What's new in Avast Free Antivirus 24.4.6112 Beta
Apr 25, 2024
- Final tuning before release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.4.6111 Beta (Apr 18, 2024)
- Tweaks in Smart Scan - please note some translation could be missing
- Changes regarding correct starting of Firewall service
- Stabilization changes (crashes fixed)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.4.6110 Beta (Apr 11, 2024)
- Stabilization changes
- Crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.4.6109 Beta (Apr 4, 2024)
- Stabilization changes, mostly crashes fixed
- Changes related to passive mode when not all shields were enabled after passive mode was disabled
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.3.6108 Beta (Mar 27, 2024)
- Fixed issue with not running FW when more our products was installed at once.
- Fixed crash in toolsvc.
- Fixed issue with the UI not loading correctly after waking up the OS from sleep.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.2.6105 (Mar 22, 2024)
- Mostly bug fixing and product optimisations.
- Firewall is installed in new installation of the Free versions.
- HOTFIX - removed the confusing UI promoting the updates - https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=326306.45
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.3.6107 Beta (Mar 21, 2024)
- You can now precisely schedule the Smart Scan directly from its last page.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.3.6106 Beta (Mar 14, 2024)
- Fixed issue where some customers were not able to update VPS
- Fixed issue where web page blocked by the user was displaying never ending loading instead of block page
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.2.6102 Beta (Feb 22, 2024)
- What was fixed:
- Changes related to product name displayed in Windows Security Center
- Boot Time Scan internal changes
- Fixed crashes happening mainly during computer shutdown
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.2.6101 Beta (Feb 15, 2024)
- What was fixed:
- Other products not detected as installed in User Interface.
- FW is installed during program update even on Free versions.
- Stability changes, mostly crashes fixed
- Fixed issue when desktop icons could disappear in some cases
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.2.6100 Beta (Feb 8, 2024)
- What's new:
- Remote Access Shield added to paid Avast ONE edition,
- What was fixed:
- Windows Narrator improvements.
- Internal changes related to Smart Scan.
- Removing an exception works correctly now and changes are applied immediately.
- Errors in event log fixed.
- Fixed issue when Silent Mode from tray icon activated Smart Mode.
- Few crashes fixed.
- Known issues:
- Other products not detected as installed in User Interface.
- FW is installed during program update even on Free versions.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.1.6099 Beta (Feb 2, 2024)
- Fixed issue with unresponsive FW after downgrade/upgrade
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.1.6098 Beta (Feb 1, 2024)
- Fixed issue with smart scan - performance step could fail in case it was run repeatedly.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.1.6097 Beta (Jan 25, 2024)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed crash in antitrack smartscan step.
- Fixed issue where there was a wrong brand in Windows Notification center messages from our AV.
- Fixed issue where update started from tray icon did not open the UI on update screen.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.12.6094 / 24.1.6096 Beta (Jan 18, 2024)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 24.1.6095 Beta (Jan 11, 2024)
- What's new:
- Improved web shield performance.
- New settings for smart scan so you can better schedule your scan run.
- Improved Support tool so it now collects more important product files.
- What was fixed:
- Fixed AvEmUpdate crash.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.12.6094 Beta (Dec 7, 2023)
- Final tuning before public release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.12.6094 Beta (Dec 7, 2023)
- Final tuning before public release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.12.6093 Beta (Dec 1, 2023)
- What was fixed:
- Stabilization changes related to Anti-rootkit, Cyber Capture (Sandbox)
- Improvements related to detections.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.12.6092 Beta (Nov 23, 2023)
- Changes done in uninstallation survey
- Working on stabilization - many crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.12.6091 Beta (Nov 16, 2023)
- What is new:
- SecureDNS - Added support of DOH (DNS over HTTPS)
- What was fixed:
- Sandbox - internal changes and improvements
- Working on stabilization - many crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.11.6090 Beta (Nov 9, 2023)
- Fixed issue with freezed UI after upgrade from Free → Paid
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.11.6089 Beta (Nov 2, 2023)
- Fake estore protection - An AI-based solution that distinguishes between trustworthy and potentially fraudulent online stores. The solution analyzes a wide range of data sources for each e-shop, including the HTML code, the content of e-shop pages (like the main page, contact-us, about-us etc.), network details (such as DNS, IP, and TLS), WhoIs information, and various popularity-based indicators. Our solution examines tens of thousands of newly established online shops daily, identifying those that seem suspicious and then promptly updating our products.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.11.6088 Beta (Oct 26, 2023)
- Fixed issue with sandbox detections.
- Fixed few issues in migration from Instup to Icarus setup and also small improvements to the migration process.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.11.6087 Beta (Oct 19, 2023)
- Fixed issue with high CPU consumption during log in to the OS.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.10.6086 Beta (Oct 12, 2023)
- last small changes before public release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.10.6085 Beta (Oct 5, 2023)
- New version of setup is part of the build
- Improvements related to real time protection (Firewall, WebShield)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.10.6084 Beta (Sep 29, 2023)
- What was fixed:
- Internal changes related to "Strick Mode" in Webcam protection.
- Worked on stabilization - many crashes fixed.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.9.6082 Beta (Sep 15, 2023)
- Some internal fixes and final tuning before public release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.9.6081 Beta (Sep 7, 2023)
- What's new:
- End of support for old type of virus definitions (virus pattern signature) - more info here: https://blog.avast.com/virus-definition-updates-eol
- Webcam shield extended by microphone protection for MS Windows 10 and higher (lower layer of the implementation is done - thus code change in this build too; finishing user interface; will be available in the following two weeks or even sooner) - so basically if there is misuse of the microphone detected, webcam detection dialog is shown (or based on the mode used in its configuration Smart/Strict/Disabled)
- Display number of devices in use for your subscription
- Extended logging for the icarus type of setup (installer)
- Updated cURL and OpenSSL libraries to address some performance improvements and vulnerability fixes used in our Webshield, MailShield and Network Inspector
- What was fixed:
- Kernel crash in sandbox driver
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.9.6080 Beta (Sep 1, 2023)
- Final tunning before public release.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.8.8416 (Aug 22, 2023)
- Improvement New Scan Smart detection capabilities - Smart Scan can now check for outdated drivers and any issues related to your identity online. Go ahead, give it a try now!
- Improvement Enhanced protection for your web browsing - We’ve introduced a new layer of detection with DNS scanning, focused on finding advanced malware in your device.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.8.6078 Beta (Aug 17, 2023)
- What's new:
- Final tunning before public release.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.8.6077 Beta (Aug 10, 2023)
- Internal changes in SecureDNS.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.8.6076 Beta (Aug 3, 2023)
- What's new:
- Improved WebShield performance.
- What is fixed:
- Avast icon is back on consent dialogue in all languages.
- Fixed issue with global exceptions for Secure DNS.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.8.6075 Beta (Jul 28, 2023)
- What is fixed:
- Fixed crash in logger.
- Fixed issue when notification was displayed for finished scan even when the main UI was opened on sceen during the scan finish.
- Known issues:
- Missing Avast icon on consent dialogue in other than EN language.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.7.8348 (Jul 25, 2023)
- NEW DNS traffic scan - We’ve improved our detection scan to monitor your network by filtering out malicious domains and patterns early on.
- Improvement Web Shield performance - Enjoy faster browsing and performance on the websites and streaming sites (e.g., Netflix) while staying protected.
- Improvement Minor bug fixes - We continuously fix bugs to keep your protection going strong.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.7.6074 Beta (Jul 21, 2023)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.7.6072 Beta (Jul 13, 2023)
- What is fixed
- Operating system no longer freezes for some time after every reboot when AVAST is installed
- Internal changes related to AVAST tray
- Some crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.7.6071 Beta (Jun 29, 2023)
- Internal changes related to Firewall and Webcam components
- Shredd files from right-click windows context menu works now correctly
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.7.3291 Beta (Jun 29, 2023)
- Internal changes related to Firewall and Webcam components
- Shredd files from right-click windows context menu works now correctly
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.6.6070 Beta (Jun 22, 2023)
- What is fixed:
- fixed a few unhandled exceptions
- internal/cosmetic/future adjustments and fixes
- Known issues:
- MS Windows security icon in right bottom corner is sometimes not loaded (unconfirmed: bluetooth and wifi icons can be affected)
- Webshield stop causing long system shutdown
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.6.6069 Beta (Jun 15, 2023)
- What is fixed:
- some internal/cosmetic/future adjustments and fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.6.6068 Beta (Jun 9, 2023)
- What is fixed:
- Wrong Avast Safe Price offer displayed over and over again
- Performance issues related to shutdown or restart the computer because of webshield component
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.6.6067 Beta (Jun 2, 2023)
- improved check for correct email address field in support tool (so that there is a better chance our customers will get response and help from us)
- improved functionality blocking programs running under sandbox to take screenshot or video-recording of the desktop
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.5.6066 (May 31, 2023)
- FIX Fixing deadlocks that appeared on some older windows.
- FIX Wi-Fi Inspector causing a long shutdown.
- FIX Crashes in installer.
- FIX Fixed issue with not working installation of Secure browser on W7 and W8.
- FIX We’ve adopted the new OpenSSL 3.1.0 to address additional security fixes.
- Improvement We’ve optimized Web Shield to scan based on DNS parameters to better protect you from wider online threats.
- Improvement You’re now better protected from malware found in OneNote file attachments in phishing emails.
- Improvement Support Tool improved configuration reporting for better analyses of support engineers.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.5.6066 Beta (May 25, 2023)
- Fixed issue with installation on Windows 8.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.5.6065 Beta (May 18, 2023)
- What is new:
- New openSSL 3.1.0 adopted + additional security fixes
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue with not working installation of Secure browser on W7 and W8.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.5.6064 Beta (May 11, 2023)
- support tool now gathers additional diagnostic data related to network, specifically output from these commands (export in xml can be found in the package archive, health folder): netsh wfp show filters, netsh wfp show netevents, netsh wfp show state, netsh wfp show sysports
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.5.6063 Beta (May 4, 2023)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.4.6062 Beta (Apr 27, 2023)
- What was fixed:
- Improved scanning and detection of MSI installers
- Some application crashes fixed
- Known issues:
- You might encounter issue that you are logged out from your subscription. Please let us know in case you are affected by this issue. Thank you
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.4.6060 Beta (Apr 21, 2023)
- Avast tray - some internal changes
- Detection process related improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.4.6059 Beta (Apr 13, 2023)
- What is new:
- Support tool now gathers 3rd party application crash data that are only 7 days old
- Scan and Sandbox improvements - aswengsrv.exe now runs as low integrity process
- Smart Scan - internal optimalization changes
- What was fixed:
- Sensitive Data Shield - files are now protected on "FATx" file system drives
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.3.6057 Beta (Mar 30, 2023)
- What was fixed:
- very rare kernel crash on Windows 8
- [Avast One] general problem with starting User Interface on Windows 7 32bit
- [Avast One] unable to open User Interface - could not create secure context for AvastAvUI on Windows 7 32bit
- Known issues:
- Unable to restore or copy file from quarantine (not for all malware in quarantine, but it happens for some for sure)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.3.6056 Beta (Mar 24, 2023)
- What was fixed:
- empty Bank Mode when Google Chrome is the default browser
- executing pinned apps from taskbar in Bank Mode
- main Antivirus service crash after installation on Windows 11 with SAC (smart app control) enabled
- possible problems in Firewall component initialization
- Known issues:
- Unable to restore or copy file from quarantine (not for all malware in quarantine, but it happens for some for sure)
- Problem with starting User Interface on Windows 7 32bit under specific circumstances
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.3.6055 Beta (Mar 16, 2023)
- What is new:
- There is a new CEF version used in AV UI, please report any issue with the UI stability.
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue where Support Tool package was not created in correct folder.
- Shred the remains of already deleted files now works also for older FAT file systems.
- Fixed issue with excessive HDD usage after PC boot, special thanks to users Nunzio77 and _Mamide_ for reporting the issue and providing the support packages. Without your help we would not be able to fix this problem. Please check with this new version and let us know if it was resolved for you. Thank you very much.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.3.6054 Beta (Mar 9, 2023)
- What is new:
- New Chromium Embedded Framework version 109
- Warning and more information when creating exceptions (as those can significantly decrease the level of protection)
- Known issues
- Support Tool package is not created in correct folder
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.2.6053 (Mar 7, 2023)
- Improvement:
- Bank Mode - Be more secure while banking online with Bank Mode. It stops programs, like keyloggers, from stealing your personal info (e.g., bank login, passwords, and card details).
- Redesign:
- Immediate detection in Network Inspector – Get notified right away of any network security issue, especially if you're connected to a suspicious Wi-Fi network. The notifications have a new look as well.
- Improvement: Faster File Shield - We’ve improved the speed of File Shield by using Kernel EAs, so it can scan files and programs faster for any malicious threats.
- Bug fixes:
- Fixed incompatibility with DxO PhotoLab and other software
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.2.6053 Beta (Mar 2, 2023)
- Fixed issue where disabled shields message in UI had yellow instead of red color.
- Fixed the incompatibility with product DxO PhotoLab and also other possible performance problems caused by the same bug in the AV.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.2.6052 Beta (Feb 23, 2023)
- Fixed issue where new network toaster was displayed also for already known networks.
- Fixed issue with missing email signature (checked by Avast/AVG) when the email was sent via web email provider.
- Fixed crash in IDP.
- Fixed issue with the bank mode offer toaster not working when the banking page was visited in Firefox.
- Fixed the incompatibility with product DxO PhotoLab.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.2.6051 Beta (Feb 16, 2023)
- Fixed issue with cleanup related parts of Smart scan.
- Fixed AV service crash.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.2.6050 Beta (Feb 9, 2023)
- Bank mode - extending this feature for premium customers. It promotes and offer switch to Bank Mode secure desktop when you are at logging into your bank. Let us know if your bank is not on the list to help improve the feature. Currently, we support Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Avast Secure Browser.
- New HNS toaster - if the automatic turbo scan of network finds issue it's immediately reported in the private/public network dialog.
- Smart Scan - redesigned the smart scan offers.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.1.6049 (Feb 7, 2023)
- There is no major feature that we could announce in this build. Sorry.
- Bug fixes - fixes to optimize your protection and increase the performance.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.1.6049 Beta (Feb 2, 2023)
- What was fixed: Final tunning before public release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.1.6048 Beta (Jan 26, 2023)
- Few crashes fixed
- Internal fixes related to Behavior Shield
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.1.6047 Beta (Jan 19, 2023)
- Sensitive Data Shield - we now evaluate also parent processes
- Support tool - all necessary registry keys are now collected
New in Avast Free Antivirus 23.1.6045 Beta (Jan 16, 2023)
- Support tool now collects extended data (.dmp, .xml, .wer files) related to application crashes so that we can help more our customers resolve specific issues. In this regard we would like to ask you whether you can (just for testing purposes) run the tool from program files folder (usually "c:Program FilesAvast SoftwareAvastSupportTool.exe"), follow the wizard with default options, let it finish and let us know the ID of the package you sent us so that we can check especially how much is the data increase of the whole package. Thank you for your cooperation.
- Setup: setup now uses different download methods to increase success ratio of installation
- Real Site: thanks to the better load balancing we improved performance and reliability of our DNS service
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.12.6044 Beta (Dec 1, 2022)
- Another portion of a few bugfixes.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.12.6043 Beta (Nov 24, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- Few little bugfixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.12.6042 Beta (Nov 21, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- Few application crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.11.6041 Beta (Nov 10, 2022)
- Fixed crash in IDP.
- Updated version of OpenSSL in our product to the latest version with security patches.
- Fixed issue where the user choice made in FW ask dialogue was not saved properly.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.11.6040 Beta (Nov 4, 2022)
- Fixed crash in IDP.
- Fixed crash in AshCmd tool.
- Improvements in secure DNS to lower the backend server load
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.11.6039 Beta (Nov 1, 2022)
- Fixed issue when UI with scan results was displayed in the foreground even when other full screen app was running.
- Fixed crash when the AV tried to load damaged license file.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.10.6038 Beta (Oct 13, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- Additional changes related to SSL and Email Shield
- Avast UI process blocked by Windows Firewall
- RDP connection does not work on Windows 7 x64 when Remote Access Shield is enabled
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.10.6037 Beta (Oct 6, 2022)
- What is new:
- Webshield detection dialog can be displayed directly in browser
- enabled for 50% of beta users
- supported for Firefox and Chrome
- What was fixed:
- Email Shield internal changes
- Known issues:
- Email Shield could block emails on Windows 11
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.10.6036 Beta (Sep 29, 2022)
- What is new:
- New step in Smart Scan - System Health Check
- It is limited to Windows 10+
- Only EN language is supported now
- What was fixed:
- Deadlock caused by Behavioral Shield
- Crash of network driver after the installation
- A possible privilege escalation vulnerability
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.10.6035 Beta (Sep 23, 2022)
- Fixed an issue where the tray tooltip would render at incorrect position, not render at all, or stay on top of desktop and never disappear
- Internal changes related to Web Shield and Sensitive Data Shield
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.9.6035 (Sep 20, 2022)
- Bank Mode in UI Protect your banking details and login information whenever you’re online banking on Avast Secure Browser.
- Email Guardian Google Login Just log in with your Google Account. It’s that easy!
- Self Defense detection dialog improvement We’ve redesigned the communication to create a smoother experience.
- Firewall ask dialog Improved firewall ask dialogs
- Bug fixes Minor fixes to optimize your protection.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.9.6034 Beta (Sep 15, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- one more issue related to TLS not working after openssl update
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.9.6033 Beta (Sep 8, 2022)
- Mail Shield connection problems - additional fix (again to be verified in this Beta), do not hesitate to confirm if any Mail Shield related issue still perists
- Avoid extra data download by Emergency Update component (full/diff update package)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.9.6032 Beta (Sep 1, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- Boot Time Scan - progress added when User Interface is loading
- Email Guardian now uses Gmail API
- Mail Shield connection problems fixed (to be verified in this Beta), do not hesitate to confirm if any Mail Shield related issue still perists
- Protected sensitive files cannot be opened by another user
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.9.6031 Beta (Aug 25, 2022)
- What is new:
- Command-line utility to start Shredder (shred.exe; needs to be executed as elevated administrator)
- Redesigned Ask dialog in the Firewall component. Now you can choose from three different validity options:
- Forever - your choice will be valid forever
- Once - your choice will be valid as long as the process is running
- Temporary - your choice will be valid until you restart the computer or change the network
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.8.6030 Beta (Aug 22, 2022)
- Fixed incompatibility with Easy Anti-Cheat which could cause BSOD.
- Fixed potential performance slowdown during rescanning very frequently changing files in SDS.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.8.6029 Beta (Aug 18, 2022)
- Fixed issue with product activation
- Sensitive Data Shield - more monitored file extensions added
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.8.6028 Beta (Aug 11, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- WebCam shield issues related to deactivated Frame Server solved. This covers also inability to use "Windows Hello face" with active WebCam shield.
- Fixed issue with repeatedly showing untrusted certificate error in Thunderbird.
- Fixed crash in AV service.
- Fixed crash in Tool service.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.8.6027 Beta (Aug 4, 2022)
- Fixed BSOD in antirootkit.
- Fixed an issue with missing update settings in product.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.8.6026 Beta (Jul 29, 2022)
- Fixed BSOD caused by incompatibility with McAfee True Key.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.7.6025 (Jul 27, 2022)
- Major public announcement:
- Windows Recovery Environment Scan Boot Time Scan now runs inside the Windows RE, on the Avast interface! Now it's easier to take action and see what the scan finds without having to reboot again.
- Check out our new UI Store We've created a store within the interface to help with easier access to other Avast applications
- Other notable improvements in the release:
- Fixed an issue where Ransomware shield would not look after protected files properly
- TLS 1.3 enabled in Mailshield
- Other important issues and bugs squashed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.7.6025 Beta (Jul 21, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- Few fixes to stabilize the build before release to public
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.7.6024 Beta (Jul 14, 2022)
- New Boot Time Scan:
- We added support for Boot Time Scan in Windows Recovery Environment
- In case you are not able to schedule the scan (sometimes infinite scheduling occurs) it is necessary to do another computer restart
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.7.6023 Beta (Jun 30, 2022)
- What is new:
- Support for automatic account creation during migration from Core products to Avast One
- What was fixed:
- Webcam shield now works also with an integrated camera (W10+)
- Fixed deadlock between setup and licensing during edition change
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.6.6022 (Jun 29, 2022)
- Major public announcement:
- Web Shield Websocket protocol scanning Scanning for web threats just got better! Feel safer while browsing the web anytime, as we've addded Websocket protocol scanning to webshield
- Mailshield writing too much to disk We've fixed an issue where mailshield would start writing too much data to the disk
- Other notable improvements in the release:
- Fixed an issue where VirtualBox would clash with our AV
- A big thanks to ccm582 for reporting an issue with Hide Folders 5, Lubos for identifying the underlying problem and to Petr, our release boss, for coming through with resolving the issue and making sure Hide Folders 5 are aware of it, awesome stuff!
