g. scanning of emails in the Internet Mail provider)
· Standard Shield: fixed a memory leak (Windows NT/200/XP)
· mail scanner: fix in IMAP handler (solves problems with Nortel CallPilot, for example)
· Windows Vista: removed the conflict with Asus Data Security Manager
· Web Shield: now scans even data returned from HTTP POST requests
· speed improvements in the area selection dialog
· fixed various small issues on Windows Vista
· infrastructure changes in the scanning engine bringing higher detection rates
· fixed a bug that was sometimes causing crash of the avast screensaver during its initialization
· improved handling of corrupted files in the SIS and CAB unpackers
· Standard Shield: fixed a minor memory leak in the Vista (and Vista only) driver
· Standard Shield: improved the "move to chest" command in Vista
· Standard Shield: the default scan exceptions are no valid for read/write access only (no execute)
· added more "installer" unpackers
· added more Win32 executable unpackers (Enigma etc.)
· for NTLM proxy authorization (via ISA Server) it is now possible to specify the account under which the avast service will perform the update
· added Arabic language pack
· program installation now completes successfully even if Spyware Doctor is installed (the "OnGuard" module of Spyware Doctor contains a bug that was previously preventing the avast installation from working correctly)
· program installation now better handles the situation when repairing previous (corrupted) installs
· mail scanner: fix for marking of new emails as "read" (the problem was taking place in Thunderbird 2.0 in conjunction with some IMAP servers)
· fix for scanning of areas with East Asian names (Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista)
· added Armadillo unpacker
· fixed the Outlook/Exchange provider on Windows 9x/ME
· solved incompatibility of memory scan with certain 3rd party applications
· fixed the boot-time scan under Windows NT 4.0
· fixed extra-long duration of the boot-time scan under Windows Vista
· WebShield: improved compatibility with Windows Vista
· WebShield: better support for HTTP method CONNECT in upstream proxy scenarios
· fixed a minor memory leak in aswrdr.sys
· auto-updates now use much less CPU resources (should not interfere with other CPU-intensive programs running on the computer, e.g. games)
· added a new unpacker: "installers"; useful especially for detection of malware droppers
· Outlook/Exchange provider: improved compatibility with Outlook 2007
· boot-time scanner: fix for the case when there's the /NOGUIBOOT option in boot.ini
· fixed a problem in Standard Shield under Windows Vista related to saving of Word 2007 documents on FAT partitions
· email alerts now use correct formatting even for non-Latin characters
· fixed a rare problem in Standard Shield related to handling of disk volumes mounted to NTFS directories
· further enhancements in executable unpackers
· fixed a bug in ZOO unpacker (special thanks to Jean-Sébastien Guay-Leroux)
· task scheduler: it's now possible to specify which days of week the task should run
· command-line scanner (ashCmd.exe) now supports a couple of more command-line options, mostly related to handling of infected files[/li]
· mail scanner: improved deleting of entire emails (virus embedded in email body)
· fixed opening of the sounds settings dialog under certain operating systems
· avast! screensaver now available even under Windows Vista 64-bit
· better detection of corrupted/modified VPS file
· WebShield: other minor fixes
· added Macedonian, Croatian and Portuguese (not Brazil) language packs
· Standard Shield works on Vista 64bit again
· fixed problems with (missing or non-functional) resident protection virus warning popup, occurring on some systems
· fixed a problem with password-lock for resident protection settings
· fixed very slow updating on Windows 95/98/ME
· higher performance of the scanning engine (especially on new CPUs) and faster start of the avast! system service on OS boot
· improved support for Windows Vista (added support for NTFS transactions (also known as TxF) etc.)
