Hi, all. Please welcome the newest version of Avast AV: 21.7 (21.7.2481)
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Added proper context for users stuck on version 21.2 due to outdated OS and provided instructions how to update from Win7
As usual a big thanks goes to the team for yet another successful release!
How to install:
Update from your existing Avast version via Settings → Update → Update program
Why is Avast using CEF? I would assume it uses more resources and more importantly seems like it will require security updates each month? Can the updates be pushed by emergency fixes, if not then one has to update avast all the time.
Another error when trying to download the offline installation file for Avast Free. I have Firefox to use https connections only, but it is strange that the download location isn’t https, yet the link given is https, but this obviously redirects to iavs9x.avg.u.avcdn.net which doesn’t appear to support it ?
HTTPS-Only Mode Alert
Secure Connection Not Available
See attached image.
Given the errors reported by others I will hang back once more.
Presumably because of the inclusion of the firewall in avast free, the avast uninstall utility will also have to be updated ?
Avast installation files have become bigger version after version. Most of the extra features are useless because there are variety of other free alternatives. Avast team should consider to remove them from the Avast installer and make those extra features become the standalone products like Avast browser instead of adding them into Avast installation files.
Got the Free version and the firewall still looks like it is locked away behind premium, I got Comodo Firewall installed anyways, so if it does active I’ll just disable it, but awesome nonetheless.
Would be nice if advanced users who are interested in trying out new tech like the new Firewall could manually activate it via Geek menu. Instead of hoping for the best that they are drafted into the testing group by random chance…
I have been using Avast Free for many years on this PC with no issues. Today I updated through the Avast UI to this version and Avast crashes immediately upon starting up the UI. I have tried repairing, and a clean uninstall and reinstall. I even restored a previous OS image which had the version from May/June 2021 on it that was still working fine. I tried to uninstall/clean install again on the restored OS with the same result. I am running Win 10 21h1 with all of the latest updates. CPU is i7-4790K on ASUS Maximus Hero VII with 16GB of crucial ram. The error I am getting in the WER report is:
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AvastUI.exe Stopped working 8/26/2021 4:08:43 PM All Users 0xc0000374 A heap has been corrupted.
StackHash_aeea 10.0.19041.1110 C:\Program Files\Avast Software\Avast\AvastUI.exe 31,496
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I also tried the latest AVG with the same result and am now forced to use another antivirus. Please take a look at this issue. Thanks.
hey asyn does that mean the firewall will actively be fully present for all users on avast 21.8 or 21.9 update because the previous ones still need monitoring firewall feature by avast ?
;D