Avast Free Antivirus 19.4.2374 for PC Windows

* improvements in some unpackers (WinExec, Installer, ZIP)
* improved memory scan, especially under 64-bit operating systems
* fixed a possible deadlock condition when copying system files from some removable media
* fixed a possible problem with access rights when deleting infected files on reboot
* Web Shield: minor stability fixes
* Internet Mail: smtp.gmail.com and smtp.live.com now ignored on port 25 (as these are SSL only)
* improved healing of some infected files
* various fixes and improvements in the scanning engine
* Web Shield now scans pages compressed with the "deflate" algorithm
* performance optimization of Standard Shield under Windows Vista
* improvements in the automatic sample submission system
* improvements in the URL blocker

* minor improvements in some unpackers
* improvements in the false positive submission system
* speed optimization in kernel-mode components
* XML scan reports now generated in UTF-8 format (allow for non-Latin characters)

* improvements in the malware submission system
* minor improvements in some unpackers
* improvements in the rootkit scanner
* Network Shield: solved a problem occurring on systems with missing TCP stack

* improvements in 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

* Web Shield: solved compatibility problems with Opera browser
* Web Shield: solved problems with some D-Link router devices

* improvements in some unpackers (WinExec, SFX CAB, LHARC, ZOO)
* check for critical system files is now performed even in the on-access scanner (as a prevention of false positives)
* command line scanner (ashCmd.exe): fixed displaying of directory count
* Windows Vista: during a scan of system drive, duplicate entries are now handled correctly (symlinks)
* Explorer extension process (ashQuick.exe) now ends immediately after aborting a scan
* fixed a bug in SMTP alerts (adding of random characters to the address)
* verification of digital signatures now fixed even for the on-access scanner (Windows Vista and Windows XP x64)
* fixed the setting to disable checking of infected files during on-demand scans
* Enhanced UI: it is no longer possible to delete a default task by using the Delete key
* solved a synchronization problem that could potentially lead even to a hang of an avast component (e.g. the Outlook plugin)
* Windows Vista SP1: solved an issue in the kernel driver aswSP.sys (problems during system shutdown)
* added a workaround to a compatibility problem with NComputing NCT
* Standard Shield: improved handling of exceptions
* improvements in the rootkit submission system
* mail scanner: fixes in IMAP handler (Thunderbird)

* solved incompatibility with System Safety Monitor (SSM)
* improved compatibility of the self defense module with XP SP3 (and its installation)
* minor enhancements in the Web Shield (detection of streaming content)
* minor fixes in the updater

* solved incompatibility of the avast self protection module and the System Restore feature (Windows XP/Vista)
* solved keyboard/mouse lags in some games (e.g. World of Warcraft)
* "Quick" scan now quick again (in the previous version, it was usually slower than "Normal" scan)
* fixed slow resuming from hibernation (on certain systems)
* improved stability of aswSP.sys kernel driver
* fixed deleting of infected files in some nested archives
* shell extension: under Windows Vista, shortcut targets are now correctly scanned
* boot-time scanner now correctly displays warning messages about corrupted archives
* improved scanning speed in the Simple user interface
* improved handling of scan exceptions
* self protection: improved detection of changes in the INI file
* start of the "avast! Mail Scanner" service should now be fast again
* fixed a problem with avast being installed in a directory with name containing non-Latin characters
* fixed entering of the license key (didn't work in certain configurations)
* improved detection/healing of MBR rootkits
* avast can now correctly handle the case when the INI file is missing/corrupted
* the "Disable startup rootkit scan" option on the Troubleshooting page now effective
* P2P Shield: added support for Azureus Vuze and Qtrax
* taskbar messages from Internet Mail should now correctly handle most common character encodings
* fixed problems with the boot-time scanner on FAT[32] partitions
* small improvements in some unpackers (WinExec, RAR, CHM)
* fixed the message announcing the license key going to expire soon
* on 64-bit Windows, avast now detects both 32-bit and 64-bit version of the WHS connector
* the avast Home / Pro Edition comparison window is now correctly displayed even under Windows 9x