- Other important issues and bugs squashed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.6.6020 Beta (Jun 23, 2022)
- blocking sites using h3 (quic) protocol leads to Avast main service crash
- shorter period in abanonded DNS resolvers (Real Site component)
- removing of all Avast system certificates after uninstallation
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.6.6019 Beta (Jun 17, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- Clearing old log files → this should save some space on the disk
- Crashing of the main service caused by imperfect detection of Hyper-V
- Known issues:
- Site blocking page will not be displayed on MS Windows 10 and higher (site itself is blocked)
- Blocking sites using h3 (quic) protocol leads to Avast main service crash
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.6.6018 Beta (Jun 16, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- clearing old log files → this should save some space on the disk
- Known issues:
- site blocking page will not be displayed on MS Windows 10 and higher (site itself is blocked)
- blocking sites using h3 (quic) protocol leads to Avast main service crash
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.6.6017 Beta (Jun 9, 2022)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed deadlock where licensing and setup were waiting for each other
- Other internal fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.6.6016 Beta (Jun 2, 2022)
- What is new:
- Improved driver blocking in ELAM driver (Early Launch AntiMalware)
- Better low level support for W11 22621
- What was fixed:
- Fixed conflict with VirtualBox 6.1.32+
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.5.6015 (Jun 1, 2022)
- Major public announcement:
- [Premium]Email Guardian Email Protection across all your devices, ensured by Avast's Email Guardian. Right now, it's compatible with all Office365 type accounts (outlook.com, hotmail.com, msn.com, etc.) as well as any IMAP enabled Email Service.
- [Geek Area]HW Acceleration We‘ve activated a new Hardware Acceleration Feature in the geek:area and inviting advanced users to play around with it. Feel free to share any feedback with us about it, we'd really appreciate it.
- Other notable improvements in the release:
- Fixed an issue with email shield detections
- Fixed an issue with booting Windows 10 (1607) where it wouldn't boot after AV installation
- Instup crash was fixed
- Other important issues and bugs squashed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.5.6015 Beta (May 26, 2022)
- Fixed crash in WebShield.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.5.6014 Beta (May 23, 2022)
- What's new:
- Email Guardian can now be enabled with an IMAP Account.
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue where the AV was sending too many requests on our backends.
- Fixed issue where it was not possible to boot the OS after AV installation (very old Windows 10 1607 version).
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.5.6013 Beta (May 12, 2022)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.5.6012 Beta (May 5, 2022)
- What's new:
- We added a new option to enable hardware acceleration for AV UI. You can find it in geek:area.
- What was fixed:
- Fixed multiple detection dialogue for email shield when there is more than two detections at once.
- Fixed crash in AV service.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.4.6011 Beta (Apr 28, 2022)
- What's fixed:
- Data Shredder now works even after edition change
- Final tuning before release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.4.6010 Beta (Apr 22, 2022)
- Rescue Disk can be created on USB larger than 32GB
- Possible crash during Smart Scan fixed
- Network Inspector now works also in passive mode
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.4.6009 Beta (Apr 7, 2022)
- Few crashes fixed
- CyberCapture dialog with detection is correctly displayed
- Scan result is shown once Sensitive Data Shield scan is finished
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.3.6008 (Apr 5, 2022)
- Major public announcement:
- [Premium]Improved Silent Mode You now have the option to show details about detection dialogs while Silent Mode is on. Silent mode can turn off all pop-ups, alerts, and messages, but this time, you can allow detection dialogs to inform you of any vulnerabilities.
- New Support page Get all the help you need in one place. You now have easier access to all the FAQs, How-to guides, and more.
- Other notable improvements in the release:
- Do Not Disturb had some issues with smart scan, we fixed them
- Shredder issues were fixed
- Other important issues and bugs squashed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.3.6008 Beta (Mar 31, 2022)
- some of the languages available in the setup - language selection were doubled
- problems with shredding whole usb drive under specific circumstances of its execution
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.3.6007 Beta (Mar 24, 2022)
- some of the email attachments (PE files like exe or dll) are not scanned by Mail Shield (however you are still protected by File Shield when saving or opening those files)
- some other smaller internal fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.3.6006 Beta (Mar 20, 2022)
- What's fixed:
- exception in one of our internal dll which should not have visible functional impact but generates dumps
- Do not Distrub mode does not work for existing as well as new applications using full-screen mode
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.3.6005 Beta (Mar 17, 2022)
- What's fixed:
- few internal bugfixes related to scans, firewall and data reporting (nothing to be specifically mentioned or affected, just letting you know components that we touched somehow)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.3.6004 Beta (Mar 10, 2022)
- What's new:
- Improved messaging in UI in case when one of our services is not running (option to start the service/restart the PC/reinstall the AV is offered).
- What's fixed:
- Fixed issue where it was possible to resize FW Rule List window to unusable size.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.2.6003 (Mar 8, 2022)
- Major public announcement:
- Firewall Rules In Firewall you can once again create application rules manually without waiting for apps to connect to the internet
- Wi-Fi Inspector is now called Network Inspector To align the feature name with our other security apps, we've renamed Wi-Fi Inspector to Network Inspector. This change is also to remind you that it can scan both wired and wireless networks
- New look of the UI We've updated our design to give you friendlier, more rounded corners
- Other notable improvements in the release:
- Sandbox UI now includes app list
- Fixed some issues where the UI would not be displayed properly under some resolution settings
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.2.6003 Beta (Mar 3, 2022)
- Fixed crash in aswToolSvc
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.2.6002 Beta (Feb 25, 2022)
- What's new:
- Antirootkit detection improvements
- What's fixed:
- Fixed two crashes in aswToolSvc
- Fixed issue with not working Rescue Disk on UEFI systems
- Fixed issue with FW and Scan settings resetting to default after update
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.2.6001 Beta (Feb 17, 2022)
- Fixed crash in SmartScan
- Fixed crash in aswToolSvc initialization
- Fixed crash in Secure DNS
- Fixed issue with multiple FW dialogs shown for the same *.exe file
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.2.2505 Beta (Feb 11, 2022)
- What's new:
- You can now easily add rules for new applications in Firewall.
- We’ve updated our Windows 11 UI to look more modern, with rounded corners.
- What's fixed:
- Our setup UI had some items that weren’t accessible on low-resolution, high-DPI settings (e.g., 1280x800, 200 DPI). These are now accessible.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.01.2503 Beta (Jan 27, 2022)
- Avast One installation cannot be now cancelled by pressing ESC
- Avast One installation is stopped on W7 without KB3033929
- Avast One error messages during installation improved
- Some crashes fixed
- BSOD in anti-rootkit driver fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.01.2502 Beta (Jan 20, 2022)
- What's new:
- Do Not Disturb Mode in Avast One edition
- What's fixed:
- Password protection of User Interface is working again
- Fixed BSOD caused by antirootkit driver
- Few crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 22.01.2501 Beta (Jan 13, 2022)
- What's new:
- Firewall tabs have been reordered for better access to what's important
- Boot time scan results are now being displayed
- What's fixed:
- Fixed a driver conflict with Quectel software
- Rescue disk cannot be created on bigger usb flash drivers with exFAT filesystems
- Rescue disk does not have installed extended virus definitions during its creation
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.11.2500 Beta (Dec 9, 2021)
- Deadlock in importing settings from file
- Conflict between two internal security components making MS Internet Explorer unable to run
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.11.2499 Beta (Dec 2, 2021)
- Few tweaks related to Avast One
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.10.2498 (Dec 1, 2021)
- Major public announcement:
- Firewall We're fully launching our new firewall to the entire userbase
- DoH SecureDNS will now get DoH capabilities, improving privacy
- Other notable improvements in the release:
- Fixed the BSOD issue on x86 Windows 7 installations
- Resolved issues with high contrast themes in Windows not displaying the UI properly
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.10.2498 Beta (Nov 26, 2021)
- What's fixed:
- a few application crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.10.2497 Beta (Nov 18, 2021)
- What's fixed:
- BSOD caused by Self-Protection module (mentioned as fixed in the previous BETA by mistake, my apologies)
- problem with script shield not detecting specific samples
- a few application crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.10.2496 Beta (Nov 11, 2021)
- What's new:
- Enhanced removal component (improved scheduled task tracking and added path air cover)
- What's fixed:
- Fixed conflict with LiveGuard anti-cheat protection
- BSOD caused by Self-Protection module
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.10.2495 Beta (Nov 8, 2021)
- Better way to install missing components (directly from the UI)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.9.2494 Beta (Nov 2, 2021)
- Fixed an issue with missing translation during installation
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.9.2493 (Oct 27, 2021)
- Major public announcement:
- Stronger Web Shield You're now better protected from malicious websites thanks to our scanning improvements.
- Better Windows 11 compatibility You're protected on the newest version of Windows, too.
- Improved Passive Mode When you turn on Passive Mode, our tray icon now changes colors to show this. And now even Webcam Shield and Password Protection features will also be disabled.
- Other notable improvements in the release:
- Apps with similar protocol to HTTP no longer have conflicts with WebShield
- Remote Access Shield dialogue memory issue resolved
- Uninstall Survey - we've added an improved flow for the uninstall survey which will be enabled with this new release
- Firewall improvements - only visible to a small number of users, nevertheless, we've added some improvements, including better notifications
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.9.2493 Beta (Oct 21, 2021)
- Fixed BSOD in IDP
- Fixed crash in Web Shield
- Fixed issue where it was not possible to open UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.9.2492 Beta (Oct 14, 2021)
- Fixed crash in installation.
- Passwords - Unlocking vault from extension fixed - master password ask dialogue is displayed again.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.9.2491 Beta (Oct 8, 2021)
- What's new:
- We have activated the antitrack feature to further test it. There are some risks regarding certain functionalities in web apps and other sites, so please, bear with us. Any feedback is of course more than welcome, so do not hesitate! Thank you.
- What was fixed:
- Fixed crash in WebShield
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.9.2490 Beta (Oct 5, 2021)
- We have a new dashboard status to inform users if Firewall was set to Untrusted network profile so it's obvious at first glance that AV might be blocking connections from other computers, printers, and devices.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.9.2489 Beta (Sep 30, 2021)
- Fixed crash in WebShield
- Fixed UI crash in Software Updater
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.9.2488 Beta (Sep 24, 2021)
- Improved QUIC protocol support in WebShield (added support for IETF version and HTTP/3 protocol).
- In case you are in Passive mode there will be gray AV tray icon.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.8.2488 Beta (Sep 23, 2021)
- Improved QUIC protocol support in WebShield (added support for IETF version and HTTP/3 protocol).
- In case you are in Passive mode there will be gray AV tray icon.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.8.2487 (Sep 16, 2021)
- Major public announcement:
- A new logo for Avast! — As the digital world changes, we change with it. We’re proud to unveil a new expression of our identity, reflecting our continued commitment to protecting people’s digital freedom
- Other notable improvements in the release:
- Sign in more securely — We're now using OpenID, a more secure sign-in standard, to sign you in to your Avast Account
- Improved exceptions — It's now possible to add exceptions solely for Behavior Shield
- Fixed a tray icon bug — Our system tray icon now shows the proper status of shields after a PC restart
- Password Protection update - we're now protecting newly created backup files of passwords stored in the browser
- Firewall tweaks - We're now blocking switching to public profile when RDP is used
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.8.2487 Beta (Sep 15, 2021)
- Further bug fixes performed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.8.2484 Beta (Sep 9, 2021)
- What's new:
- OpenID technology - Modern standard, more secure way to login to Avast account via web browser.
- What was fixed:
- BSOD caused by Behavior shield driver
- Error messages are correctly displayed on tray icon
- Known issues:
- New language cannot be installed from Settings
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.8.2483 Beta (Sep 2, 2021)
- Incorrect Firewall settings for VPN fixed
- Purchase of paid product is not offered after login to paid account anymore
- Core service maintenance
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.8.2482 Beta (Aug 30, 2021)
- What's new:
- New language switch in settings
- UI internal changes - preparation for future releases
- Pirate talk language removed from product
- TLS certificate compression support for browsers
- Firewall: Public profile cannot be set when you are connected via RDP
- What was fixed:
- CyberCapture detection fixes
- Fixed memory leak in self-protection driver
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.7.2481 (Aug 25, 2021)
- Public announcements:
- Big changes to Firewall! — We've redesigned our Firewall, improved its protection, and made it free for everyone to use. If you've got Avast Free Antivirus, you'll find your new Firewall in your Protection menu. It's already turned on and protecting you. If you've got Avast Premium Security, we've upgraded you to "Premium Firewall" to also prevent your computer from leaking sensitive info to the network and warn you if a malicious device tries to intercept your data or scan your computer via open ports.
- Unresolved threat reminders — We'll now remind you about any unresolved threats found by scan you may not have seen before your computer was last shut down
- Silent Mode fix — We've fixed a bug that prevented you from turning off Silent Mode if Do Not Disturb Mode was on
- Some more clarification about the new Firewall. Only a smaller portion of users will actually get it enabled in 21.7 release as we still want to observe it and test it a bit more before major fullscale on all userbase (of course, only those users who will actually get it are informed about it through our product on their device). You can expect the full-scale to happen in 5-8 weeks. When it comes to upcoming beta releases, all of those will already have it enabled in full.
- Bug fixes and improvements for:
- Fixed an issue where ASB couldn't connect to the internet when installed along with Opera
- Fixed cases where detection dialogs were not shown for detections when apps were full-screen
- We've updated our UI renderer CEF to the latest version (ver. 4472) and plugged some security holes along the way
- Fixed an unpleasant behavior where some code components were invoked twice after the in-app cart was closed
- Fixed cases where licenses were not properly delivered with sole internet proxy
- Fixed an issue where the restart dialog was not shown when Do Not Disturb Mode was active
- Fixed an issue where clear utility did not start properly for systems that lacked SSE3 support
- Added proper context for users stuck on version 21.2 due to outdated OS and provided instructions how to update from Win7
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.7.2480 Beta (Aug 23, 2021)
- Here we have some last-minute changes related to Avast One
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.7.2479 Beta (Aug 19, 2021)
- What is new:
- code changes related to Anti Rootkit driver in terms of the MyKings malware
- What is fixed:
- few internal and future projects fixes
- detection dialogs may not be displayed when full screen application is running
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.7.2478 Beta (Aug 16, 2021)
- There are code changes related to the future projects.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.7.2477 Beta (Aug 12, 2021)
- Detection dialogs may not be displayed when full screen application is running
- Ignored apps in Software Updater component are back after reboot
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.7.2476 Beta (Aug 5, 2021)
- What's new:
- Added simple dual-panel file manager to Rescue Disk
- What was fixed:
- Possible problems with loading User Interface
- Missing data about Avast product in Support Tool package
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.6.2474 (Jul 29, 2021)
- Public announcements:
- Useful Smart Scan notifications — We’ve fine-tuned the behavior of Smart Scan with improved initialization steps, and ensured that you receive proper notifications about scheduled scans.
- Better feature shortcuts — We’ve changed the main tile navigation so Avast Antivirus features are easier to distinguish from shortcuts to other Avast products.
- Bug fixes and improvements for:
- The latest renderer version stopped supporting CPUs with SSE2, so we needed to add an install block and freeze users using this older pieces of HW on 21.4 version
- Fixed cases of infinite loader when turning off some of core shield via Settings
- Fixed support tool (collection logs and info for customer support and debugging) that was not properly grabbing AV status and subscription status in Rescue Disk, plus it now reports WSC status
- FYI: Virus Chest has been renamed to Quarantine
- Fixed removal of scheduled tasks
- Fixed a case when some of antivirus windows opened in the background (behind other full-screen app) even if this was not desired while interacting with it
- ...and a lot of security improvements we can't be more concrete about
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.6.2474 Beta (Jul 27, 2021)
- Fixed issue that after update from 21.5 to 21.6 FW blocked connections to network shares, network printers etc. in public profile
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.6.2473 Beta (Jul 23, 2021)
- Fixed IDP agent crash
- Fixed issue that device detected due to port scanning or arp spoofing was not blocked when user choose to block it
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.6.2472 Beta (Jul 15, 2021)
- What was fixed:
- Firewall rules can be deleted even when they are "locked" in the UI
- Firewall blocks SMB shares, printers, networks shares and network drivers after additional installation into the Free AV
- Firewall might block SMB shares, printers, networks shares and network drivers after additional installation into the Free AV
- UI might crash when there is a request for showing a dialogue immediately after Log in into the OS
- There is a glitch in UI when you try to disable all core shield via advanced settings
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.6.2471 Beta (Jul 12, 2021)
- What's new:
- We're very excited to announce that Firewall will soon become a free feature in Avast Antivirus. It's very satisfying for us to realize all the network knowledge and expertise that was put into building our proprietary firewall will be materialized in a feature available to so many users around the world — strengthening our mission to provide amazing protection against cyber threats worldwide. Of course, the release of such a critical feature won't happen instantly for the user base as a whole. It will take us a few weeks to continuously roll it out for everyone. For now, all of our dedicated beta users will have a chance to enable it by themselves. You can do so from the post update screen (that will be shown once you get an 21.6 update) or through settings (Menu -> Settings -> Firewall). Free firewall will feature:
- Brand new UI (compared to our current one)
- Automatic profile selection (with the option for the user to override it, of course)
- Application overview / control (overview of apps that actively use network/internet plus their current network usage)
- Revamped ask mode (ability to enable/disable specific connections originating from the app)
- Status log (you will clearly see every app and device that was blocked by our Firewall, as well as why it was blocked)
- Customizable rules for "hardcore users". We will keep an advanced, premium firewall tier as well, which will have extra protection layers of: ARP spoofing detection, Port Scan Detection and Leak Protection for public networks.
- There are some known issues with this first public version:
- FW is running even when you enable Passive mode
- FW is installed when you're upgrading from Free to Premium even when you uninstalled it manually from the Free product previously
- FW rules can be deleted even when they are "locked" in the UI (it's just an UI glitch, the core rules won't actually be deleted)
- FW blocks SMB shares, printers, networks shares and network drivers after additional installation into the Free AV — the current workaround is to change the network configuration to private/disable FW
- FW might block some outgoing windows traffic
- SmartScan sometimes incorrectly reports the Firewall's state.
- Other news:
- Avast now sports a refreshed new menu that will ease the differentiation between AV features and other products
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue with consent dialogue displayed in the wrong user session in case there is more users working on the same PC via RDP
- Known issues:
- UI might crash when there is a request for showing a dialogue immediately after Log in into the OS
- There is a glitch in UI when you try to disable all core shield via advanced settings
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.5.2470 (Jun 16, 2021)
- Major public announcements:
- Fewer interruptions in fullscreen — When you’re running another app fullscreen, our antivirus will no longer open on top and interrupt you. We apologize if this happened to you! (And don’t worry, threat warnings will still appear, so you’ll always know about malware even while watching your favorite film)
- Introducing Webcam Shield reminders — If you’ve configured Webcam Shield to automatically block or allow apps, we’ll now remind you of this when an app tries to access your webcam so you don’t sit around wondering why your webcam isn’t working. (For Premium Security only)
- Updated privacy policies — We’ve updated our General Privacy Policy and other connected privacy policies. You can find them here
- Bug fixes for:
- Software Updater is giving us a headache these days - We had to temporarily remove this feature from Smart Scan to patch a few bugs, but users can still find and use it from their menu. We’ll be slowly rolling it back out to Smart Scan, so if you don’t see it there yet, please wait a few more days
- We’ve updated our UI rendered CEF to a new version (chromium 90.0.4430.93) to patch known security flaws
- Fixed issue with creating Rescue Disk for UEFI format (next to BIOS)
- Other Rescue Disk improvements: fixed a bug that prevented Rescue Disk from starting, improved keyboard controls, etc.
- Fixed a tray icon error that showed an issue notification despite everything being OK
- Fixed a Firewall issue where driver aswNetHub.sys caused a BSOD
- Fixed a leak of GDI objects
- Fixed the AvastClear utility, which didn’t properly remove the antivirus from Windows Security Centre
- ...and a lot of other improvements we can’t disclose
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.5.2469 Beta (Jun 10, 2021)
- Crashes in service fixed
- Changes related to Smart Scan
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.5.2467 Beta (Jun 3, 2021)
- Rescue disk is now working properly
- Few crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.5.2465 Beta (May 28, 2021)
- What is new:
- Webcam Shield now notifies you about apps using your webcam (in both Strict Mode and No Mercy Mode)
- Internal changes related to User Interface (new version of Chromium Embedded Framework)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.4.2464 (May 20, 2021)
- Major public announcements:
- Improved Wi-Fi Inspector — We now scan for even more types of threats, and our improved results screen allows you to better understand what we’ve found thanks to clearer explanations, better organization, and improved tips for resolving detected problems
- No more popups in streams — Good news, Windows 10 users! Our antivirus popups will no longer appear in your screen recordings and streams
- Enhanced exceptions — Exceptions for scans and shields are now easier to add, customize, and maintain
- More installation options — You now have more installation options when activating subscriptions that contain multiple apps
- Other notable improvements and new functionalities:
- Family Sharing — Premium Security (Multi-device) users can now share their subscriptions with their family members. Subscriptions can be shared across Windows and Android devices (Mac and iOS to come later)
- We now recognize available (but not activated) products — We’ll no longer show offers for apps that users bought but haven’t yet installed
- We’ve added Detection IDs to Behavior Shield dialogs — Other shields have already had this, but now Behavior Shield also gets a unique ID so our Support and Thread Labs teams can better identify reported threats from screenshots that customers send us
- Added Sandbox and backend analysis parallelization to CyberCapture to minimize interruptions to our users while they interact with suspicious apps
- We’re now applying formatting (time, calendar, etc.) of Windows regional settings in our UI
- Bug fixes for:
- Web content opened in the app-cart instead of browser
- Rescue Disks that booted in Windows Preinstall Environment triggered a restart [Win7]
- Sensitive Data Shield was not active after leaving Passive Mode through Settings
- The last file from the multi-selection was omitted
- Manually invoked Passive Mode did not require restart, caused some components (like CyberCapture) to misbehave
- Web Shield samples were not detected after the URL was removed from the exceptions
- ...and many others
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.4.2464 Beta (May 18, 2021)
- What was fixed:
- clean malware transient cache items on reconfiguration (flushing scan-cache more often)
- important fix in setup related to japanese strings
- fix in setup related to business crash in service
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.4.2463 Beta (May 13, 2021)
- What was fixed:
- Fix for Autocad PDF export problem
- Problems with unregistering Antivirus from the Windows Security Center during uninstallation
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.4.2462 Beta (May 6, 2021)
- What's new:
- Improved dialog for inserting licenses. Multiple not installed products can now be installed via this dialog by checking the check-boxes.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.4.2461 Beta (May 1, 2021)
- Advanced exception. You can create file/folder exception for shield, scan, etc.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.4.2460 Beta (Apr 22, 2021)
- What's new:
- added wi-fi support in rescue disc so that you can update virus database before scan (works only if you created rescue disc on the same machine it will run on and if the wifi is in default auto-connect mode with stored password)
- UI runs on new CEF version 3.4324.150 (M88)
- Passive mode changes (old dialogs moved to CEF based UI, bug fixing, etc)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.3.2459 (Apr 16, 2021)
- Major public announcements:
- Better scan performance — We’ve made a lot of small performance improvements to various security components (running on background)
- Improved Rescue Disk — We’ve added a portable web browser to our Rescue Disk so you can search the web even when Windows isn’t working
- Fewer distractions — We no longer show pop-up messages when your antivirus is open
- Passive Mode fix — We’ve fixed a bug that would sometimes disable Passive Mode soon after it was turned on
- Bug-fix and improvement highlights for hardcore fans:
- Because of an expiring MS certificate for signing drivers, we had to block updates and installations of users with outdated/unpatched versions of Win7 (up to KB3033929). Unless they update their OS, they will stay on 21.2 version.