· improved detection of full-screen applications
· fixed a bug related to the demo licence not being installed during silent installs
· improved compatibility with Windows offline folders
· more improvements in executable unpackers
· minor fixes in the ZIP unpacker
· fixed Runtime error R6034 messages when Mozilla Thunderbird version 3.0 is installed
· suppressed double scans when the user selected a local disk scan plus a folder scan (with the folder residing on the local disk)
· added Catalan language module
· avast is now finally compatible with Windows Vista RC1; also, the "remediations" in Vista Security Center are now functional
· added CHM unpacker (and this time, as an extra benefit, it should work even in the boot-time scanner)
· fixed a bug in the UPX unpacker
· added a couple of new Win32 unpackers
· added a workaround to problems with compatibility with Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall (remaints of menus on the screen seldom hang of avast program on start)
· no more attempts to delete files on read-only media
· improved detection of ZoneAlarm Pro (to prevent unnecessary WebShield incompatibility warnings)
· avast! screen-saver now uses better algorithm to remember last scan position
· added Swedish and Slovenian language versions
· Standard Shield now compatible with NT systems set up for the C@ security standard
· minor fixes in the data storage
· auto-updater now run with normal priority (used to be high priority)
· minor enhancements in a number of unpackers (e.g. added support for old versions of UPX)
· fixed a bug in LHARC unpacker
· fixed a bug related to deletion of files from certain special archives; the "move to chest" operation used to, under certain circumstances, cause the file to be actually extracted to the avast folder
· attempt to solve the problem with corruption of ThunderBird mailbox when a virus is found in its first email
· files not scanned because of scan exclusions are not displayed in the Simple UI results dialog anymore
· hyperlinks (e.g. "virus information") are now opened in browser's new window
· Windows 9x: fixed a bug in data storage causing incorrect behavior if the program was installed to a folder with non-Latin character path name
· minor optimization of memory consumption of the "avast! Antivirus" service (process ashServ.exe/aswServ.exe)
· updater now more tolerant to corrupted data files
· improvements in executable packers (most notably, ASProtect unpacker)
· fixed incorrect handling of non-Latin characters in the data storage
· Outlook plugin: now compatible with Windows Vista
· avast! now working correctly under Windows Vista 64-bit builds
· fixed incorrect statistics in sessions of scheduled tasks
· fixed a problem in the creation of silent installation (Professional Edition)
· fixed a subtle bug in the data storage (occuring after deleting an object)
· temporarily disabled the CHM unpacker (for security reasons)
· added Danish language version
· Standard Shield: by default, system DLLs are not scanned anymore (speed optimization)
· further improved Standard Shield speed under Windows XP (generally, less files are scanned)
· Standard Shield: improved compatibility with Microsoft Office (particularly, saving of Excel documents on network shares)
· mail scanner now doesn't show Timeout Expired messages; the program was modified so that the respective timeout can be controlled by the mail client itself
· mail scanner: solved problem with the mail client reporting expired timeouts when sending larger emails via slow connectections
· mail scanner: fixed problem with delays during IP address reverse-lookup
· mail scanner: fixed displaying of tray icon
· P2P Shield: added support for Winny2 and Google Talk
· Web Shield: improved compatibility with Win9x
· transition to new data storage - avast does not need the ODBC/Jet drivers anymore and should therefore work better even under older versions of Windows (95/98/ME, NT4)
· fixed a bug in the Script Blocker module that was causing conflicts with some programs under non-English Windows (e.g. the German invoice system Lexware)
· added support for additional executable packers (e.g. MoleBox)
· fixed a bug that was sometimes causing very slow scanning of CAB archives
· boot-time scanner: added support for additional archives (GZ, BZIP2, TAR, LHARC, ZOO)
· improved handling of infected files with exotic filenames
· solved a problem with setting of incorrect access rights to the avast executable files
· removed a limit of maximal length of winpopup alerts (used to be 128 characters)
· Enhanced User Interface: infected items are now marked as red
· implemented new method of deleting of locked infected files (now using the boot-time scanner technology)
· this new version is now compatible with the Windows Disk Protection feature from Microsoft Shared Computing Toolkit. For more information, please refer to the FAQ section
· Avast should now work flawlessly with Windows Vista beta 2 and higher (Vista beta 2 will be released in the first half of May, i.e. in about 3 weeks); unfortunately, in beta1 CTP builds