* avast! now contains a built-in anti-rootkit protection
* avast! now comes with a built-in anti-spyware protection
* new self-defense function to prevent active malware from terminating avast! processes as well as corrupting avast! files and registry items
* scanners now display a progress of current scan (percentage of work done)
* fixed a vulnerability in AavmKer4.sys kernel-mode driver (problem applies to Windows NT/2000/XP, 32-bit only); special thanks to Tobias Klein
* improvements in boot-time scanner (detection & removal of hidden or hard to delete files)
* boot-time scanner will not start when booting into Safe Mode (the program was "invisible" in that case, no progress/messages could be seen)
* improvements in many unpackers
* ACE and RAR unpackers now work even in boot-time scanner
* IM Shield: added support for QQ
* improvements in handling of NTFS streams
* Internet Mail provider now displays the name of the sending/receiving program in the tooltip of its taskbar icon
* implemented a protection against false positives in critical system files
* removed a small memory leak in one of avast! drivers (Windows Vista and XP 64-bit only)
* added support for 64-bit WHS connector (available in WHS Power Pack 1)
* greatly improved performance of the updater, especially in cases where many increments are being downloaded (e.g. avast! installations with outdated virus definitions)
* silent installation now also includes scheduled tasks, if any
* resolved a compatibility issue with Acronis TrueImage (XP 64-bit only)
* compatibility tests with Vista SP1 and XP SP3

* fixed a vulnerability in TAR unpacker (special thanks to "Sowhat" of Nevis Labs)
* improvements in various unpackers (winexec, installer, CAB, NTFS Streams)
* boot-time scanner now functional even with USB keyboards
* speed improvements in the Outlook plugin (Windows XP+)
* Web Shield: compatibility improvements
* Internet Mail provider: improvements on Windows Vista
* CAB unpacker now working in boot-time scan
* RAR unpacker modified so that it is now more tolerant to certain corrupted archives (issue reported by Thierry Zoller of n.runs AG)
* Professional Edition: scheduled scan progress icon now accessible even in Windows Vista
* Windows 9x/ME: fix in the Mail Protection Wizard (related to Mozilla Thunderbird accounts)
* fixed a bug in the scan area selection dialog in Windows NT/2000
* optimizations in the updater
* removed mail heuristics false alarm (related to TNEF attachments)

* fixed a problem in the boot-time scanner (prevents the intermittent "Unhandled Exception" errors)
* added Inno Setup unpacker
* speed optimization of certain operations (e.g. scanning of emails in the Internet Mail provider)
* Standard Shield: fixed a memory leak (Windows NT/200/XP)
* mail scanner: fix in IMAP handler (solves problems with Nortel CallPilot, for example)
* Windows Vista: removed the conflict with Asus Data Security Manager
* Web Shield: now scans even data returned from HTTP POST requests
* speed improvements in the area selection dialog
* fixed various small issues on Windows Vista

* infrastructure changes in the scanning engine bringing higher detection rates
* fixed a bug that was sometimes causing crash of the avast! screensaver during its initialization
* improved handling of corrupted files in the SIS and CAB unpackers
* Standard Shield: fixed a minor memory leak in the Vista (and Vista only) driver
* Standard Shield: improved the "move to chest" command in Vista
* Standard Shield: the default scan exceptions are now valid for read/write access only (not 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

* Professional Edition: fixed installation of the ScriptBlocker module which could have previously caused various problems (e.g. in Internet Explorer)
* program installation now completes successfully even if Spyware Doctor is installed (the "OnGuard" module of Spyware Doctor contains a bug that was previously preventing the avast installation from working correctly)
* program installation now better handles the situation when repairing previous (corrupted) installs
* mail scanner: fix for marking of new emails as "read" (the problem was taking place in Thunderbird 2.0 in conjunction with some IMAP servers)
* fix for scanning of areas with East Asian names (Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista)
* added Armadillo unpacker

- fixed the Outlook/Exchange provider on Windows 9x/ME
- solved incompatibility of memory scan with certain 3rd party applications
- fixed the boot-time scan under Windows NT 4.0