- Implemented Countdown (auto-close) of Cyber Capture dialogs
- Additional Rescue Disk improvements (postponing toolkit installation until MSI installation finishes, adding retries to downloading RCD files, etc.)
- Fixed cases when both our Firewall and Windows firewall were running simultaneously
- Fixed issue where the restart dialog didn’t appear in Silent Mode
- Fixed issues where our uninstall survey was not displayed
- Fixed issue when the UI didn’t show the correct state of IDP (Behavioral Shield) features
- Some of those scan optimizations mentioned in our public release notes include: Startup, registry callbacks, behavioral events, on-exec DLLs scanning, identified opportunities to skip some scans, etc.)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.3.2459 Beta (Apr 13, 2021)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed few glitches in setup UI (button height, element positioning, ...)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.3.2458 Beta (Apr 9, 2021)
- What's new:
- We’ve made a lot of small performance improvements to our security scans
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue with passive mode disabling itself after 5 minutes in case it was enabled manually
- We no longer show pop-up messages when your antivirus is open
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.3.2457 Beta (Apr 1, 2021)
- Fixed possible BSOD when we detected some suspicious network connection.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.2.2455 (Mar 22, 2021)
- Major public announcements:
- Introducing Hack Alerts — From now on, we’ll warn you if any passwords linked to your email address were compromised in a hack or a leak. (Just sign in to Avast Account within antivirus)
- New performance report tool — If you encounter any performance issues on your PC and you suspect we're the culprit, you can now send us a report so we can investigate the issue (Just go to Settings > Troubleshooting > Record a performance problem)
- Bug-fix and improvement highlights for hardcore fans:
- AV DNS finally no longer conflicts with our VPN solution
- Fixed product toasters that stole window’s focus
- Arranged for the proper order of dialogs in various alert-dialog flows (for reporting false positives, when the main UI is open, etc.)
- Fixed an issue where Passwords Protection (a Premium feature) was turned off for some users
- Fixed some rare cases where user settings weren’t stored properly during product updates
- Fixed rare problems with WebShield and HTTP/2 HPACK compression
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.2.2455 Beta (Mar 20, 2021)
- What was fixed:
- final tuning before release to public (some minor setup changes)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.2.2454 Beta (Mar 11, 2021)
- What was fixed
- Rescue disk sometimes fail to create ISO or bootable USB
- Possible crash during the Smart Scan
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.2.2453 Beta (Mar 6, 2021)
- Missing animation/progress during repair & modify installation setup mode
- Fixed crash in performance part of smart scan
- Internal changes in Chrome / Secure browser offering during setup
- Uninstall survey is correctly displayed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.2.2452 Beta (Mar 5, 2021)
- Missing animation/progress during repair & modify installation setup mode
- Fixed crash in performance part of smart scan
- Internal changes in Chrome / Secure browser offering during setup
- Uninstall survey is correctly displayed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.2.2451 Beta (Feb 25, 2021)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed BSOD caused by aswMonFlt driver
- Post update screen is not sometimes displayed
- RealSite component does not override DNS when SecureLine VPN is connected
- No temporary files are created in original location when some malware is detected and removed
- Known issues:
- Rescue disk sometimes fail to create ISO or bootable USB
- Missing animation/progress during repair & modify installation setup mode
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.2.2450 Beta (Feb 22, 2021)
- What's new:
- Windows 10 only: Performance recording tool - used to record/report performance problems for our team to look at. You can find it in Settings → Troubleshooting
- Performance improvements in file-system filtering
- Rescue disk: when virus chest folder is present on any drive it's possible to quarantine infected files detected by RD Antivirus and restore them later via Chest interface in AvastUI
- Licensing support in Avast One for Driver Updater
- Fixed:
- Scan setting is reset after computer reboot
- Detection dialogues are opened on background when UI is opened during detection
- Known issues:
- Rescue disk sometimes fail to create ISO or bootable USB due to problem with downloading needed data due to memory leak in streamfilter component
- Post update screen is not sometimes displayed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.1.2449 (Feb 11, 2021)
- This time we put a lot of care into our detections and alerts:
- More informative threat alerts — If you get an alert, click ‘See details’ to see what type of threat it is (e.g., adware, ransomware, scam, etc.) and a brief description
- Tidier threat alerts — If you ever run into multiple threats at once, you'll no longer be bombarded with one alert after another. Instead, we've combined these into a single alert according to the shield that detected them
- New detection category — You can now choose to detect or ignore ‘Tools’ like coinminers, game cheats, and key generators as a separate category in your virus scans and core shields
- Alert ID — Every threat alert now includes a unique ID in the bottom-left corner. If you ever share a screenshot with our support team, this ID will help them to identify your problem
- Improved PUP detections— We're now even better at identifying PUPs (potentially unwanted programs that often come bundled with other apps), so we've enabled PUP detection by default. (This will be rolled out continuously and not everyone will have it on straight away - so if you want to be in control yourself just go to Settings > Basic protection > Detections.)
- Bug-fix highlights for hardcore fans:
- Patched Sandbox escape method (along with silent updates to previous AV versions)
- Fixed some unwanted merging of old / default avast5.ini configuration
- Fixed a rare bug that closed the UI when you changed the AV language
- Silenced some background network scans in case they weren't required
- Arranged for a more thorough uninstall (BugReport file is no longer left over)
- Implemented Remote Access Shield conflict warnings in Passive Mode
- Fixed an issue where detection dialogs were stuck behind the main UI when opened
- ...and many other fixes and improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.1.2447 Beta (Feb 8, 2021)
- Fixed:
- dumping application during or at the end of smart scan (not actually affecting the product functionlity)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.1.2446 Beta (Feb 5, 2021)
- As this is our first 21.1 Release Candidate build, there are just a few cosmetic bug-fixes without impact on "visible" product functionality. However some serious issues have been found.
- Known issues:
- webcam shield does not block untrusted application in using webcam under specific conditions
- malware may not be detected by a scan under specific conditions
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.1.2445 Beta (Jan 29, 2021)
- What was fixed:
- BETA logo is back in main User Interface
- Configuration of the program no longer restored/reset after update
- Missing notification when Password Protection is disabled fixed
- JAWS screen reader is now working correctly (except the JAWS version 2021, which includes the issue itself)
- Known issues:
- some obsolete Antivirus program files and folders may remain on disk after update
- detection dialogs from Identity Protection are sometimes not on top (and therefore visible, but detection and removal works fine)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.1.2444 Beta (Jan 21, 2021)
- What was fixed:
- Possible BSOD (blue screen of death) due to problems in identity protection driver (internally catched just once on one machine during a month, will fix it in next BETA)
- BETA logo missing in main User Interface
- Not responding dialog in case of multiple detections at the same time
- Known issues:
- Some obsolete Antivirus program files and folders may remain on disk after update
- Configuration of the program can be restored/reset after update without user interaction
- Detection dialogs from Identity Protection are sometimes not on top (and therefore visible, but detection and removal works fine)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 21.1.2443 Beta (Jan 18, 2021)
- What is new:
- Multi-detection fix: If you stumbled upon more detections at once, we wouldn't show each one in separate alert window anymore. Alert dialogs will be grouped into one, so there is no pop-up overload. Items are grouped by shield. (This applies to auto-mode, in Ask mode, we still show it one by one)
- New categories and description: Our detections are now grouped in various categories of threats and each alert dialog contains a short description of corresponding category (you can find this in Details section). This will also enable us to continuously turn on PUP (potentially unwanted programs) detections ON by default for our users.
- AlertID: We have placed a small numeric identifier in the footer of the detection dialog, so we can easily search the particular detection in our database and identify it based on the screenshot alone. We are often presented with snapshots from our users but up until now these screens didn't contain sufficient information.
- What was fixed:
- not correct information in cyber capture detection dialog
- detections by identity protection on drivers with custom label
- missing focus (on top visibility) for identity protection dialogs
- internet connection satus in firewall details was not always properly displayed
- shell extension (scan in explorer) does not scan all files the link (.lnk) files are pointing to
- detection dialogs and toasters when higher DPI (dots per inch) is used (screen resolution settings)
- incorrect license/subscription details/update shown when there is a change
- Known issues:
- possible BSOD (blue screen of death) due to problems in identity protection driver (internally catched just once on one machine during a month, will fix it in next BETA)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.10.5824 (Dec 10, 2020)
- Here’s what’s officially new:
- Expanded Password Protection - We now protect your passwords in the beta versions of browsers, too. (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and AVG Secure Browser - Premium Security Only)
- Rescue Disk improvements - Windows 7 users can celebrate knowing this feature works for them again, and we've improved its performance and made sure it properly cleans up related .DLLs for all users
- Bug stomping - Just the usual bug fixes that keep your antivirus going strong
- Here are some examples of the bugs we stomped:
- Restart PC dialogue no longer ignores the "Next century" reminder. (Just wait and see…)
- Fixed driver incompatibility with HVCI (AV installation now works when Windows Core Integrity memory isolation is on)
- Cleaned our code to remove obsolete pre-alpha and legacy licensing components
- UI now opens properly on scan results after an Explorer scan finishes (was not behaving properly with UI minimized)
- Fixed a crash that happened in log viewer when logs were too large
- Improved service stability by properly terminating some thread-hooks
- We now allow removing services without exe/dll file (fileless service)
- Got rid of unnecessary reboot required after specific types of detections
- ...and loads of others
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.10.2442 Beta (Dec 7, 2020)
- Final tuning before release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.10.2441 Beta (Dec 3, 2020)
- Fixed crash in IDP agent.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.10.2439 Beta (Nov 24, 2020)
- Fixed problem with creation of rescue disk on Windows 7 and 8
- Fixed issue with resolving "Advanced threats" step in smart scan
- Fixed crash in service
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.10.2438 Beta (Nov 13, 2020)
- What's new:
- Support for beta versions of browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Avast Secure Browser, AVG Secure Browser) in Password protection
- Improved text used on password protected settings dialogue
- What was fixed:
- Fixed crash in service after installation with expired free subscription
- Fixed "Next century" option on restart dialogue - now is correctly accepted
- UI now opens on scan results correctly when the UI is minimized during scan
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.9.2437 (Nov 10, 2020)
- Here’s what’s officially new:
- CyberCapture results - Miss a notification? Now in your notification center, you can see all results for suspicious files you’ve sent to our Threat Labs
- More versatile Password Protection - Along with Chrome and Opera, we now support Microsoft Edge and, our personal favorite, Avast Secure Browser (Premium Security only)
- Vote for features - Vote for your favorite premium features, or submit your ideas for new ones. Simply go to Menu > About and let us know your preference (Premium Security only)
- Performance improvements - Your antivirus components should now load even faster thanks to simultaneous loading of our main service and VPS
- And some other under-the-hood improvements:
- Moved Do Not Disturb module to separate “tools” service for better performance
- Minor accessibility adjustments (e.g., added tray shortcuts, improved confirmation dialogs when disabling shields, etc.)
- Corrected some issues with Sensitive Data Shield on x86 systems
- Sensitive Data Shield also now protects manually added files without having to restart your PC
- Fixed minor bug so Behavior Shield doesn’t duplicate detections already covered by File Shield
- Fixed a rare case where Firewall would trigger an ask dialog for already stopped processes
- Fixed a rare case where switching languages could fail
- Fixed some licensing hiccups with Cleanup and VPN wallet keys when being activated by AV
- Optimized scanning of QUIC connections
- ...and about 100 others
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.9.2437 Beta (Nov 6, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Minor changes in Webshield detection mechanism
- Performance improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.9.2436 Beta (Nov 2, 2020)
- Few crashes fixed
- Installation process should be faster
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.9.2435 Beta (Oct 27, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue when avast service was blocking the computer restart or shutdown
- Internal changes related to user interface
- Few crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.9.2434 Beta (Oct 24, 2020)
- What's new:
- Leak Alerts - we are now monitoring your accounts linked to your Avast account (used for login to Avast) and you will be notified once your password leaked online
- What was fixed:
- Deleting files from Virus Chest/Quarantine can no longer result in freezes or crashed
- UI changes related to offline content
- Ransomware dialog now contains correct information
- Possible User Interface freeze fixed
- Known issues:
- Installation takes more time in some cases
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2432 (Oct 8, 2020)
- Here are our biggest improvements:
- Improved accessibility - Our interface is now better suited for impaired users
- Safer web browsing - Web Shield now supports scanning for threats in Google’s QUIC protocol
- Friendlier CyberCapture - If you stumble upon a file we can’t identify, CyberCapture can send it to our ThreatLabs for a detailed analysis. We’ve updated this entire process to make it easier than ever
- Better Remote Access Shield - Not only do we now support Windows’ Samba protocol, we’ve also added logs to show all remote connection attempts to your computer. (Avast Premium Security only)
- Firewall recognizes VPNs - Firewall now knows when you’re using our VPN and won’t classify this as an unknown network. (Avast Premium Security only)
- And here are just some of the 100+ issues we also fixed:
- Stomped a pretty nasty UI bug that made AV pop up randomly
- Edge case fixed where Password Protection didn’t recognize supported browsers
- Text encoding of an exclusion created from detection dialog
- Shredder can now properly shred read-only files
- Fixed service crashes that happened when uninstalling the Wi-Fi Inspector component
- Remnants of configurations are now properly stored in the registry (instead of avast5.ini)
- Firewall no longer blocks ping (this was an edge case)
- Fixed the excessive memory usage of process monitor caused by Behavioral Shield hooking
- Fixed OS boot problems when running smss.exe as virtualized
- Plugged a memory leak in RegistryChangeWatcher
- Fixed aswToolsSvc.exe initialization issues upon version update and before OS restart
- Fixed serviceDLL monitoring and removal
- Repair action now properly fixes hooklib.dll
- Remote Access Shield detection window no longer appears if you’ve disabled its notifications in settings
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2432 Beta (Oct 7, 2020)
- Last final driver problem fix
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2431 Beta (Oct 5, 2020)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2430 Beta (Oct 1, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- FW crashes
- Behavioral shield crashes
- Antivirus service crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2429 (Sep 30, 2020)
- Here are our biggest improvements:
- Improved accessibility - Our interface is now better suited for impaired users
- Safer web browsing - Web Shield now supports scanning for threats in Google’s QUIC protocol
- Friendlier CyberCapture - If you stumble upon a file we can’t identify, CyberCapture can send it to our ThreatLabs for a detailed analysis. We’ve updated this entire process to make it easier than ever
- Better Remote Access Shield - Not only do we now support Windows’ Samba protocol, we’ve also added logs to show all remote connection attempts to your computer. (Avast Premium Security only)
- Firewall recognizes VPNs - Firewall now knows when you’re using our VPN and won’t classify this as an unknown network. (Avast Premium Security only)
- And here are just some of the 100+ issues we also fixed:
- Stomped a pretty nasty UI bug that made AV pop up randomly
- Edge case fixed where Password Protection didn’t recognize supported browsers
- Text encoding of an exclusion created from detection dialog
- Shredder can now properly shred read-only files
- Fixed service crashes that happened when uninstalling the Wi-Fi Inspector component
- Remnants of configurations are now properly stored in the registry (instead of avast5.ini)
- Firewall no longer blocks ping (this was an edge case)
- Fixed the excessive memory usage of process monitor caused by Behavioral Shield hooking
- Fixed OS boot problems when running smss.exe as virtualized
- Plugged a memory leak in RegistryChangeWatcher
- Fixed aswToolsSvc.exe initialization issues upon version update and before OS restart
- Fixed serviceDLL monitoring and removal
- Repair action now properly fixes hooklib.dll
- Remote Access Shield detection window no longer appears if you’ve disabled its notifications in settings
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2429 Beta (Sep 29, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- FW crashes
- Behavioral shield crashes
- Antivirus service crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2428 Beta (Sep 24, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- FW crashes
- Behavioral shield crashes
- Antivirus service crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2427 Beta (Sep 17, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Lot of crashes fixed
- After logging to account in Omni edition dashboard is broken
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.8.2426 Beta (Sep 15, 2020)
- What is new:
- New Cyber Capture dialogues
- Remote Access Shield now support filtering of SMB protocol
- What was fixed:
- Firewall driver crashes
- Performance optimizations in sensitivity data shield
- And other internal bug fixes and optimizations
- Known issues:
- After logging to account in Omni edition dashboard is broken
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.7.2425 (Sep 1, 2020)
- Signing in via Google or Facebook - If you choose one of these to sign in, we’ll now redirect you to their websites instead of doing it inside of our app
- Fixed shield statuses - The on/off statuses for Password Protection and Remote Access Shield are now properly reflected in your UI. (Avast Premium Security only)
- Improved performance - Your antivirus now runs even smoother thanks to tighter integrations with the Windows registry and boot optimizations
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.7.2424 Beta (Aug 27, 2020)
- Firewall not blocking ICMP requests during UDP scanning
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.7.2423 Beta (Aug 20, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- not all configuration is removed from registry after uninstallation (remains just settings that needs to remain)
- reset and restore (from backup file) of the settings does not work properly
- changing UI language no longer requires a reboot
- list of sensitive documents found or already protected shows just one file (although all found files are protected - user interface problem)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.7.2422 Beta (Aug 14, 2020)
- What is new:
- User Interface: numerous accessibility improvements, including new colors, sizes, etc.
- What was fixed:
- stopping SmartScan may freeze the User Interface
- kernel crash (BSOD) caused by aswNetHub.sys (Avast Network Security) driver
- fixed crash of setup during AV uninstall
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.7.2421 Beta (Aug 6, 2020)
- What is new:
- moving configuration from files to registry keys to improve related performance and reliability
- "Avast Passwords" component is not installed by default -> user needs to manually check it during setup
- accessibility support for blind/impaired people in setup - part 1 (the most of texts in setup should be read by screen reader app if it is installed (NVDA, JAWS) but task is not complete. There are still issues that some elements are not read at all / are read twice or in wrong order -> usability is not perfect. We will try to improve it in next BETA builds)
- What was fixed:
- Sensitive Data Shield status reported correctly even after disabling passive mode
- Icarus.exe process does not ask for connection permission (in Firewall) anymore
- Known issues:
- stopping SmartScan may freeze the UI (you need to restart the machine if you encounter the issue)
- reset and restore (from backup in file) of the settings does not work properly
- setup can crash during AV uninstall (it is not visible to user and AV should be completely removed from PC but some .mdmp files can be created in the root of the system drive (e.g. c:)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.6.2420 Beta (Jul 30, 2020)
- Fixed heap corruption dumps
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.6.2419 Beta (Jul 28, 2020)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.6.2418 Beta (Jul 22, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue with not running AV service and UI when user enabled passive mode and restarted
- Fixed crash in UI
- Fixed issue with Instup.exe and Icarus.exe generating a lot of FW rules and asking for permission
- Fixed issue that Chrome browser was not installed even when the checkbox was selected in Chrome browser offer
- Fixed issue when in some rare cases creation of rescue disk failed
- Fixed issue when there was a conflict with windows installer
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.6.2417 Beta (Jul 16, 2020)
- What's new:
- Simplification of privacy settings - merging 2 data sharing properties (Share app-usage data with Avast to help us with new product development / ...with 3rd-party analytics tools to improve this app) while respecting the previous user choice - so if any one of the former properties was ticked off, the new merged setting will be ticked off as well.
- What was fixed:
- Improved UI startup performance
- Fixed issue when internal drive was offered to be scanned as external HDD
- Fixed crash in webshield
- Fixed UI crash
- Fixed crash of AV service during OS restart
- Fixed issue in UI when Remote Access Shield or Real Site are disabled
- Known issues:
- When passive mode is enabled AV service and UI does not start
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.6.2416 Beta (Jul 13, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed BSOD during stopping AV services
- Fixed incorrect UI behavior, when Remote Access Shield was not installed the shield was visible in UI
- Fixed issue when IDP incorrectly informed that file can/cannot be removed during detection
- Fixed issue in UI when some buttons on dialogues were not visible when user had two monitors with different resolution
- Known issues:
- When Remote Access Shield or Real Site are disabled, there is a list of errors displayed in UI
- When is enabled passive mode AV service and UI does not start
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.5.2414 Beta (Jun 28, 2020)
- New build released to beta - it contains only one change related to avast service start/stop on older operating systems (Windows 7).
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.5.2413 Beta (Jun 26, 2020)
- Rescue Disk is now working also with UEFI
- Fixed issue when computer shutdown was sometimes blocked if avast service was unable to stop
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.5.2411 Beta (Jun 15, 2020)
- What's new:
- Introducing Remote Access Shield - This new feature lets you choose who can remotely access your computer and lets you block the rest. (Premium Security users only)
- Ransomware Shield is now free - We’re now offering this feature to Avast Free Antivirus users to maximize their ransomware protection
- Better USB drive protection - We’ll now ask you to scan USB drives when you plug them into your computer. (You can also turn this off in your notification settings)
- Improved taskbar icon - There’s no need to keep your antivirus open during scans. You can now see your scan progress from the Avast taskbar icon
- Google QUIC protocol support added to Webshield - It can affect anything from the "google ecosystem" so please let us know in case of any issues with e.g. Chrome, Opera, MS Edge, Drive, Calendar, Youtube...
- What was fixed:
- Based on the customers feedbak we changed the design of buttons in bank mode
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.4.2410 Beta (Jun 1, 2020)
- What's new:
- Wifi scanner for AVG brand introduced
- What was fixed:
- support tool.exe runs on Win7
- sleep mode works on 20H1
- behavioral shields improvements
- minor crashes and internal stability improvements
- Known issues:
- Software updater internal DB still not updated
- Tell us more about issues
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.4.2408 Beta (May 22, 2020)
- What's new:
- Wifi scanner for AVG brand introduced(with still few minor issues)
- What was fixed:
- Instup: fix messages in silent mode
- Casting fixed - Bob3160
- several BSODS
- Known issues:
- UI is not closed during AV uninstall so error message about stopped service is visible there
- broken tray dialog is displayed during edition downgrade
- UI button doesn´t run SupportTool.exe on Win7
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.4.2407 Beta (May 15, 2020)
- What's new:
- internal improvements
- New features will come in next betas
- What was fixed:
- BSODs in Firewall
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.4.2406 Beta (May 11, 2020)
- What's new:
- Smart Scan - new updated library for scanning performance issues
- Internal improvements
- Improved logging of license operations so we know what triggers specific operations.
- What was fixed:
- Rescue Disk: unable to install CRT
- Couple of minor crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.3.2405 Beta (Apr 30, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- SecureDNS now fully works after upgrade from Free to Premium without restart
- Firewall now fully works after upgrade from Free to Premium without restart
- Two application crashes under specific conditions related to SecureDNS and Webshield components
- Firewall blocks Microsoft Wireless Display feature
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.3.404 Beta (Apr 24, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Edition upgrade (where only edition is changed but build remain the same) does not require OS restart
- Random issue with freezed OS during AV edition downgrade / uninstall
- Reading account details so name and email address are properly displayed in Menu
- Known issues:
- Sensitive data shield does not show protected files in User Interface after upgrade from Free to Premium edition without restart (it is ok after the computer restart)
- Two application crashes under specific conditions related to SecureDNS and Webshield components
- SecureDNS component is not fully working after upgrade from Free to Premium edition without restart on MS Windows 7 (it is ok after the computer restart)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.2.2401 (Apr 1, 2020)
- Password Protection - This new feature automagically secures passwords saved in your browsers. Find it in your Privacy menu (Premium Security only)
- New statistics - Check out your security stats by clicking My statistics in the top-right menu
- Bug fixes - We've stomped a few pesky bugs to keep things running smoothly
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.2.2401 Beta (Mar 31, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue with Sensitive data shield
- Known issues:
- Http communication can be blocked 1 minute after installation (Windows 8.1)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.2.2400 Beta (Mar 27, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue with firewall blocking PPTP and L2TP traffic
- Fixed issue with failed installation on Windows 10 caused by windows update pending (user will be informed that he has to restart PC to successfully install AV)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.2.2399 Beta (Mar 23, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed UI failed to load issue
- Fixed detection and restart dialogues
- Fixed issue with missing post update screen
- Fixed issue with browser category in smart scan
- Known issues:
- Http communication can be blocked 1 minute after installation (Windows 8.1).
- Firewall blocking PPTP and L2TP traffic
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.1.2396 Beta (Feb 14, 2020)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed lot of crashes reported from previous beta
- Fixed possible deadlock of User Interface
- Fixed conflict between Self Defense and IDauto software
- Known issues:
- Status of Chrome browser extension is not reported correctly in Avast UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 20.1.2395 Beta (Feb 7, 2020)
- What's new:
- Browser extensions
- Improved detection of status of browser extensions
- Added support of detection in Opera browser
- Update process of user interface was improved
- Smart Scan improvements - Advanced issues - when everything is ok, we are showing "green" results instead of hidding the tab
- What was fixed:
- Rescue Disc is working again
- It is now possible to export certificate in Mail Shield settings
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.8.2393 Beta (Sep 18, 2019)
- Fore some very rare occasions AV installation caused deleting too much files on disk.
- SmartScan sometimes stucked on 50%
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.8.2391 Beta (Sep 13, 2019)
- What was fixed:
- Sounds are back
- Problems with displaying post update screen
- Uncertain behavior of smart scan
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.7.2388 (Aug 16, 2019)
- What's exciting here that we have officially launched the new Antivirus portfolio, effectively sun-setting Pro, Internet Security, and Premier while replacing it with Premium Security. In a nutshell, this means that from now on, all paid AV features are available to all AV customers (yey!) and there are no more paid AV tiers. And we have this in Single and Multi-Device flavors. Multi-Device subscription is supporting platforms: Win, Mac OS, iOS and Android.
- Of course, in reality, it is a bit more complicated than that - users would be migrated in waves during several upcoming weeks - but we're getting closer to a neat and tidy AV portfolio.
- The whole license migration matrix is a beast, but these examples should cover the majority of cases:
- Avast Premier users (all seat variants) -> Avast Premium Security Multi-Device
- Avast Internet Security 1 Seat -> Avast Premium Security
- Avast Internet Security 3+ Seats -> Avast Premium Security Multi-Device
- Avast Pro 1 Seat -> Avast Premium Security
- Avast Pro 3+ Seats -> Avast Premium Security Multi-device
- If you want to check the status of your license, head to My Subscriptions and check your subscription (for multi-device variants, this word needs to be mentioned specifically in the subscription name - if it is not, it means it was not yet migrated).
- We aim to support new program versions of IS and PRO for several upcoming months - we would stop releasing new versions sometimes in early 2020.
- Some of the other features/fixes in this release:
- We can now automatically shut down your PC after a Full, Targeted, or Custom scan
- Quick Scans can now be added to your custom scans and scheduled for any time you’d like
- Added an option to Enable/Disable QUIC scanning in Settings
- Separating consents for Google Analytics and Jumpshot tracking in Settings
- Fixed issue in explorer scan where toaster was displayed just on the first occasion
- Fixed memory leak in aswStm.sys driver
- Fixed not working mail messages in Mozilla Thunderbird
- Fix of occasional blocking of MS Windows 10 update by self-defense
- Fix of problems with nested virtualization (VBox/VMware)Affected Products and Release Date
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.7.2388 Beta (Aug 14, 2019)
- Fixed issues:
- when all shields are disabled (e.g. via tray) and enabled, Mailshield is not enabled (sometimes it requires restart in order to start successfully)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.7.2386 Beta (Aug 3, 2019)
- Webshield blocks internet after a period of a time (e.g. a week)
- Mailshield blocks incoming/outgoing messages in Thunderbird
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.7.2384 Beta (Jul 18, 2019)
- What's new:
- As we plan to consolidate our AV portfolio to just Free Antivirus and Premium Security we changed Premier to Premium Security (features stay the same)
- New options in settings - two old settings were returned back - Internet Connection Sharing Mode and Enable automatic port scan detection - you can find them under Firewall settings
- It is now possible to schedule and also delete Quick scan
- New option in Web Shield settings - Enable QUIC/HTTP3 scanning
- What was fixed:
- Fixed issue in explorer scan - toaster was displayed just for first scan, now is displayed for each explorer scan
- Fixed memory leak in aswStm.sys driver
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.6.2383 (Jun 26, 2019)
- A smarter Smart Scan - We've redesigned our Smart Scan to be better than ever, and you can now even schedule it
- Improved performance - We've reduced the amount of disk and CPU usage our antivirus needs during the installation of other apps
- Improved stability - We've unified some headers across the app for greater stability
- A cleaner goodbye - If you ever uninstall us (gasp!), we now do a better job of removing all our files
- Bug stomping - Sensitive Data Shield scans no longer finish prematurely, and Mail Shield no longer blocks connections if it can't connect to an IPv6 address
- Game on! - We're now more compatible with games that use anti-cheating measures (e.g., League of Legends)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.6.2383 Beta (Jun 21, 2019)
- What is new:
- Better compatibility with anticheat/antidebugger measures implemeted in some games (e.g. League of Legends)
- What was fixed
- Fixed high memory usage of aswidsagent
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.6.2379 Beta (May 30, 2019)
- What's new:
- A smarter Smart Scan - We’ve redesigned our Smart Scan to be better than ever
- Improved performance - several performance optimizations to lower the disk and CPU usage during application installation
- What was fixed:
- Sensitive Data Shield scans no longer finish prematurely
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.5.4444 (May 22, 2019)
- What's NEW:
- Optimized statuses - Your shield statuses are now synchronized across the app
- Fewer nags - Do Not Disturb Mode no longer detects every Opera update as a new app
- License fixes - We’ve fixed an issue with the duration of our free antivirus licenses
- Better integration - Your antivirus works even better with other, standalone Avast apps
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.5.2378 Beta (May 16, 2019)
- Final fixes before release to public
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.5.2377 Beta (May 13, 2019)
- What was fixed:
- Avast: Detection dialogs are opened in background
- Fixed crash during Sensitive Data Scan
- Fixed issue when Sensitive Data Scan does not finish in some cases
- Toaster "You are protected" now correctly hides after the 15 seconds
- "Move to Virus Chest" button now works also for detection from File Shield
- Known issues:
- Detection dialogs are opened in background
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.5.2376 Beta (May 7, 2019)
- What was fixed
- Fixed freeze of UI when Wifi Inspector scan is running
- Potential BSOD caused by Behavior Shield
- Many other crashes and BSODs
- Known issues
- Detection dialogs are opened in background
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.5.2375 Beta (Apr 25, 2019)
- What was fixed:
- DnD mode will not spam, that new app was added, every time Opera is updated
- Licenses - Fixed creating/extending of Free licenses before their expiration date
- Known issues:
- Detection dialogs are opened in background
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.4.2374 (Apr 9, 2019)
- What's NEW:
- We're migrating all our SafeZone users to the new Avast Secure Browser
- What we FIXED:
- AvLaunch won't show up twice in the Startup menu anymore
- HTTPS scanning now works with the latest versions of Firefox
- We'll now link you to a specific help article when Wi-Fi Inspector finds a vulnerability
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.4.2372 Beta (Apr 2, 2019)
- Improved:
- Improved mechanism for importing Avast certificate into Firefox
- Fixed
- Fixed conflict with Baidu PC faster
- Fixed continuous crashes of antivirus service
- Fixed minor issue with applying uUpdate on x64 OSes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.4.2371 Beta (Mar 27, 2019)
- Improved:
- Improved mechanism for importing Avast certificate into Firefox
- Fixed:
- Fixed conflict with Baidu PC faster
- Fixed continuous crashes of antivirus service
- Fixed minor issue with applying uUpdate on x64 OSes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.3.2369 (Mar 11, 2019)
- What's NEW:
- We’ve set our VPN free - SecureLine VPN is no longer attached to your antivirus. It’s now a separate product
- A safer UEFI - Anti-rootkit scan now protects your UEFI (unified extensible firmware interface)
- What we FIXED:
- When installing Avast Ultimate, all products in the bundle will be installed in one go
- Fixed our boot-time scan
- Made sure our UI loads correctly ("white UI" problem)
- Fixed a bug for our users in Russia where Passive Mode sometimes turned on for no reason
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.3.2369 Beta (Mar 11, 2019)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.3.2368 Beta (Mar 8, 2019)
- AV installed in passive mode on W10 if OS was in Russian localization
- "White UI" issue
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.3.2365 Beta (Feb 21, 2019)
- Avast Cleanup and SecureLine stand-alone apps are automatically installed during clean installation of AVAST Ultimate
- Avast SecureLine Antivirus addon is never installed during clean installation and it is removed during program update + stand-alone SecureLine VPN app is installed during program update if SecureLine VPN AV addon was installed and licensed before update
- Smart Scan redesign: the scan should be shorter and running in parallel, resolving some issues while another scan is running.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.2.2364 (Feb 8, 2019)
- NEW:
- We've updated the look of our Custom Scans screen
- We've hidden some new advanced settings for ourgeek fans; just search for it in your settings
- FIXED:
- Improved the syncing speed of our tray icon
- Made our Outlook plugin work again on x64 systems running x86
- Outlook
- Fixed an issue that prevented USB drives from being safely ejected
- Thawed out an annoying UI freeze some of you were experiencing
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.2.4186.0 (Feb 6, 2019)
- What's NEW:
- Custom love - We’ve updated the look of our Custom Scans screen
- Geek-ster egg - We’ve hidden some new advanced settings for our geek fans — just search for ‘geek:area’ in your settings
- What we FIXED:
- Improved the syncing speed of our tray icon
- Made our Outlook plugin work again on x86 systems
- Thawed out an annoying UI freeze some of you were experiencing
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.2.2364 Beta (Feb 5, 2019)
- What was fixed:
- Fixed possible memory leak in service
- Fixed blocking of correct USB removal
- Fixed crashes in licensing when there was unavailable network connection
- Fixed settings backup
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.2.2362 Beta (Jan 25, 2019)
- What's new:
- Build version displayed in UI now shows also the version of latest uupdate which was delivered to the PC (for example: before 19.2.4159.0 and after 19.2.4159.111). You can now better recognize if you have applied our latest hot-fixes.
- Removed Morphisec integration code - this experimental feature was removed from our product
- New screens for creating and scheduling custom scans
- What was fixed:
- Fixed random crashes
- Fixed BSOD in aswNetSec.sys
- Option to install SafePrice extension for Firefox is back
- Tray icon status is now better synced with the main status on dashboard
- Fixed crash when user activates more licenses at the same time
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.2.2361 Beta (Jan 22, 2019)
- Fixed bank mode on x64 OS
- Fixed crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.1.2360 (Jan 7, 2019)
- NEW:
- Simplicity! We've simplified our settings screens and even added direct
- links from our feature screens to their settings
- Search! We've added a search bar to our settings to make it easier to find
- what you need
- Speed! Users of 64-bit Windows should now see faster PC startup and scan
- times
- Automagic! After purchasing another Avast product from within your
- antivirus, the new product will now be installed and activated
- automatically; no activation code needed
- Security! Our Firewall's network detection is now better than ever
- FIXED:
- Firewall now runs properly (without a PC restart for those who've
- upgraded from Avast Free Antivirus
- Boot-time scan results can now be found in your scan history
- Fixed improper arrangement in our Web Shield detection (threat type and
- URL were switched)
- Your settings can now be backed up and restored again
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.1.2359 Beta (Dec 20, 2018)
- Update progress is visible in UI (applicable during update to next version)
- Small changes in exceptions related to Behavior Shield
- Minor changes before release to public
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.1.2358 Beta (Dec 12, 2018)
- What's new:
- Online installer
- Global Exceptions only - we prefer to use just global exceptions that work for all shields and scans. So if you enter some file or folder it should be ignored for both shields and scans
- Redesigned global settings. There is a specific thread about new settings (report bugs, suggest improvements, discuss, hate, whatever ;-) - https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=221665.0
- What was fixed:
- Dialog about requested restart is displayed after manual update
- Smart Scan - bad browser add-ons are detected on x64 systems
- Data Shredder works also on x64 systems
- Do Not Disturb mode does now starts for full-screen Windows Store Apps
- And some boring crashes
- Known issues:
- There is no update progress visible in UI
- Unidentified network toaster can be sometimes displayed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 19.1.2357 Beta (Nov 29, 2018)
- What's new:
- Fully 64bit version (one installer, contains both versions)
- 19.1 version can`t be installed on Windows XP/Vista
- Deep network scan research participation possibility at the end of Wi-Fi inspector scan (only on some networks)
- Improved network detection in Firewall
- Redesigned global settings. There is a specific thread about new settings (report bugs, suggest improvements, discuss, hate, whatever ;-) - https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=221665.0
- What was fixed:
- Avast notifications disappear in some cases
- SecureDNS not turned ON after "OFF time" passes
- FW not running after upgrade from free to premier
- AntiRootkit and AntiExploit setting needs service restart to apply changes
- Reset settings to default does not affect firewall settings
- BSOD because of IDP
- Result of boot time scan is not in history
- Switched values (threat type and URL) in Web Shield detection dialog
- Add & Modify components started from UI is opened in background
- ARP spoofing protection and scan fixes
- Known issues:
- Only latest online installer can be used for installation
- Dialog about requested restart is not displayed after manual update
- Smart Scan - no bad browser add-ons detected on x64 systems
- Data Shredder crashes on x64 systems
- DND does not start for Windows Store Apps
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.8.2356 (Nov 16, 2018)
- Fixed critical vulnerability
- Last version for Windows XP/Vista
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.8.2356 Beta (Nov 15, 2018)
- We did just quick repack of previous build - no major changes, just final tuning before release
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.7.4041 (Oct 11, 2018)
- For 2019, Security is more than Protection and Privacy
- Ease of use and security are natural allies for creating a secure digital life:
- This year Avast was thrilled to celebrate 30 years of security protection for consumers. We have a mission to protect our users from the most vicious and unknown online threats at all times. The Avast Threat Labs on a moment to moment basis is aware of the must illusive and nastiest of malware on any given day. It is job #1 to protect digital users from the myriad of threats they stumble upon every day. In today’s digital world with bad actors like WannaCry and CryptoLocker ransomware attacks and incessant data breaches being a part of life today. Users are all too familiar with the fact that they need reliable digital security from a brand who has created secure digital lives for people all over the world.
- This year, as many users are very focused on personal privacy we are adding a feature designed to improve our privacy offense. We have developed a feature called Sensitive Data Shield that helps keep personal files with personal data away from unwanted eyes or potential thieves. Personal documents such as individual health documents, travel or ID documents, personal photos or even personnel files for your own business under lock and key so that only the authorized user can view them.
- Also, in the 2019 edition, the focus included adding value in the overall user experience. Like a commuter who drives long hours to work, the PC user who spends hours on the PC, wants the whole ride to be smooth and without glitches. With the introduction of our new feature, Do Not Disturb, we take our former “Game Mode” feature and amplified the user scenarios it can enhance.
- This feature now disables annoying notifications and interruptions by upgrading it to a feature that is designed to improve the user’s experience whether they are playing games, watching a movie, or sharing a slideshow or presentation for family or friends.
- Do Not Disturb mode means you never have to experience annoying or embarrassing notifications or IM’s while presenting or sharing again. Remember when you were using your laptop to present some data to some co-workers and your children continually IM’d you to pick up ice cream and dog food on the way home? Now, with Do Not Disturb mode, you are safe. And, the best part is that it is automatic, it naturally activates when you go into “presentation mode” on your PC.
- What’s NEW in version 2019:
- Do Not Disturb Mode:
- Avast’s new Do Not Disturb Mode silences notifications while you’re running an app in fullscreen. Windows notifications, popups from other apps, and even our own Avast antivirus notifications are all blocked to keep distractions at bay.
- Do Not Disturb Mode is a re-design of our previous Game Mode feature, which was limited to only fullscreen games. This new feature works with nearly any app running fullscreen and is included in all our antivirus offerings, from Avast Free Antivirus to Avast Premium. (Existing users will receive it via an automatic update.)
- Sensitive Data Shield:
- Tax files, health records, travel documents, and other sensitive documents are prime targets for hackers and identity thieves. Spyware can find these documents on your computer in just seconds, giving them full access to your name, address, birthdate, social security number, and more.
- Sensitive Data Shield provides an extra layer of spyware protection, beyond what the free antivirus offers. Using advanced algorithms, it scans your computer for documents containing names, addresses, phone numbers, and other data it thinks you’d want to keep private. If it finds any, it will offer to seal them off from unknown apps and spyware.
- There’s no need to move your files or hide them in a secret folder, either. Sensitive Data Shield keeps everything right where you left it, and protects it all automatically. With Sensitive Data Shield, only trusted apps (e.g., Adobe Reader, Microsoft Word, etc.) can access or copy your private documents. Anything else is automatically blocked — unless you approve.
- Anti Phishing:
- Phishing is big business, and it’s only getting bigger. Leading security companies and major carriers are noting dramatic increases in consumers falling prey to phishing lures. In 2017, Verizon reported that even after training, one in 14 users was attacked with spear phishing, spoofing, or impersonation emails or mobile text messages.
- In light of this, we’ve tuned up our anti-phishing feature to deliver more advanced protection. With enhanced anti-phishing technology, your browser can now identify phishing sites without the need for a browser extension. Quicker scans now occur every five minutes ensuring safer browsing, without any delays to the browsing experience.
- Other changes:
- Passwords now synchronize even better
- Smart Scan now shows you the results of completed scans if you stop it before it’s finished
- Software Updater has moved in menu from Protection to Performance
- Fixed:
- You can now minimize games without trouble after a few minutes of play
- No more duplicate dialogs when we detect a phishing scam
- We’ve taken care of those connection problems while activating subscriptions
- We’ve caught and fixed a bug messing with the Windows Security Center registration after a Windows Update
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.7.2353 Build 18.7.4035 Beta (Oct 4, 2018)
- What's new:
- This beta contains bug fixes only
- What was fixed:
- Improvement in DNS resolving, should fix problems with update and license activation
- Crashes in Do Not Disturb mode
- Problem with minimizing games after few minutes of playing
- Passwords crashes
- Changes in settings (only for beta, it won't be part of stable 18.7 release):
- Old settings will be used XP and Vista
- New settings will be used Windows 7 and higher
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.7.2352 Build 18.7.4021 Beta (Sep 28, 2018)
- What's new:
- Changes in settings (only for beta, it won't be part of stable 18.7 release)
- Old settings will be used XP and Vista
- New settings will be used Windows 7 and higher
- What was fixed:
- Avast Passwords - Synchronizations between devices
- Two detection dialogs when phishing detected
- License activation issues in Russia
- Other minor stabilization fixes
- Known issues:
- Some new settings sections are still not ready yet
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.7.2350 Build 18.7.3994 Beta (Sep 4, 2018)
- What's new:
- We are introducing new style of our settings. The new settings have fresh and simplified modern look and feel. We reduced the number of items so now the most important ones are visible now. The advanced settings have been moved to a secret section named Geek Area, This secret section is available via search - just fill there "geek:area" - whole string has to be written for entrance to the section. Setting are incomplete, couple sections are still in development. We are hungry to hear your feedback, what do you think, do you like them? All your comments, ideas are appreciated and will be discussed by UI team.
- For discussion about settings use this thread -
- What was fixed:
- Issues with installation and re-installation of the Emergency Update component
- Installation and update of driver related to the SafeZone / Secure Browser bank mode
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.6.2349 Build 18.6.3983 RC (Aug 20, 2018)
- This is the Release Candidate for PUBLIC channel with final "tunning" changes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.6.2348 Build 18.6.3977 Beta (Aug 17, 2018)
- Fixed:
- Reporting Antivirus and Firewall state to the Windows Security Center after performed upgrade or downgrade
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.6.2347 Build 18.6.3973 Beta (Aug 14, 2018)
- Fixed:
- Leak in self protection
- Fixed crashes related to TLS 1.3 support
- Fixed Site Blocking - it can be enabled once again
- Windows XP: CybeCapture does not send suspicious file to
- DND mode - maximize performance option is enabled after DND mode disabled in single app
- DND mode - several stability fixes and improvements
- DND mode - incorrect basic settings behavior
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.6.2347 Build 18.6.3956 Beta (Aug 14, 2018)
- Fixed:
- Leak in self protection
- Fixed crashes related to TLS 1.3 support
- Fixed Site Blocking - it can be enabled once again
- Windows XP: CybeCapture does not send suspicious file to
- DND mode - maximize performance option is enabled after DND mode disabled in single app
- DND mode - several stability fixes and improvements
- DND mode - incorrect basic settings behavior
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.6.2346 Build 18.6.3956 Beta (Aug 3, 2018)
- New Features:
- Migration of Secureline VPN addon to stand-alone SecureLine VPN app
- VPN addon is not offered during clean AV install anymore
- If user has VPN addon licensed, then it's automatically switched to standalone VPN, otherwise the addon is uninstalled. The user can install easily standalone VPN anytime later from AV user interface
- DND mode - Basic setting available in Components
- TLS 1.3 scanning support in Web Shield
- Full support in Firefox
- Chrome only with Draft 28
- Internet Explorer, Edge do not support TLS 1.3
- What was fixed:
- Fixed occasional DNS resolve time-outs
- Fixed issues with loading of sites using EV certificate
- DND mode - "new app added" toaster does not appear in some cases
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.6.2345 Build 18.6.3952 Beta (Jul 26, 2018)
- New Features:
- DND mode - app detection based on internal DB is active after app goes to fullscreen
- Improved compatibility between Do not Disturb mode and the MS Windows Notification Center (MS Windows 10)
- What was fixed:
- DND mode - working correctly in Firefox
- DND mode - detection based fixes and minor improvements
- Fixed service start delay when no internet connection is available
- crashing of Antivirus service when updating existing license for Password Protection product
- DND mode - fixed blocking from Windows Notification Center
- crash of Antivirus service on Windows 10 RS5 and compatibility with its Edge browser
- not displaying confirmation dialog related to disabling the Webcam shield and Sensitive Data Shield components
- crashing reporting to Windows Security Center under some circumstances
- Fixed HNS (WiFi Inspector) related BSOD
- conflict when handling UDP packets (mainly by Fake Website Shield component) modified by 3rd party products
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.6.2344 Build 18.6.3946 Beta (Jul 23, 2018)
- What was fixed:
- DND mode - application whitelist/blacklist heavily modified
- DND mode - several optimalization for 3rd party app blocking
- several issues in licensing component (client as well as backend side)
- blocking standard websites by Web Shield component
- sometimes blocking TLS 1.3 connections
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.5.2341 Build 18.5.3921 Beta (Jun 11, 2018)
- What's new:
- New EULA
- What was fixed:
- Fixed - Skype popups are now correctly blocked by gaming mode
- Fixed - not running AV service after enabling passive mode
- Fixed - Missing text in passive mode enabling/disabling dialogue
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.5.2339 Build 18.5.3907 Beta (May 24, 2018)
- What's new:
- Added "restore as" option to virus chest
- New hover tooltip on tray icon for unread notifications
- UI should not be started after update or restart until AV service is running (this should prevent the UI "service is not running" state)
- New download mechanism for installation and update files
- What was fixed:
- Fixed - Presentation apps should not trigger "Game was added" toasters
- Fixed - Notification rules are not activated in FS when GM is on
- Fixed link in systray to open License information
- Visual fixes to chrome offer in setup
- BSOD fixes, crash fixes
- Fixed reporting of Firewall state to Windows Defender Security Center
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.4.2338 Build 18.4.3895.0 (May 11, 2018)
- Detection dialogues for Anti-exploit and Anti-rootkit Shields
- My Licenses section
- Dropdown menu in top bar
- Earn Rewards program
- Wi-Fi Inspector redesign
- GDPR compliance
- Fixed a few crashes related to Firewall drivers
- "Scanning in progress" is no longer reported in tray after install
- Toaster from Game Mode is not shown when Silent Mode is enabled
- UI not responding when shields are disabled
- Behavior Shield crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.4.2337 Build 18.4.3892.0 Beta (May 3, 2018)
- What`s new:
- New desing of Wi-Fi Inspector:
- New map of devices
- Easier to change device type
- Different scans for public and private networks
- What was fixed:
- GDPR compliance: added new options in Privacy section in General Settings ( paid programs)
- Setup: UI is now installed in second phase of setup. It should have positive impact on installation success and installation speed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.4.2336 Build 18.4.3877.0 Beta (Apr 19, 2018)
- What was fixed:
- Web Shield: Connection aborted but detection dialog was not displayed in some cases
- Antispam: Updated detection module
- BSOD caused by Wi-fi Inspector
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.4.2335 Build 18.4.3871.0 Beta (Apr 12, 2018)
- What's new:
- Improved license dialog, where the user can choose, which licenses to use
- What was fixed:
- Fixed few crashes related to Firewall drivers
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.4.2334 Build 18.4.3865.0 Beta (Apr 9, 2018)
- What's new:
- New Anti-rootkit and Anti-exploit detection dialogs
- New subscription screen:
- Subscription screen moved from Settings to the new menu in header (more items to follow)
- Possibility to easier license via account
- Implementation still in progress
- Please go through this new section and report any issue you find
- What was fixed:
- "Scanning in progress" is no longer reported in tray after install
- Toaster from Game Mode is not shown when Silent mode enabled
- UI does not hang or not responding when disable shields
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.3.2331 Build 18.3.3851.0 Beta (Mar 22, 2018)
- Fixed Bugs:
- Problems with starting the Behavior Shield service
- Problems with showing components based on subscription state (as mentioned above)
- A few program crashes reported over the client
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.3.2330 Build 18.3.3847.0 Beta (Mar 19, 2018)
- New Features & Improvements:
- New internal implementation of localization in Avast UI - opening of Avast UI is faster now
- Passwords component has new settings
- Fixed Bugs:
- Game Mode toaster about newly added game does not slide back
- Network connection does not work after installation of missing FW component
- Some components (e.g. Real Site) turned on after restart automatically although turned off permanently by user
- Firewall blocking emails over IPv6
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.3.2329 Build 18.3.3831.0 Beta (Mar 8, 2018)
- Fixed displaying welcome screen after the installation is finished
- Fixed restoring files from virus chest (files were not restored but were deleted)
- Fixed a few program crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.2.2328 Build 18.2.3827.0 Beta (Feb 28, 2018)
- Fixed:
- Fixed problems with rescue disk creation
- Fixed crashes reported by users
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.2.2327 Build 18.2.3809.0 Beta (Feb 20, 2018)
- New:
- When Silent scan is ON and detection is made then this detection is added to Notification Center
- Fixed:
- Tray icon animation fixed
- Right-click scan from Windows Explorer fixed
- Fixed missing text when right clicked on Recycle Bin
- Fixed auto shutdown after scheduled scans
- Fixed missing Compatibility scan in Smart Scan
- and 50 other minor bugs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.1.2325 Build 18.1.3794.0 Beta (Feb 2, 2018)
- Changes:
- Avast AntiTrack is now available also in Avast UI under Privacy tile
- Bug fixes:
- Fixed product crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.1.2324 Build 18.1.3787.0 Beta (Jan 26, 2018)
- Changes:
- NEW PRODUCT - Avast AntiTrack
- New Anti-Exploit module for better protection against exploits, shellcode and other malicious PE files
- Changes in minimal installation components (now Behavioral shield is included)
- In case that DNS does not resolve our installation and update URLs correctly, the program will use Google DNS servers
- Bug fixes:
- Fixed bug when games were minimizing themselves every 30 minutes
- Fixed problems with Outlook plugin
- Fixed name of Avast window in task bar
- Fixed Help screen (help was not displaying proper page on some places in UI - typically in settings)
- Fixed Boot Time Scan
- Fixed bug which caused that Last computer scan time was not displayed correctly
New in Avast Free Antivirus 18.1.2323 Build 18.1.3769.0 Beta (Jan 12, 2018)
- Changes:
- It is possible to add more files into virus chest at once
- Improved dump creation when our process crashes
- Better handling of multiple opened Avast windows
- Added support for fallback download server (using HTTPS) in setup in case standard servers don't work
- Warning is displayed when logging off from windows during installation (so installation is finished properly)
- Optimized scanning of downloaded executable files
- Bug fixes:
- Fixed scanning of files in Virus Chest
- Fixed wrong text in Recycle Bin context menu
- Avast UI crashes fixed
- Avast Clear now works properly on Win XP
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.9.2322 Build 17.9.3761.0 (Dec 22, 2017)
- What's new:
- Now you can send feedback and bug reports from Settings > About
- Recycle Bin content can now be shredded via Windows contextual menu (Avast Premier only)
- Redesigned Scan & Shields screens in the Protection menu for easier navigation
- Redesigned Avast Passwords UI for easier use
- More detailed status reporting to Windows Security Center in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update
- Nested virtualization support for AMD CPUs
- Better proxy detection by setup and update from Windows settings
- Fixed:
- Fixed a problem with white UI (you might see more processes AvastUI.exe now, but that's OK)
- Sensitive Data Shield now works with Windows XP and Vista
- Anti-Phishing Protection in Web Shield now works with Windows XP
- Clicking Scan Details in the Notification Center no longer starts another scan
- Fixed Avast service crash when a license expires
- Fixed performance scan in Performance > Cleanup Premium
- Fixed issue where Behavior Shield sometimes cut off a user’s Internet connection
- False positives can now be reported directly from threat detection warnings (File Shield)
- Fixed boot issue on Windows XP when Virtual PC driver is installed
- Fixed BSOD caused by conflict between DELL percsas3 and Avast Self-defense drivers
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.9.2322 Build 17.9.3761.0 Beta (Dec 20, 2017)
- Changes / Fixed Bugs:
- Fixed crash of Avast service during computer shutdown
- Added localization for new features in 17.9
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.9.2321 Build 17.9.3757.0 Beta (Dec 15, 2017)
- Changes / Fixed Bugs:
- Fixed missing tray icon in some cases
- Fixed Avast service deadlock caused by Wi-Fi Inspector
- Avast service does not crash if Passwords user is having login record without url stored and navigates to Password tab in GUI with debug logging enabled
- Passwords Guardian popup informing about possible leaked logins is no longer shown to all users regardless the license
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.9.2320 Build 17.9.3748.0 Beta (Dec 7, 2017)
- Changes / Fixed Bugs:
- Click on Scan Details in Notification Center does not execute another scan anymore
- Changes related to "Send for analysis" option located in Virus Chest
- Fixed crash of Avast service when license expires
- Smart Scan does not freeze anymore
- Fixed performance scan in Performance→Cleanup Premium
- Fixed problems with Behavior shield, that cut off internet connection
- Possibility to report false positive directly from detection dialog (File Shield)
- Passwords GUI redesigned
- Passwords Guardian feature improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.9.2319 Build 17.9.3725.0 Beta (Nov 24, 2017)
- NEW Features:
- Feedback Form in Settings->About
- Possible to shred Recycle Bin via context menu (Data Shredder)
- Better proxy detection by setup and update from Windows settings
- Nested virtualization support for AMD CPU
- New Scan & Shield section in UI
- Changes / Fixed Bugs:
- Antirootkit monitoring that is responsible for catching unknown malware
- Fixed boot issue on Windows XP when Virtual PC driver is installed
- Fixed BSOD caused by conflict between DELL percsas3 and aswSP drivers
- Sensitive Data Shield is now able to perform scan on Windows XP and Vista
- Antiphishing works on Windows XP
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.8.2318 Build 17.8.3705.0 (Nov 17, 2017)
- Fixed issues with deleting Firewall rules during program update
- Fixed issues with Passive mode
- Added support for custom folders in Ransomware shield
- Fixed repeating scheduled scans
- Fixed update action from Windows Security Center
- Polishing of Virus Chest
- Fixed issue with Gmail signature (007 error) that was breaking outgoing emails
- Fixed Firewall new network toaster to set the correct profile
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.8.2317 Build 17.8.3701.0 Beta (Nov 3, 2017)
- Fixed Bugs:
- Firewall component status reporting
- Real Site (Secure DNS) component crashing
- Issue related to in-product messaging causing the service to consume abnormal CPU resources
- Service crashing when license file is not present
- Update execution from Windows Security Center when product is outdated
- Restoring of malware from the virus Chest detected by Behavioral Shield when removal required computer restart
- Displaying toaster for Smart Scan when it is executed and User Interface is closed
- User Interface crashing when all options in Smart Scan were disabled
- Accepting special characters (such as <, >, etc.) in displaying toasters (such as Firewall - new network detection)
- Behavioral Shield does not display detection dialog when any of the automatic modes is enabled
- Restore dialog in Chest is correctly in CEF now
- User Interface crashing when Firewall button was used in displayed Firewall toaster
- Issue with creating Rescue USB disc on some (usually older ones) types of USB flash drives
- Scheduled daily scan is now always run on time
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.8.2316 Build 17.8.3693.0 Beta (Oct 27, 2017)
- What's new:
- Reporting more statuses to Windows Security Center on latest Windows 10 Fall's Creators Update
- Fixed Bugs:
- Fixed BSOD on x64 systems caused by Sandbox driver
- Fixed crashing User Interface when Sign-In in is used
- Fixed resetting Game Mode rules to default (all ON) after service (computer) restart
- Fixed Avast service exceptions creating dumps of it (without service crash)
- Fixed issue with Gmail signature (007 error) that was breaking outgoing emails
- Fixed Firewall new network toaster to set the correct profile
- Fixed several issues in passive mode (e.g. Avast in passive mode when no other Antivirus solution is installed, Avast in passive mode when another Antivirus client is installed as second etc.)
- And several other internal fixes and tweaks of the product.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.7.2313 Build 17.7.3652.0 Beta (Sep 28, 2017)
- What's new:
- New Virus Chest - it's now part of main UI, more easily accessible via main navigation
- Improved low level optimizations for AMD Ryzen CPUs
- New Webcam shield that checks which apps are trying to turn on your webcam
- 3 modes:
- Smart mode (default) - we allow trusted apps and ask to grant access for unknown apps
- Strict mode - we always ask user if the app should access webcam or not
- No mercy mode - we always block the access to webcam so your webcam can't be turned on
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.7.2312 Build 17.7.3636.0 Beta (Sep 15, 2017)
- What's new:
- You can add Real site exclusions to Webshield exclusions in following form: dns://donotfilter.mydomain.com
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.7.2311 Build 17.7.3631.0 Beta (Sep 14, 2017)
- SafeZone Browser is not installed with clean AV installation anymore (https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB209)
- Several bug-fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.6.2311 Build 17.7.3631.0 (Sep 9, 2017)
- What's new:
- SafeZone Browser is not installed with clean AV installation anymore (https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB209)
- Several bug-fixes
- Known issues:
- Setup: Cleanup component cannot be uninstalled via modify installation or from UI
- Setup: Passive mode is not activated when another Antivirus solution is already installed
- Game Mode: All game mode rules are turned off by default (this setting is reloaded after restart)
- Affects both clean installation and update
- Sensitive Data Shield: When protected documents are modified, such documents are no longer protected
- Sensitive Data Shield: When protected document is stored on device which is unplugged and plugged back to the computer, such documents are no longer protected
- Sensitive Data Shield: Changing rule allow/block in settings are not saved (the rule cannot be changed due to this)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.6.2310 Build 17.6.3625.0 (Sep 1, 2017)
- What's new:
- Improved Anti-Phishing prevents you from falling victim to scams and fake sites (no browser extension needed!)
- New standalone Avast Cleanup Premium product with improved cleaning (to be rolled out in stages)
- We now recommend scanning for hidden network threats when you first connect to a new network
- Our systray icon now shows when you have a security notification
- Improved threat detections are now more visible and more informative about threats
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.6.2310 Build 17.6.3625.0 Beta (Aug 31, 2017)
- We found bug in licensing, so we just released new version with fix - 17.6.2310.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.6.2309 Build 17.6.3623.0 Beta (Aug 28, 2017)
- What's new:
- Systray icon now has a blue dot, when there is a new unread notification
- New notification when you connect to a new network for the first time and provides an option to scan it
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.6.2308 Build 17.6.3611.0 Beta (Aug 18, 2017)
- What's new:
- Anti-phishing in Web Shield - Web Shield now blocks Phishing sites even without the browser plugin Avast Online Security installed in the browser
- New Cleanup Premium - Cleanup is now standalone application, in beta you can use it even without license
- New detection dialogues also for Behavioral Shield
- Improved flow of all detection dialogues
- Fixed animation of systray icon
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.6.2307 Build 17.6.3606.0 Beta (Aug 10, 2017)
- What's new:
- New SafeZone browser version
- Fixed crash during product activation by license
- New Sensitive Data Shield component:
- it scans for documents (pdf,doc,txt) on your PC that contain sensitive information (agreements, work documents, flight tickets etc) and offers an extra protection of those
- the documents are then protected against access by untrusted apps
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.6.2306 Build 17.6.3600.0 Beta (Aug 7, 2017)
- What's new/fixed:
- New dialogs for malware detections
- Offline installation of Avast works without network
- Loading of some websites no longer blocked by Web Shield
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.6.2305 Build 17.6.3594.0 Beta (Aug 1, 2017)
- Fixed blocking of traffic from virtual machines by firewall
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.5.2303 Build 17.5.3585.0 Beta (Jul 17, 2017)
- This version contains fixes under the hood, mainly for SMB customers.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.5.2302 Build 17.5.3559.0 (Jun 26, 2017)
- New feature: Ransomware Shield (for Internet Security and Premier)
- New warning system on dashboard
- Warnings added to notification center
- Redesigned some popups
- Notification counter added to tray icon
- Fixed issues with public profile in Firewall
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.5.2302 Build 17.5.3559.0 Beta (Jun 23, 2017)
- We fixed:
- problems with ignoring issues on Dashboard
- overall stabilization
- couple of more quick fixes in 17.5.2302
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.4.2294 Build 17.4.3482.0 (May 3, 2017)
- What's new:
- updated GUI engine
- fixed notification of finished Smart Scan, now it correctly shows the results instead of starting the scan again
- fixed several crashes in Web Shield (including corruption of large downloaded files)
- fixed crashing during update of virus definitions on 32-bit OS
- viruses detected by File Shield are now correctly moved to quarantine
- firewall profile is correctly recognized also when you connect via different network adapters
- fixed problem with empty windows profile on Windows 10 after avast update
- right-click explorer scan now runs in main window
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.4.2294 Build 17.4.3482.0 Beta (May 1, 2017)
- What's new:
- fixes and things under the hood
- fixed several crashes in web shield
- fixed crashing setup during VPS update on 32b OSes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.4.2293 Build 17.4.3470.0 Beta (Apr 24, 2017)
- fix of crashing installer during VPS update
- samples detected by File System Shield are now correctly moved to quarantine
- firewall profile is correctly recognised also when you connect via different adapters
- fixed several setup crashes
- fixed problem with loading windows profile after AV update on Win10
- Avast updater now correctly checks disc space during update
- fixed websites blocked by fw port scan detection
- fixed webshield causes corruption when dowloading large files
- fixed IE browsing sometimes freezed for a few seconds
- fixed firewall component turned OFF after update
- fixed vairous crashes in webshield and fw
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.4.2292 Build 17.4.3450.0 Beta (Apr 19, 2017)
- What's new:
- updated GUI framework CEF to the latest version
- This is a huge change with impact on a whole product. Please watch any UI crashes or not working pages.
- offline installation on Win XP without internet connection crashes, this scenario will not be supported anymore
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.3.2291 Build 17.3.3443.0 (Mar 30, 2017)
- 2291: Fixes crash in installer
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.3.2290 (Build 17.3.3442.0) Beta (Mar 24, 2017)
- FIXED:
- Firewall: Fixed internet connectivity not working after update (until restart) on Win XP, Vista and 7 - should now always work immediately
- HNS: Fixed incorrectly displayed vulnerabilities - vulnerability info is now correct
- Web Shield: Fixed SSL scanning issue on some sites - sites now load correctly
- Issues with login to roaming profile after update
- Passwords: Fixed issues with self-authorization and import from Easy Pass
- Issue with installation on Braswell CPUs
- Network problems after update on Vista
- Numerous crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.3.2289 (Build 17.3.3434.0) Beta (Mar 17, 2017)
- FIXED:
- Issue with playing HTML5 videos in the SafeZone browser
- Improved compatibility with Windows 10 Creators Update
- Fixed issue with disabling components, which require restart
- Avast Account login is back on the dashboard
- Fixed time and formatting for scheduled scans UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.2.2288 (Build 17.2.3419.0) (Feb 27, 2017)
- What's fixed:
- not working User interface after update
- problems on Windows Vista after update
- issues with SecureLine license after update
- conflict with Comodo firewall
- installation of web extensions on 64-bit version of Firefox
- problems with opening Avast UI after installation
- security issue in SafeZone browser banking mode
New in Avast Free Antivirus 17.1.2286 (Build 17.1.3394.0) (Feb 7, 2017)
- What's new:
- Improved user interface - simplified navigation, new brand colors, notification center
- Behavior Shield - better protects you against ransomware by monitoring running programs for suspicious behavior
- Game mode - helps reduce distractions and lag times by automatically prioritizing your game’s performance and suspending all unnecessary background notifications and processes while you play
- Free version no longer requires email registration
- Performance improvements - faster webpage loading and app launching thanks to optimized hashing algorithms
- Wi-Fi Inspector - previously called Home Network Security, this feature now detects even more problems and vulnerabilities on both home and public networks
- Passwords - faster UI and improved browser integration
- Real Site - our new name for SecureDNS, which prevents DNS hijacking to help you avoid visiting fake websites
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.4.2281 Beta (Nov 4, 2016)
- Changes:
- Fully new UI framework with modern graphics
- Removed screensaver and desktop gadget
- Huge internal changes for product stabilization
- Known issues:
- Some UI parts are not fully finished yet, excuse glitches
- SmartScan and Browser Cleanup not finished
- UI glitches in some expiration messaging dialogs
- Web shield problems on Win 10 internal preview
- Passwords synchronization setup flows are broken
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.3.2280 Build 12.3.3154.0 (Aug 19, 2016)
- Fixed:
- Slowing down computer during installation
- Unavailability to select other language during installation
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.3.2279 Build 12.3.3149.0 (Aug 16, 2016)
- New:
- Passive mode - new compatibility mode, which should solve compatibility issues, when Avast is being installed on a pc, where other AV is installed (and registred to WSC), Most of the shields are turned off, Avast should be updatable
- Added SafeZone browser, Security browser extension and SafePrice extension to Settings->Components for better management
- Fixed:
- BSOD for Skylake processor running Windows 10 Anniversary Update
- Randomly opening Avast UI bug
- SafePrice browser extension component is not installed during update when Browser extension was not installed in the previous version
- Compatibility problems with PICO(Bash) processes on Windows 10 Anniversary Update
- Incorrectly displaying firewall network profile notification
- Avast is correctly recognized in Windows Security Center after upgrade to Windows Anniversary Update
- Showing all passwords as reused in passwords list
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.3.2279 Build 12.3.3149.0 RTM (Aug 15, 2016)
- Fixed:
- Win Vista, registration to Windows Security Centre
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.3.2278 RC (Aug 15, 2016)
- Fixed:
- Compatibility problems with BASH/Ubuntu subsystem (PICO processes) on Win10 Anniversary Update
- FW incorrect displaying profile toaster
- Avast is correctly recognized in WSC after upgrade to Windows Anniversary Update
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.3.2277 Build 12.3.3138.0 Beta (Aug 4, 2016)
- BSOD for Skylake processor running Windows 10 Anniversary Update(RS1)
- Randomly opening Avast UI bug
- SafePrice browser extension component is no longer installed during update when Browser extension was not installed in the previous version
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.2.2276 Build 12.2.3126.2 (Aug 1, 2016)
- Avast released a hotfix for the Avast user-interface (UI) component via the emergency update channel for Avast version 12.2.2276. This hotfix contained a bug which disrupted communication between the Avast Service and the Avast UI. Thus, the warning message "You are unprotected! Avast Background service is not running." was incorrectly displayed in the Avast UI. Despite this, the Avast service was running and you continued to be protected.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.2.2276 Build 12.2.3126.0 (Jul 29, 2016)
- Regular monthly program updates - automatic and silent, configurable via Settings
- Fully compatible with Windows 10 Anniversary Update
- The new Components menu in program Settings - an easier way to control which components are installed and running
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.2.2273 Build 12.2.3106.0 Beta (Jul 19, 2016)
- Fixes and improvements:
- New licensing system
- New implementation of Windows Security center registration
- Rescue Disc fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.1.2272 Build 12.1.3076.0 (Jun 22, 2016)
- Lower system impact - faster boot time, less space taken on disk
- CyberCapture - better detection of unknown and unique files via our cloud technology
- Regular monthly program updates - automatic and silent, configurable via Settings
- Improved detection of router vulnerabilities
- New Bank mode in SafeZone browser
- Faster SecureLine connection
- Antispam is now as opt-in component
- Removed hardware virtualization (NG) - replaced with CyberCapture,that has much lower impact on system resources
- Removed Remote assistance - not used enough and not a core functionality
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.1.2266 Beta (May 27, 2016)
- SecureLine internal enhancements
- Firewall profile switching rewritten
- Avast screens are not displayed on Windows 10 lockscreens anymore
- Boot time scan feature is now being downloaded on-demand
- Fixed showing restart dialog too often and ignore postpone times
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.1.2264 Beta (May 12, 2016)
- Internal enhancements of the licensing component
- Fixed problem with closing post-update window
- SecureLine icon issues fixed
- SafeZone browser - Introducing New Pay Mode
New in Avast Free Antivirus 12.1.2263 Beta (May 9, 2016)
- New scan API for browsing
- Removed NG (VHardware virtualization) - moved the technology to cloud, in next betas we will introduce new flow for handling unknown files
- Removed Stats - Under redesign, will be returned later
- Antispam module is now optional, not installed by default
- Remote assistance removed for good
- Fixed problems with Avast Account
- Fixed issues with slow loading pages in SafeZone browser
- Fixed creation of Rescue Disc
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.2.2262 Beta (Apr 25, 2016)
- fixed crashing installations
- fixed BSOD on AMD processors
- fixed problem with huge antispam log
- fixed repeatedly adding SafeZone browser icon on desktop after program update
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.2.2260 (Apr 7, 2016)
- SafeZone browser is now included also in free version
- Avast program updates are now automatic and silent by default - can be changed via Settings->Update
- Faster computer startup
- Fixed issues with Firewall on Windows 7
- Fixed postpone function on restart dialog
- Fixed starting Pay mode in SafeZone browser
- Better notification about email signatures
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.2.2258 Beta (Apr 1, 2016)
- SafeZone browser is now fixed part of Free version
- Fixed problems with Secureline screen that stuck on tutorial screen
- Removed Personal data section (Form filling) from Passwords - now the full focus is on password management
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.2.2257 RC (Mar 24, 2016)
- Silent Update process is ready
- Secureline - Fixed potentional problem with reconnecting after restart
- SafeZone - PayMode stabilization improvements
- Performance improvements in computer startup
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.2.2256 Beta (Mar 18, 2016)
- This release is mainly about internal improvements and bug fixes:
- Fixed problem with not running FW after update on Windows 7
- Introduced new way of file versioning
- Fixed StreamFilter deadlock
- Added SecureLine localization API
- Fixed No internet connection problem after online installation on Windows XP
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.2.2255 Beta (Mar 11, 2016)
- New Firewall driver on Win7
- Secureline screen rewritten to CEF
- update OpenSSL library to 1.0.2g
- Fixed: Logging into Avast Account
- Fixed: Postpone on Restart dialog
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.2.2254 Beta (Feb 25, 2016)
- Major changes:
- SafeZone Browser - Improved Pay Mode loading stability
- FIXED - NG now works on Windows 10
- FIXED - Firewall Win8+ BSODs
- And more internal efficiency and stability improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2253 (Feb 3, 2016)
- What's new:
- New firewall driver for Win8/10 - fixes issues with non working firewall
- SecureLine start is faster - new OpenVPN method
- Easier turning off email signatures
- Faster loading of passwords list
- Fixed installation of SafeZone browser
- Extensions are now Firefox 64-bit compatible
- SafeZone browser: Added security extension (phishing protection)
- SafeZone browser: Fixed Pay mode crashes
- SafeZone browser: Settings and bookmarks now synced to Pay mode (after browser restart)
- Security fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2251 Beta (Jan 29, 2016)
- "Improved OpenVPN connection method for SecureLine VPN. Connection setup should be 2x faster.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2249 Beta (Jan 21, 2016)
- for Win8+ replacement of Firewall AswNdis driver by new driver - AswNetSec.sys based on WFP
- all binaries are now signed according to new MS security recommendations
- if you see any problems with installation or not working Firewall after update, please report them.
- improved DeepScreen (NG) performance
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2245 (Dec 1, 2015)
- Added option to disable the email signature to Setttings-> General
- SafeZone browser now automatically imports bookmarks and passwords from old SafeZone
- Added shortcut for SafeZone browser to systray menu
- Passwords extension for Firefox is now signed
- Added icons for scans
- HTTPS scanning now supports SPDY protocol
- Fixed problems with browsing on Windows XP
- Fixed issues with expired certificates needed for HTTPS scanning
- Update popup not shown when just checking for latest version
- Fixed missing option to delete custom scan
- Fixed wrong displayed text in menu
- Fixed problems with SecureDNS
- Fixed missing Spanish language in Home network security
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2244 SP1 Beta 3 (Nov 26, 2015)
- Fixed problems with browsing on Windows XP
- Fixed issues with expired certificates needed for HTTPS scanning
- Passwords extension for Firefox is now signed
- SafeZone browser should now automatically import bookmarks from old SafeZone
- Popup not shown when just checking for latest version
- Fixed missing option to delete custom scan
- Added option to disable the email signature to Setttings-> General
- Returned shortcut for SafeZone browser to systray menu
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2242 SP1 Beta 1 (Nov 12, 2015)
- Updated CEF -> fixes some crashes of GUI
- HTTPS scanning now supports SPDY protocol
- Cut texts in menu fixed
- Fixes in SecureDNS
- Fixed missing Spanish language in Home network security
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2241 (Nov 3, 2015)
- NEW: Passwords - Avast can now manage your passwords and generate strong passwords for you. Just one password to remember.
- checks your passwords security
- stores your passwords securely
- includes browser extensions for easier logging in and form filling
- generates strong passwords
- NEW: SafeZone browser - Replaced the SafeZone for safer shopping and banking in Pro, Internet Security and Premier
- Pay Mode: It isolates the session and protects it from possible keyloggers or other malicious software secretly lurking on your computer. With Pay Mode you can perform all your financial transactions in peace, without fear of your password or other personal details being stolen. Pay Mode runs automatically on banking site, but it can be also turned on manually
- Shielded Window: To open there suspicious websites and to ensure full anonymity
- Ad Blocking: includes built in ad blocker extension
- Video downloading for offline viewing
- Easy setup: Automatically imports your bookmarks, history and cookies from your current default browser
- NEW: User interface - More space for content, easy control
- NEW: Feedback possible directly from program - report bugs, feature requests and other suggestions easier
- IMPROVED: Home network security now detects more router vulnerabilites and shows more details
- IMPROVED: Installation - it should be now faster and less obtrusive
- IMPROVED: WebShield HTTPS Scanning - We introduced a new method of HTTPs scanning. It is used in Firefox, Chrome and Opera. It works without changing the certificates and the security parameters and certificates are verified by the browser itself, including checks for untrusted or revoked certificates
- Many other minor tweaks and bug fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2241 RC 3 (Nov 3, 2015)
- Fixed Passwords plugin in IE
- Account screens are now localized
- Minor bug fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2240 RC 2 (Oct 31, 2015)
- Bug fixes
- Fixed issue when installed expired paid product and it was immediately downgraded to Free
- Fixed Passwords plugin in IE
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2238 RC 1 (Oct 27, 2015)
- Bug fixes
- Online Security plugin in Firefox is now signed in all cases (new installation or update)
- Firewall now should run ok on Windows 10
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2237 Beta 4 (Oct 25, 2015)
- Home network security is now fully completed and works also in Smart Scan
- Fixed major bugs in Passwords
- Fixed crashes in SafeZone tabs
- NG is not installed automatically in Free, but can be installed via Custom installation
- Fixed minor problems on uninstall screen
- Fixed problem with non working Firewall afer installation via online installer
- Animated icons in menu + new background on main page
- Trillions of minor bug fixes and improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2236 Beta 3 (Oct 16, 2015)
- Possibility to log in more Avast accounts
- Online security plugin for Firefox is now signed and works in Firefox 42
- Online setup - better recovery if reboot appears during installation
- Passwords extension now works in SafeZone browser
- WebShield HTTPS Scanning: We introduced a new method of HTTPs scanning. It is used in Firefox, Chrome and Opera. It works without changing the certificates with the help of kernel mode hooking. The security parameters and certificates are verified by the browser itself, including checks for untrusted or revoked certificates. Traditional MITM approach is still used for IE and Edge, and is also reactivated when required for particular browser.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 11.1.2234 Beta 1 (Oct 1, 2015)
- NEW: Passwords - Avast can now manage your passwords and generate strong passwords for you. Just one password to remember:
- checks your passwords security
- stores your passwords securely
- includes browser extensions for easier logging in and form filling
- generates strong passwords
- NEW: SafeZone browser - Replaced the SafeZone for safer shopping and banking:
- Pay Mode: runs automatically on banking sites (This isolates the session and protects it from possible keyloggers or other malicious software secretly lurking on your computer. With Pay Mode you can perform all your financial transactions in peace, without fear of your password or other personal details being stolen. Pay Mode can be also turned on manually directly via browser UI.)
- Ad Blocker:The browser comes with built-in Ad Blocker that blocks all those annoying online ads and banners
- Video Downloader: Another cool feature is built-in Video Downloader that allows you to download online videos and store them to your hard drive. Now we support just limited amount of sites (youtube, vimeo, stream, metacafe, yahoo and some others)
- HTTPS scanning while preserving the original certificate
- NEW: User interface:
- More space for content, easy control
- NEW: Feedback possible directly from program:
- Report bugs, feature requests and other suggestions easier
- IMPROVED: Home network security:
- Now detects more router vulnerabilities and shows more details
- IMPROVED: Installation:
- It should be now faster and less obtrusive.
- Many other minor tweaks and fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.4.2233 R4 (Sep 17, 2015)
- Better server selection list in SecureLine
- Fixed: Cleanup to stop on 99%
- Fixed: Problems with HTTPS certificates in Firefox after upgrade to Windows 10
- Fixed: Firewall not started after upgrade to Windows 10
- Fixed: Cleanup to report leftover files, when software was just updated and not uninstalled (e.g. Skype, Java)
- Fixed: Issues with payment gates
- Fixed: Issues with not showing images on some sites
- Fixed: Issues with Outlook 2003 context menu
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.4.2232 R4 RC (Sep 16, 2015)
- removed limitation for Windows XP users
- fixed issues with payment gates
- fixed issues with not showing images on some sites
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.4.2231 R4 Beta 6 (Sep 12, 2015)
- fixed problem with update condition for Windows XP users. Now users with XP shouldn't be able to install/update to build 2231
- fixed issues with Outlook 2003 context menu
- fixed crashing of service during VPS update
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.4.2229 R4 Beta 3 (Sep 5, 2015)
- Today we unusually released 2 beta versions in order to test a new mechanism that will allow to avoid some compatibility issues in the future. For this beta testing we set the rule that machines with Windows XP will be able to update only to version 2228, all other machines will update as usual to the latest version 2229.
- So please test if you machines on XP are on version 2228 and Vista+ on 2229 and both reporting as latest version. Don't worry we will remove the limitation for Windows XP machines in the next beta version, and we also won't limit XP users in the future. This is just for testing purposes.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.4.2227 R4 Beta 1 (Aug 29, 2015)
- Better server selection list in SecureLine
- Fixed: Cleanup to stuck on 99%
- Fixed: Problems with HTTPS certificates in Firefox after upgrade to Windows 10
- Fixed: Firewall not started after upgrade to Windows 10
- Fixed: Cleanup to report leftover files, when software was just updated and not uninstalled (e.g. Skype, Java)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.3.2225 R3 SP1 (Jul 29, 2015)
- Fixes in Avast 2015 R3 SP1:
- Fixed problems with HTTPS browsing on Windows XP SP2
- Fixed problems with email clients on Windows XP SP2
- Fixed issues with firewall during program update and during update on Windows 10
- New features and improvements in Avast 2015 R3:
- Grimefighter is now redone and called Cleanup.
- runs without need of reboot
- much faster
- runs on more devices (better compatibility)
- Improved Windows 10 compatibility
- Ability to check compatibility issues with other antivirus software
- Host-based intrusion prevention system (HIPS): an installed software package which monitors a single host for suspicious activity by analyzing events occurring within that host
- StreamFilter with HTTPS scanning is now available also for Windows XP/Vista
- NG is not using Volume Shadow Copy Service anymore
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.3.2224 R3 SP1 Beta (Jul 25, 2015)
- Fixed minor issues with Firewall during Windows 10 update
- Fixed minor issues with Cleanup
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.3.2223 (Jul 13, 2015)
- Grimefighter is now redone and called Cleanup:
- runs without need of reboot
- much faster
- runs on more devices (better compatibility)
- Improved Windows 10 compatibility
- Ability to check compatibility issues with other antivirus software
- Host-based intrusion prevention system (HIPS): an installed software package which monitors a single host for suspicious activity by analyzing events occurring within that host
- StreamFilter with HTTPS scanning is now available also for Windows XP/Vista
- NG is not using Volume Shadow Copy Service anymore
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.3.2223 RC1 (Jul 10, 2015)
- Fixed confirmation window for AOS in IE
- Fixed problems with Sandbox on Windows 10
- Fixed problem with not functional Firewall on Windows 10
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.3.2222 R3 Beta 3 (Jul 4, 2015)
- Fixed BSOD crash on Windows XP
- Other smaller bugfixes and improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.3.2220 R3 Beta 2 (Jun 25, 2015)
- Grimefighter is now redone and called Cleanup:
- runs without need of reboot
- much faster
- free for beta testers
- runs on more devices (better compatibility)
- Improved Windows 10 compatibility
- Ability to check compatibility issues with other antivirus software
- Host-based intrusion prevention system (HIPS): an installed software package which monitors a single host for suspicious activity by analyzing events occurring within that host
- StreamFilter with HTTPS scanning is now available also for Windows XP/Vista
- NG is not using Volume Shadow Copy Service anymore
- Beta version will now be updated automatically once new beta version released
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.2.2216 R2 SP2 Beta (Apr 16, 2015)
- Server busy problem in Avast UI with loading some remote content
- Incompatability of FS shield with TrueCrypt
- FS shield - lscache.dat improvements
- File-system shield exclusions fixed
- StreamFilter - Improved compatibility with other AV products
- and performance and stability improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.2.2215 R2 RC2 SP1 (Mar 21, 2015)
- Fixes:
- Unable to insert Avast SecureLine license
- Failed to load language dll [1033\UILangRes.dll] error after update
- Mail Shield blocked Windows Live Mail connection
- BCU problems with removing addons in silent mode
- And some minor internal fixes for BSODs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.2.2214 (Mar 3, 2015)
- Improved Windows 10 Compatibility
- Browser Cleanup integrated to Avast UI and added to Smart Scan
- WebShield improvements for faster browsing and fixed issues with expired certificates
- Avast NG virtualization – performance and stability fixes
- AccessAnywhere feature is removed and replaced with remote connection feature available through Account screen in all editions(not limited to Premier)
- New design of Chrome plugin
- Better license activation during setup
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2212 R2 RC 2 (Feb 26, 2015)
- NG is now installed on computers with disabled virtualization CPU extension (valid only for Vista and 7 32 bit).
- Win10 - feel free to update from Win7+ to Win10 with Avast R2 installed
- Stream filter - fixed problem for IE and corrupted/expired certificates
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2211 R2 RC 1 (Feb 20, 2015)
- Performance optimizations in webshield and file system shield. Now they work much better than ever.
- DNT in IE AOSP plugin will not crash anymore
- AswVmm.sys driver - internal NG improvements
- Fresh new design of the Chrome Online Security extension. Do not track detection enabled by default.
- Https scanning works in Opera browser 25+
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2210 R2 Beta 2 (Feb 14, 2015)
- Performance fixes in stream filter
- IE AOSP plugin is more stable than ever
- NG now can be installed on x86 machines without VTx/AMDv
- BCU internal improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2209 R2 Beta 1 (Feb 5, 2015)
- Improved Windows 10 Compatibility
- Changed setup flow for better license activation
- Avast NG – lot’s of performance and stability fixes
- AccessAnywhere function is removed and replaced with new remote connection feature available through Account screen in all editions
- Browser Cleanup integrated to Avast UI and added to Smart Scan
- GrimeFighter now supports UEFI
- Stability and performance improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2207 SP 1 Beta (Nov 6, 2014)
- Missing NG component under certain circumstances
- Fixed a bug in the keyboard driver causing problems with keyboards
- Better compatibility of the WebShield with some https pages (e.g. spotify, waze, etc.)
- SecureDNS - better logic of server selection resulting in performance improvements
- Fixed reported crashes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2206 (Oct 21, 2014)
- NG is now again installed on all HDDs, limitation only in CPU - minimum 2ghz
- Internal NG stability fixes
- Custom scan can be deleted now
- Karma points lead to correct my.avast page
- and few internal stability improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2204 RC3 (Oct 18, 2014)
- NG is now again installed on all HDDs, limitation only in CPU - minimum 2ghz
- Internal NG stability fixes
- Custom scan can be deleted now
- Karma points lead to correct my.avast page
- and few internal stability improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2203 RC2 (Oct 15, 2014)
- Registration to Windows Security Center
- Fixed UI crash while logging to my.avast
- Resource.pak corrupted - Boottime scan problems
- NG now installed only on machines with SSD disks
- and few internal stability improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2202 RC1 (Oct 10, 2014)
- Added support for none SSE2 machines
- IE plugin - stability
- Changed program name to Avast
- Browser Cleanup - Chrome 38 support
- And some general performance and stability improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2201 Beta 3 (Oct 1, 2014)
- Improved malware detection in DeepScreen running on NG
- IE plugin - fixed problem with continuous opening AOSP settings
- Webshield - performance and stability changes
- Browser Cleanup - fixed missing extenstion list for Chrome 37
- SecureDNS stabilization
- Improved registration to Windows Security Center
- Many general performance and stability improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2200 Beta 2 (Sep 20, 2014)
- AVAST NG:
- A hardware based virtualization solution capable of running each Windows process in standalone safe virtualized environment (VM) and fully integrated to your desktop. Each process is executed in its own instance of VM, which means totally isolated from your other applications. This feature is now powering the Avast DeepScreen, resulting in better detection. The technology will also eventually power the Sandbox and SafeZone components (although it does not now).
- Note: In this beta build, not all detections are 100% operable yet, so I wouldn't recommend using the new DeepScreen for detection testing for now. It will be 100% operable in the next couple of weeks - we will certainly let you know when is the good time to start testing with your malware collections.
- Note 2: Avast NG can be installed only on physical machine, does not work in VM. It requires HW virtualization enabled.
- GrimeFighter Free:
- GrimeFighter will offer free cleaning of junk files and tuning of system settings. These tasks are performed by our Zilch and Torque minions. Other minion functions remain as paid-for features.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 10.0.2021 Beta 1 (Aug 16, 2014)
- The UI hasn't changed a lot, but internally we are delivering you a lot of new for this new major version of AVAST:
- HTTPS scanning:
- Now, we are able to detect and decrypt TLS/SSL protected traffic in our Web-content filtering component. We are using our own generated certificates that are added into the Root Certificate store in Windows and also into major browsers. This feature will protect you against viruses coming through HTTPs traffic as well as adding compatibility for SPDY+HTTPS/ HTTP 2.0 traffic. You can tune/disable this feature in the settings section.
- Home Network Security:
- Scan your home network for vulnerabilities (wifi status, connected devices, router settings, factory passwords, etc.). This is quite a new approach as we are trying to discover potential problems not isolated on the particular device only, but in the entire network of devices you use or connect to the Internet from.
- SecureDNS (this feature is active in the paid versions only):
- We are introducing a new provider which guards against unprotected DNS/DNS hijack on a router/client (including unsecured networks, public ones, etc.).
- Smart Scan:
- Integrated all on demand scans into one (Antivirus, Software updates, Home Network, GrimeFighter). One scan, different results and recommendations.
- New Support System:
- Easy contact for paid users to submit a ticket with all info included automatically. Improved knowledge base for free users. Help is completely online and is more up to date.
- General bugfixing:
- This covers a lot of stability & performance changes in all components (but the main focus was traditionally on the network & engine components).
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2021 R4 (Jun 27, 2014)
- We've improved the security of the product - e.g security of our processes (guarded by the self defense component), we handle the conditions for the Guest account better, we are very senstitive for any incorrect inputs from the user with a negative impact on the system's security, or, we tuned the import settings functionality not to allow bypassing any protections
- We've added "resume" support in the setup component, so some of you should notice smoother downloading - depends on a "quality" of your connection (mainly during the program update where the amount of data is quite big)
- We've included a new antispam library (IS/Premier editions) for better accuracy of our anti-spam module
- We've put warnings during the installation process if there could be some obvious problems resulting in not 100% functionality after the installation (missing admin rights, insufficient space on disk, etc.)
- We've added ability to disable promotion popups (in PRO/IS/Premier editions). We strongly believe that our additional products can be valuable for you, but we also respect your will not to be bothered by such offers.
- We've performed a static analysis of our code resulting in many fixes (but don't worry, nothing was critical, just a small tuning
- General bugfixing - this covers a lot of stability & performance changes in all components (but the main focus was traditionally on the network & engine components)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2020 R4 RC (Jun 24, 2014)
- Fixed a lot of issues:
- Improved stability of the IE AOSP plugin
- Occasional uninstall problems
- Several crashes in various components (setup, browser cleanup, ie plugin, etc.)
- Occasional deadlocks in GUI
- GUI glitches
- Failure in RescueDisk creation
- Improved security of our processes (guarded by the self defense component)
- Secureline tuning (user experience mainly)
- Improved avastCleaner
- Tuned text & graphics
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2019 R4 Beta (Jun 17, 2014)
- We've improved the security of the product - e.g we handle the conditions for the Guest account better, we are very senstitive for any incorrect inputs from the user with a negative impact on the system's security, or, we tuned the import settings functionality not to allow bypassing any protections
- We've added "resume" support in the setup component, so some of you should notice smoother downloading - depends on a "quality" of your connection (mainly during the program update where the amount of data is quite big)
- We've included a new antispam library (IS/Premier editions) for better accuracy of our anti-spam module
- We've put warnings during the installation process if there could be some obvious problems resulting in not 100% functionality after the installation (missing admin rights, insufficient space on disk, etc.)
- We've added ability to disable promotion popups (in PRO/IS/Premier editions). We strongly believe that our additional products can be valuable for you, but we also respect your will not to be bothered by such offers.
- We've performed a static analysis of our code resulting in many fixes (but don't worry, nothing was critical, just a small tuning :-)
- General bugfixing - this covers a lot of stability & performance changes in all components (but the main focus was traditionally on the network & engine components)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2018 (Apr 18, 2014)
- Includes changes from the previous Beta version
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2017 SP 1 Beta (Apr 8, 2014)
- Stream Filtering -- fixed stability and compatibility issues, it's running smooth and fast now, so no more browsing problems
- Firewall -- the firewall should be more stable and with better compatibility with other network applications. we spent a lot time analyzing various dumps you provided to us to increase your confidence level.
- Android protection - we can protect (if you wish) your Android phones and tablets with avast! Free Mobile Security (through your active Google Account) automatically (during the installation or update).
- A lot of fixed issues you reported to us
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2016 (Mar 19, 2014)
- Includes changes from the previous development versions
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2014 R3 Beta 1 (Mar 7, 2014)
- Stream Filtering: fixed stability and compatibility issues, it's running smooth and fast now, so no more browsing problems
- ARA/ARC: implemented internal architecture improvements, if you can, please test these components, thanks a lot
- Firewall: the firewall should be more stable and with better compatibility with other network applications
- Improved: Software Updater – new installation wizard lets you download and install multiple updates at once directly from download.com
- Improved: Browser Cleanup – improved detection and removal of browser protectors, those tools that try to block us from getting rid of annoying toolbars
- Improved: GrimeFighter – now supporting 12 additional languages and with an advanced console for more control of optimization tasks. Go ahead and fight the Grime
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2013 (Jan 23, 2014)
- FIXED: Uninstalling avast might hang at "stopping service: avast! antivirus"
- FIXED: Upload issues for Dropbox and Flickr
- Performance and stabilization fixes in Stream Filter - e.g blocking of ajax calls
- Several firewall fixes - e.g. blocking of Google Earth
- Stability improvements - several crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2012 Beta (Jan 16, 2014)
- What was fixed:
- Uninstalling avast might hang at "stopping service: avast! antivirus"
- Performance and stabilization fixes in Stream Filter - e.g blocking of ajax calls
- Several firewall fixes - e.g. blocking of google earth
- Stability improvements - several crashes fixed
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2011 (Dec 17, 2013)
- Finally fully rewritten the WebShield so that it now doesn't work as a "transparent proxy" anymore. I.e. no more routing of all HTTP traffic through the AvastSvc.exe process - which should hopefully result in no more conflicts with various firewalls (especially older firewalls that can't handle transparent proxies) and overall improvement in stability and performance. Besides that (and this is really exciting) it allows us to see and detect more threats (the original webshield had some limitations).
- The Firewall component (in IS and Premier) has also changed dramatically. Made it more compatible with other applications, such as Java and various VPN services.
- The installer/updater has been improved to allow more reliable installation in case of infected machines. The installer is now protected by the avast self-defense driver from the very beginning, making it harder for active malware to kill it (if you have problems starting the installer in the first place, it may be a good idea to try to rename the executable to a random name first)
- The changes in the File System Shield's driver should result in faster performance, especially in the copy files and install programs scenarios.
- We have also beefed up the Browser Cleanup tool to be able to rip off even the more stubborn toolbars and other "PUBEs" (Pontentially Unwanted Browser Extensions
- Also fixed a whole bunch of bugs reported in the last couple of months. Especially if you encountered a problem with R1, try this new version, chances are that the problem is resolved there.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2010 RC (Dec 13, 2013)
- Fixed reported BSODs related to the WebShield, Networkshield and FW
- Browser plugin support in IE11
- USB rescue disk creation sometimes fails (WinXP)
- Added localizations
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2009 Beta 1 (Dec 3, 2013)
- GrimeFighter -- performs a scan to identify ways to speed up, clean up, and better protect your PC. GrimeFighter will run the scan and show you where you can improve the performance of your PC. It then sedates your PC and performs all of the cleaning functions. This need feature is a result of our acquisition of Jumpshot earlier this year.
- SavePrice -- we added a new function to the browser plugins that helps you save money when you are shopping online. It finds better prices for items you are searching for. At the moment, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari are supported. Internet Explorer should be supported in the near future.
- avast! tutorial -- for users who run avast! trials, a tutorial is now available explaining all the great things avast! can do to protect your PC
- Stream Filtering -- a completely rewritten function that is part of the new Web Shield launched in v2014. The three main components of Stream Filtering are a rewritten scanner, new kernel mode inspection techniques, and a new HTTP parser. All of these functions lead to more effective detections of threats
- Firewall -- most importantly, the previous issues with Java have been solved. The firewall should be more stable and with better compatibility with other network applications
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2008 (Nov 11, 2013)
- Fixed issues with Metro apps (after update to Win 8.1)
- Fixed occassional problem with playing sounds on the VPS toasters
- Fixed issue with Outpost FW warning („unsinged“ driver)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2007 (Nov 2, 2013)
- Fixed connection issues from Java applets
- Fixed issues with Security Center registration
- Fixed problems with non english languages in RescueDisk
- GUI fixes
- Firewall fixes
- Fixed issues with WinDVD and SQL connectors
- Fixed issue with non-refreshing Metro apps in Win 8.1
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2006 (Oct 15, 2013)
- Protection-related features and improvements:
- New DeepScreen technology allows avast! to make more intelligent decisions about new/unknown files. DeepScreen is a successor of AutoSandbox, now upgraded with some additional new technologies such as dynamic binary translation and dyna-gen announced earlier.
- New Hardened mode for stricter lockdown scenarios. This is a new mode that is recommended especially for novice users (such as your grandmas): it automatically blocks execution of binaries that would normally be deepscreened (Moderate level) or even allows only execution of programs that are well-known to FileRep (Aggressive level). In a way, it brings the whitelisting concept to the consumer AV space.
- Improved cloud scanning features and crowdsourced analysis of suspicious items. This includes new, optimized mechanism for collecting data from our sensors.
- Continuously streaming update (CSU) technology for up-to-minute detections. This is not entirely new for v2014, but we now have really buttoned up the whole streaming update infrastructure to allow for reliable, uninterrupted service. We’re currently doing 350-400 updates a day, which equals to one update in roughly every 3.75 minutes, 24x7, 365 days a year. Streaming updates can now also carry more types of definitions than before.
- Improved cleaning of malware. This applies to standard malware as well as rootkits and file infectors.
- Other new features:
- All-new web browser plugins featuring comprehensive security ratings, protection against malware, phishing and typosquatting sites and Do-Not-Track (DNT) functionality for improved anonymity on the Internet. The DNT functionality doesn’t rely on the DNT HTTP headers; instead, it uses a proprietary technology that cannot be overridden by the servers.
- All-new SafeZone for more secure online shopping and banking. Users can now switch back and forth between SafeZone and the regular browser with a single click. Also, online banking sites can be automatically opened in the SafeZone.
- Rescue disk - allow users to create a bootable CD or flash disk with Avast on it. Great for cleaning.
- Other improvements:
- A new, streamlined user interface for simplified navigation and more user comfort. The new UI is actually much simplified, and it’s probably the biggest change since version 5.0. We have also redefined the shields to the total number of three (File Shield, Web Shield, Mail Shield) and tweaked the action buttons (tiles) on the home page so that they’re now fully configurable.
- Control and manage all protected devices directly from the Avast console. That is, the my.avast.com account is perfectly integrated in the UI to allow for management of all your devices running Avast.
- Dramatic reduction in product size (full installer < 60MB, compared to today’s 120MB) and memory footprint. By default, install is done through a new stub installer though (which has the advantage of always installing the most up-to-date version).
- Faster scanning thanks to optimized scanning engine (raw [in-memory] scans of EXE files are about 2x faster, while scans of text contents (e.g. web pages and scripts) are up to 10x faster).
- Completely rewritten setup/updater that makes the installation and upgrade process faster, easier and more reliable
- Firewall has been redesigned from scratch to allow for better compatibility with latest Windows, better performance and full support for IPv6 (although its UI hasn’t really changed).
- New licensing system allows for much easier management of product licenses. The system relies on activation codes, and these can be added seamlessly by simply clicking a link.
- Various improvement in the Software Updater and Browser Cleanup tool.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2005 RC 3 (Oct 9, 2013)
- IE browser plugin is now fully working
- Fixed BSOD in FW module
- Fixed GUI crashes
- GUI tuning (other languages, visual glitches)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2004 RC 2 (Oct 4, 2013)
- Fixed:
- taskbar icon > Registration doesn't open GUI
- GUI tuning
- network shield fixes
- WSC - disable MS firewall during AIS installation (but after reboot!)
- SMTP alerts fixes
- several fixes of very unspecified crashes
- mailshield fix for Thunderbird (certificates)
- GUI isn't freezing any more
- Known issues:
- IE sometimes crashes when you click the Online Protection plugin icon
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2003 RC 1 (Sep 27, 2013)
- IE crashes fixed
- my.devices tab GUI tuning
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2002 Beta 3 (Sep 24, 2013)
- FW sometimes blocked downloading of files
- WebShield is now fully IPv6 compatible
- ARA was not fully compatible with previous versions of avast!
- UI statistics page was redesigned
- Disabling of the Web Shield is now working fine
- RescueDisk tuning (GUI & usability)
- GUI glitches
- Network protection component tuning & compatibility (Win8 ) - no more Tdi technology
- Windows 8.1 compatibility
- Smooth updates of VPS & program
- Updated the SafeZone browser
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1497 (Sep 2, 2013)
- Fixed issues related to Win 8 & Win 8.1 (avast! is now fully compatible with these operating systems)
- Fixed issues in virtualization module (including other x64 platform fixes)
- Fixed issues in Script shield
- Outlook plugin fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 9.0.2000 Beta (Aug 16, 2013)
- Protection-related features and improvements:
- New DeepScreen technology allows avast! to make more intelligent decisions about new/unknown files. DeepScreen is a successor of AutoSandbox, now upgraded with some additional new technologies such as dynamic binary translation and dyna-gen announced earlier.
- New Hardened mode for stricter lockdown scenarios. This is a new mode that is recommended especially for novice users (such as your grandmas): it automatically blocks execution of binaries that would normally be deepscreened (Moderate level) or even allows only execution of programs that are well-known to FileRep (Aggressive level). In a way, it brings the whitelisting concept to the consumer AV space.
- Improved cloud scanning features and crowdsourced analysis of suspicious items. This includes new, optimized mechanism for collecting data from our sensors.
- Continuously streaming update (CSU) technology for up-to-minute detections. This is not entirely new for v2014, but we now have really buttoned up the whole streaming update infrastructure to allow for reliable, uninterrupted service. We’re currently doing 350-400 updates a day, which equals to one update in roughly every 3.75 minutes, 24x7, 365 days a year. Streaming updates can now also carry more types of definitions than before.
- Improved cleaning of malware. This applies to standard malware as well as rootkits and file infectors.
- Other new features:
- All-new web browser plugins featuring comprehensive security ratings, protection against malware, phishing and typosquatting sites and Do-Not-Track (DNT) functionality for improved anonymity on the Internet. The DNT functionality doesn’t rely on the DNT HTTP headers; instead, it uses a proprietary technology that cannot be overridden by the servers.
- All-new SafeZone for more secure online shopping and banking. Users can now switch back and forth between SafeZone and the regular browser with a single click. Also, online banking sites can be automatically opened in the SafeZone.
- Rescue disk - allow users to create a bootable CD or flash disk with Avast on it. Great for cleaning.
- Other improvements:
- A new, streamlined user interface for simplified navigation and more user comfort. The new UI is actually much simplified, and it’s probably the biggest change since version 5.0. We have also redefined the shields to the total number of three (File Shield, Web Shield, Mail Shield) and tweaked the action buttons (tiles) on the home page so that they’re now fully configurable.
- Control and manage all protected devices directly from the Avast console. That is, the my.avast.com account is perfectly integrated in the UI to allow for management of all your devices running Avast.
- Dramatic reduction in product size (full installer < 60MB, compared to today’s 120MB) and memory footprint. By default, install is done through a new stub installer though (which has the advantage of always installing the most up-to-date version).
- Faster scanning thanks to optimized scanning engine (raw [in-memory] scans of EXE files are about 2x faster, while scans of text contents (e.g. web pages and scripts) are up to 10x faster).
- Completely rewritten setup/updater that makes the installation and upgrade process faster, easier and more reliable
- Firewall has been redesigned from scratch to allow for better compatibility with latest Windows, better performance and full support for IPv6 (although its UI hasn’t really changed).
- New licensing system allows for much easier management of product licenses. The system relies on activation codes, and these can be added seamlessly by simply clicking a link.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1496 Beta (Aug 8, 2013)
- make Script Shield compatible with the latest browser updates
- several improvements in approach to virtualization - aswVmm
- fixes for BSODs on Win 8.1
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1489 (May 10, 2013)
- BSOD fix in aswTdi.sys
- Fixed WebRep crashes in IE
- Fixed WebRep FF issue with not saving the position
- SecureLine stability improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1488 (May 3, 2013)
- New SecureLine component
- Screen readers compatibility improved
- Software Updater improvements
- Improved stability & performance
- Fixed glitches in UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1486 R2 Beta 3 (Apr 26, 2013)
- WebRep plugins have been redesigned to provide stable and effective solution in all supported browsers
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1484 R2 Beta 1 (Mar 29, 2013)
- SecureLine - is a paid VPN service that both secures and anonymizes your internet connection on public or "open" (unsecured) Wi-Fi. Nobody can see who you are or what you are doing on the internet. Please be patient, this feature will be unblock for your test soon
- Screen readers compatibility
- Software Updater improvements (including a way to turn off Software Update persistently)
- Shredder tool is showing a progress now
- Improved stability & performance
- Fixed glitches in UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1483 (Mar 8, 2013)
- Fixed issue with ZoneAlarm
- Fixed issue with constant CPU frequency
- Fixed issue with video players
- Fixed issue with Virtual PC
- Added some localizations
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1482 (Feb 28, 2013)
- Software Health module
- Browser Cleanup tool
- New User Interface
- Data Shredder (Premier only)
- AccessAnywhere (Premier only)
- Improved Autosandbox/Sandbox technlogy
- Improved General AV performance and stability
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1481 RTM (Feb 27, 2013)
- Fixed FW installation issues on Win8 (upgrade from v7)
- New graphics placed
- Fixed problem with "disappearing GUI" - CreditAlert component
- Fixed issue with Chrome 25
- Fixed IE plugin hangs
- Fixed DHCP issues (unable to obtain IP address)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1479 RC 1 (Feb 20, 2013)
- Some online content does not fit or is not translated yet
- IE WebRep plugin doesn't work
- AccessAnywhere computer list isn't sometimes refreshed
- avast! v8 now runs on Win8 too
- Problems with upgrading v7 to v8 on Win8 related to the network
- XP performance problem solved
- Automatic Profile detection in the firewall on Win7 solved
- No information popup on controlled PC when client is connected via avast! AccessAnywhere
- List of computers shows offline PCs and also those that don’t have AccessAnywhere activated
- BSODs & Webshield crashes fixed
- Problems with Security Center fixed
- Ad Blocker has now final facelift
- Stability issues with Outlook plugin solved
- UI might hang sometimes during connecting to avast! account
- Problems in data shredder solved
- After facebook registration setup might crash so reboot is required to start avast! service
- During softrial gui is not correctly updated
- Trial period could not be activated (update from v7 to v8)
- Missing pre-defined scan jobs (update from v7 to v8)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1477 Beta 2 (Feb 12, 2013)
- avast! v8 now runs on Win8 too
- XP performance problem solved
- Automatic Profile detection in the firewall on Win7 solved
- No information popup on controlled PC when client is connected via avast! AccessAnywhere
- List of computers shows offline PCs and also those that don’t have AccessAnywhere activated
- Stability issues with Outlook plugin solved
- UI might hang sometimes during connecting to avast! account
- Problems in data shredder solved
New in Avast Free Antivirus 8.0.1476 Beta 1 (Feb 12, 2013)
- New GUI
- Software Updater
- Browser Cleanup tool
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1474 (Nov 1, 2012)
- Win8 BSOD fixed (but still investigating some issues)
- Crashes, freezes on WinXp 64b fixed
- WebRep issues fixed
- Sandbox stability improved
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1473 (Oct 24, 2012)
- Full compatibility with Windows 8
- Outlook plugin stability and performance
- Browser plugins stability
- General AV performance and stability
- Facebook integration
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1472 RC (Oct 19, 2012)
- Changes in this build:
- Finalized METRO UI stuff (notifications, icons, etc.)
- WebRep plugins are now working correctly in all major browsers
- Fixed network problems on Win8
- Fixed various crashes/BSODs based on BETA reports
- Known issues:
- Investigating occasional crashes on Win8 related to a new network driver
- Waiting for the final review of Win8 logo program from Microsoft
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1466 (Aug 22, 2012)
- Main changes/fixes:
- More reliable processing of Soft-trial requests
- Fixed "Black screen" syndrome
- Fixed crashes in IE WebRep module
- Fixed random switching to the Safezone
- Improved stability & performance of Outlook plugin
- Double VPS update sounds
- Fixed SNX issues
- Fixed some BSODs
- Fixed some leaks
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1451 (Jun 29, 2012)
- Changes in the autosandbox module
- Improvements in Remote Assistance (support for UAC prompts etc.)
- Improvements in SafeZone (protection against kernel-mode keyloggers; Updated SafeZone Browser; clipboard sharing, etc.)
- Outlook plugin redesign
- Opera support in WebRep
- SiteCorrect module for the detection of unwanted websites
- Windows 8 compatibility updates
- Emergency Updater
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1447 RC 1 (Jun 26, 2012)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1442 Beta (Jun 12, 2012)
- Changes in the autosandbox module
- Improvements in Remote Assistance (support for UAC prompts etc)
- Improvements in SafeZone (protection against kernel-mode keyloggers; Updated SafeZone Browser; clipboard sharing, etc.)
- Outlook plugin redesign
- Opera support in WebRep
- SiteCorrect module for the detection of unwanted websites
- Windows 8 compatibility updates
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1418 (Mar 7, 2012)
- Improved File System Shield speed
- Improved AutoSandbox stability
- Improved AutoSandbox controls
- Improved gadgets
- Compatibility with Win 8 Consumer Preview
- Greater stability of Outlook plugins
- Other security and stability-related improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1412 R2 Beta (Mar 2, 2012)
- Fixed issues:
- Autosandbox BSODs
- Too much activity of File System Shield
- UI crashes
- Show Installation Completed window just once
- Problem with not running Mail shield
- Incorrect marking emails as a SPAM
- Slowdown of system after fresh installation
- And some security & user improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1407 (Feb 24, 2012)
- Reputation scanning via FileRep (cloud-based)
- Streaming updates
- Sandbox & Autosandbox improvements
- Remote assistance
- Browser protection improvements (including antiphishing)
- New installer
- Export/Import settings
- UI facelift
- Screensaver facelift
- Runs on Win8 Developer Preview
- Many other security and stability related fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1403 RC (Feb 23, 2012)
- On Win 7, you can now switch between the horizontal and vertical orientation of the avast! desktop gadget
- avast! Account portal will be finalized in the following few days; the basic functionality is already there. Enjoy.
- Autosandbox malware analysis is not yet fully functional (it will be turned on [through the VPS] soon)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1401 Beta 3 (Feb 18, 2012)
- New avast! Gadget
- Fixed avast! Remote Assistance
- Improved Helps & Localizations
- Registration is working again
- Account Settings page is functional
New in Avast Free Antivirus 7.0.1396 Beta (Feb 9, 2012)
- New features:
- New installer
- UI facelift
- FileRep service (cloud based)
- Streaming updates
- Sandbox & Autosandbox improvements
- Browser protection improvements
- Remote assistance feature to help your friends with computer troubles
- Support tool
- Export/Import settings
- Screensaver facelift
- runs on Win8 Developer Preview
- and many, many security improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1356 Beta (Nov 22, 2011)
- Script Shield now works with Google Chrome, all versions of Firefox and Acrobat Reader
- Improvements in WebRep plugins (especially IE)
- Stability improvements in aswSP.sys and the avast! sandbox
- File system shield: improved on-close scanning
- avast! Internet Security: new antispam engine
- Web Shield and Script Shield: more options in the UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1352 Beta (Nov 14, 2011)
- Script Shield now works with Google Chrome, all versions of Firefox and Acrobat Reader
- Improvements in WebRep plugins (especially IE)
- Stability improvements in aswSP.sys and the avast! sandbox
- File system shield: improved on-close scanning
- avast! Internet Security: new antispam engine
- Web Shield and Script Shield: more options in the UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1351 Beta (Nov 12, 2011)
- Script Shield now works with Google Chrome, all versions of Firefox and Acrobat Reader
- Improvements in WebRep plugins (especially IE)
- Stability improvements in aswSP.sys and the avast! sandbox
- File system shield: improved on-close scanning
- Web Shield and Script Shield: more options in the UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1289 (Sep 7, 2011)
- New Script Shield - now scanning deeper and supporting more host processes
- Web Shield now scanning all processes by default
- Stability improvements in aswSP.sys
- Better tracking of file sources
- WebRep now working in new versions of Firefox
- Under-the-hood improvements in the Behavior Shield and Sandbox modules
- Solved a compatibility problem with certain Steam-based games
- Minor improvements in the product UI
- Various other security and stability related fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1279 Beta (Sep 1, 2011)
- Solved a compatibility problem with QQ
- Solved a compatibility problem with certain Steam-based games
- Script Shield: Implemented a scanning cache which should prevent redundant/repetitive scans
- Script Shield: Implemented scan exclusion settings
- Script Shield: Now works with Firefox 7/8/9 betas
- Web Shield: scanning of all processes can now be disabled in shield's Expert Settings
- Cosmetic changes in the UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1273 Beta (Sep 1, 2011)
- Solved the Firefox crash issue
- A few stability improvements in the sandbox module (e.g. PDF reader support)
- Cosmetic changes in the UI
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1203 (Jul 5, 2011)
- improved compatibility with Windows Vista SP0/SP1 (activation issues)
- attempt to solve the "Windows Media Player using a red skin" problem
- Firewall: solved the compatibility problem with uTorrent
- improved load time of WebRep IE plugin
- fixed a bug in Google Chrome WebRep plugin causing excessive CPU usage
- improvements in the silent installer
- improved the CommunityIQ sample submission process
- improved detection/removal of the most stubborn rootkits (TDL family)
- various stability and compatibility improvements in the sandbox module
- added new CreditAlert feature (US customers only)
- added Thai and Serbian language packs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1198 Beta (Jul 1, 2011)
- Important changes:
- improved compatibility with Windows Vista SP0/SP1
- attempt to solve the "Windows Media Player using a red skin" problem
- Firewall: improved compatibility with uTorrent
- improved the sample submission process
- introduced new CreditAlert feature (US customers only)
- improved load time of WebRep IE plugin
- improvements in the silent installer
- improvements in the sandbox module
- added Thai and Serbian language packs
- New:
- Firewall: the long-standing uTorrent compatibility problem should now be finally resolved
- improved tracking of file sources
- improvements in the installer
- fixes of bugs reported in the previous beta
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1184 Beta (Jun 22, 2011)
- improved compatibility with Windows Vista SP0/SP1
- attempt to solve the "Windows Media Player using a red skin" problem
- Firewall: improved compatibility with uTorrent
- improved the sample submission process
- introduced new CreditAlert feature (US customers only)
- improved load time of WebRep IE plugin
- improvements in the silent installer
- improvements in the sandbox module
- added Thai and Serbian language packs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1125 (May 11, 2011)
- solved a problem in aswSP.sys that could lead to a system crash
- improved tolerance for corrupted installations
- when updating from a previous version of avast Pro/IS, SafeZone is now automatically added
- solved a compatibility problem with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro
- improved cleaning of rootkits
- fixes in Chrome WebRep plugin
- Behavior Shield: improved compatibility with other applications
- improvements in the CommunityIQ submission system
- various performance and compatibility improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1091 (Apr 19, 2011)
- Solved a compatibility problem with ZoneAlarm (WinXP)
- Added WebRep Chrome extension
- Improved installation of the WebRep plugins (especially Firefox)
- Various fixes and improvements in the avast sandbox
- Setup programs now smaller by ~20%
- Community features and the Welcome screen can now be turned on/off directly from program settings
- Solved a compatibility problem with Outpost firewall
- Solved a bug related to the AutoSandbox offer (WinXP)
- Gadget can now be removed by simply closing it
- Solved a compatibility problem with GameGuard and sXe
- SafeZone improvements
- Improved sandbox logging
- SafeZone is now a standalone setup package (can be installed/uninstalled separately)
- Improvements in password processing
- Improvements in the program uninstaller
- Solved a memory leak in the avast gadget
- Fixes in the File System Shield transient cache
- Various stability/compatibility improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.1000 (Mar 8, 2011)
- NEW! AutoSandbox suspicious programs will be optionally run sandboxed
- NEW! avast! WebRep browser plugin for website reputation rating; a combination of data from our virus lab and community voting
- NEW! SafeZone a special virtualized area for sensitive transactions (e.g. secure online banking) (paid products only)
- Script Shield now even in the Free AV
- Site Blocking now even in the Free AV
- fixed USB Safe Removal issue
- Restore factory settings command (Settings -> Troubleshooting)
- Automatic actions in the boot-time scan
- Script Shield now functional even with IE8/IE9 Protected Mode
- Sidebar gadget
- Improved stability/compatibility of the Behavior Shield
- Improvements in the avast! sandbox
- Fixes in the Outlook plugin
New in Avast Free Antivirus 6.0.934 Beta (Jan 31, 2011)
- Main changes/improvements:
- AutoSandbox - suspicious programs will be optionally run sandboxed
- avast! WebRep - browser plugin for website reputation rating; a combination of data from our virus lab and community voting
- Script Shield now even in the Free AV
- Site Blocking now even in the Free AV
- Restore factory settings command (Settings - Troubleshooting)
- Automatic actions in the boot-time scan
- New compression method in the installer makes the setup packages about 20% smaller.
- Script Shield now functional even with IE8/IE9 Protected Mode
- Sidebar gadget
- Improved stability/compatibility of the Behavior Shield
- Improvements in the avast! sandbox
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.1.889 (Jan 13, 2011)
- solved a compatibility problem with CorelDraw X5
- solved a compatibility problem with Acer control software
- solved a problem inserting a license file via the installation wizard
- solved a compatibility problem with some Dell wireless network adapter drivers
- solved a compatibility problem with Game Guard (used by a number of games)
- solved a compatibility problem with Sibelius
- solved various 0xC0000005 and 0xC000007B errors (e.g. with some .NET applications)
- issues related to upgrades from v5.0 (inactive shields, missing right-click associations, missing 64-bit boot-time scanner etc)
- solved some possible deadlock conditions (relatively rare but possible)
- performance related improvements
- various UI related improvements
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.1.864 (Jan 3, 2011)
- The most notable improvements are:
- boot-time scanner now available even in 64-bit Windows
- big improvements in the Behavior Shield
- improvements in the antirootkit engine
- improvements in the cleaning module
- stability/performance improvements in the Web Shield
- CommunityIQ improvements
- added support for sound packs
- minor improvements in the user interface
- minor fixes in the firewall
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.1.798 Beta (Dec 7, 2010)
- Most notable improvements include:
- Boot-time scanner for 64-bit OSes (finally!)
- Behavior Shield improvements - now with more sensors and able to detect exact offenders*
- Improved cleaning of infected computers
- Improved anti-rootkit engine - now capable of dealing with the latest TDL variants, for example
- Web Shield improvements (both stability and performance related)
- Mail and Web Shields not hosted in separate NT services anymore, resulting in much faster starts
- IS: new version of antispam engine
- Sound packs (more info coming later)
- *The Behavior Shield functionality is still incomplete in this build. And even in the final v5.1, it will work only in "passive mode", which means that the new sensors will be active but won't be stopping the attacks, just reporting them to our backend infrastructure (unless you have opted out from the avast! community membership). This is to allow us to collect enough data before enabling the real thing in Q1 2011.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.677 (Sep 8, 2010)
- solved a problem that could lead to disappearing of the avast service
- Behavior Shield: solved a minor stability issue (aswSP.sys) + solved a Win7 issue
- performance and stability improvements in the avast! sandbox
- changes in the engine allowing us to generically detect/block some new types of exploits
- speed improvements in the updater
- IS: fixed a vulnerability in aswFw.sys (Secunia Advisory SA40868)
- solved a vulnerability related to license files (Secunia Advisory SA41109)
- solved a problem with scanning of files with very long path names
- fixed the updater in East-Asian versions of avast running with Windows set to a different locale
- IS: improvements in the Outlook antispam plugin
- IS firewall: improvement in the path name matching
- IS: upgraded to the new version of antispam engine
- minor changes and fixes in the GUI
- fixes in the screen reader support
- fixed a bug where the File System Shield was scanning some files even after being disabled
- added trimming of setup.log
- added Danish, Hebrew and Urdu language packs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.673 Beta (Sep 4, 2010)
- more improvements in the avast sandbox
- few fixes in the new language modules
- Firewall: improvement in the path name matching (now handling correctly symbolic links etc)
- added trimming of setup.log
- a stability improvement in the avast service
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.668 Beta (Sep 1, 2010)
- solved the pesky memory leak introduced in v5.0.661
- a few cosmetic fixes in the UI
- improvements in the avast sandbox
- improvements in the Outlook antispam plugin (it would be helpful if users of the avast Internet Security could test this one).
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.661 Beta (Aug 28, 2010)
- solved the vulnerability related to license files (Secunia Advisory SA41109)
- solved a UI crash condition during File system shield detections
- solved a problem with scanning of files with very long path names
- fixed the updater in East-Asian versions of avast running with Windows set to a different locale
- added Urdu language pack
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.656 Beta (Aug 24, 2010)
- Most notable improvements include:
- solved a problem that could lead to disappearing of the avast service
- Behavior Shield: solved a minor stability issue (aswSP.sys)
- performance and stability improvements in the avast! sandbox
- changes in the engine allowing us to generically detect/block some new types of exploits
- speed improvements in the updater
- IS: fixed a vulnerability in aswFw.sys (Secunia Advisory SA40868)
- IS: upgraded to the new version of antispam engine
- minor changes and fixes in the GUI
- fixes in the screen reader support
- added Danish and Hebrew language packs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.594 (Jun 29, 2010)
- improved interaction with Windows System Restore; namely, avast now auto-repairs itself when it detects a corrupted VPS due to a System Restore (or other reasons)
- aswSP.sys: solved a minor stability issue
- solved a problem related to inserting of the license files
- added the activation codes feature
- improvements in the avast! sandbox
- solved a problem when avast was continuously slowing down (especially in conjunction with the screensaver)
- performance improvements in the Behavior Shield
- avast Screen saver now accessible even in 64-bit Windows Vista
- stability improvement in aswTdi.sys (solved a compatibility problem with AVG)
- IS firewall: solved a potential BSOD condition
- various improvements in the avast! sandbox module
- minor fixes in the GUI
- added Catalan and Belarusian language packs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.545 (May 7, 2010)
- Solved a bug related to submission of false positives
- Improvements in the Behavior Shield (realtime antirootkit part)
- Sandbox: many functional, stability and performance improvements
- Firewall: VPN compatibility fixes (should now work even in Public zone etc)
- Firewall: solved an issue related to hang and/or crash of the afwServ.exe process
- Finally works with major screen readers (avast is now blind-friendly)
- Compatibility improvements in the Web Shield
- Various fixes in the Outlook antispam add-in
- Improved detection of droppers
- Setup program of the Pro AV now also accepts v4.x license keys
- Right-to-left support
- Added Croatian and Arabic language packs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.507 (Apr 15, 2010)
- scanning and virus chest features now accessible even from Windows Safe Mode
- aswSP.sys: solved a minor stability issue (fixed duplicating of protected handles)
- enhanced compatibility with various Winsock LSPs
- various improvements in the avast! sandbox
- improved cleaning of file infecting viruses
- added compatibility with screen readers; avast! should now be reasonably accessible to visually impaired users
- system files imported to the virus chest after upgrade from v4.8 are now removed
- various fixes in the Outlook antispam add-in
- fixes in ashUpd.exe
- minor improvements in the installer, especially when upgrading from avast v4.8
- avast! Screen saver can be now configured via the screensaver properties dialog
- minor fixes in the GUI
- added Dutch, Portuguese (Portugal), Norwegian, Finnish, Slovenian, Turkish and Vietnamese language packs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.499 Beta (Apr 11, 2010)
- Most notable improvements include:
- scanning and virus chest features now accessible even from Windows Safe Mode
- aswSP.sys: solved a minor stability issue (fixed duplicating of protected handles)
- Pro AV / IS: solved file enumeration problem on FAT32 partitions
- enhanced compatibility with various Winsock LSPs
- various improvements in the avast! sandbox
- improved cleaning of file infecting viruses
- added compatibility with screen readers; avast! should now be reasonably accessible to visually impaired users
- system files imported to the virus chest after upgrade from v4.8 are now removed
- IS firewall: solved a problem related to VPN connections (Windows XP)
- IS firewall: solved a problem related to Xbox360 media sharing
- IS firewall: solved a potential BSOD condition when changing logical drive mappings
- IS firewall: solved a potential crash when saving the packet rules
- Pro AV / IS: solved a compatibility problem with PerfectDisk 11
- Pro AV / IS: ashCmd.exe switch /@ should work again
- minor improvements in the installer, especially when upgrading from avast v4.8
- avast! Screen saver can be now configured via the screensaver properties dialog
- minor fixes in the GUI
- added Dutch, Portuguese (Portugal), Norwegian, Finnish and Slovenian language packs
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.373 Beta (Jan 19, 2010)
- The main goal of this new version is to improve stability of the Behavior Shield and Firewall components. It would be great if it could be tested especially by those who have had problems with the previous betas (e.g. bsods etc).
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.366 Beta (Jan 16, 2010)
- flaky browsing (in IE)
- high CPU usage in the System process
- general stability issues
- BSODs caused by the sandbox
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.363 Beta (Jan 15, 2010)
- crashes related to the Behavior Shield module
- many improvements in the firewall
- improvements in the sandbox
- other stuff in the Behavior Shield
- fixes in the antirootkit module
- cosmetic fixes
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.332 Beta (Dec 31, 2009)
- crashes related to the Behavior Shield module
- few more memory leaks in the firewall
- other stuff in the Behavior Shield
- a few issues in the sandbox
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.326 Beta (Dec 29, 2009)
- solved a nasty memory leak in AIS (reported a few times on the forum)
- (hopefully) solved all the issues related to trial licenses and registrations
- solved scan areas in custom scans
- solved areas in boot-time scanner
- solved some Behavior Shield -related crashes in aswSP.sys
- solved some sandbox-related crashes in aswSnx.sys
- stability and functional improvements in the firewall
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.314 Beta (Dec 24, 2009)
- There are many fixes in this build as well as some new stuff (sorry, no detailed change log for now). Stability of the IS should now be substantially improved. A few things are still not implemented (a few of the firewall features, such as the Firewall logs, the low-level packet rules and the Process control expert settings).
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.259 Beta (Dec 1, 2009)
- solved the pesky updater issue (AvastUI.exe error 0xC0000022)
- solved a rare BSOD issue in aswSP.sys
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1368 (Nov 28, 2009)
- now compatible with Windows 95/98 again
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1367 (Nov 26, 2009)
- improvements in the malware URL blockers
- solved a vulnerability in aswRdr.sys (CVE-2009-4049) (special thanks to Giuseppe Bonfa)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.221 Beta (Nov 6, 2009)
- 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.
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.167 Beta (Oct 16, 2009)
- 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)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 5.0.150 Beta (Oct 8, 2009)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1356 (Sep 25, 2009)
- 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)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1335 (Feb 6, 2009)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1296 (Nov 27, 2008)
- 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)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1290 (Nov 19, 2008)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1287 (Nov 18, 2008)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1282 (Nov 13, 2008)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1201 (May 16, 2008)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1195 (May 13, 2008)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.8.1169 (Mar 30, 2008)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.1098 (Dec 5, 2007)
- 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)
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.1043 (Sep 6, 2007)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.1029 (Jul 28, 2007)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.9976 (Apr 30, 2007)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.986 (Apr 19, 2007)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.981 (Apr 14, 2007)
- 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-S�bastien 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.942 (Jan 16, 2007)
- Standard Shield works on Vista 64bit again
- fixed problems with (missing or non-functional) resident protection virus warning popup, occurring on some systems
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.938 (Jan 16, 2007)
- fixed a problem with password-lock for resident protection settings
- fixed very slow updating on Windows 95/98/ME
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.936 (Jan 13, 2007)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.892 (Sep 26, 2006)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.869 (Aug 7, 2006)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.844 (Jun 1, 2006)
- 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
New in Avast Free Antivirus 4.7.817 (Apr 19, 2006)
- 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