Greetings,
I am running 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, fully up-to-date with all recommended and critical MS updates, and no other security software beside avast!. I had been using avast 5.0.677, uninstalled it using Add/Remove Programs, rebooted normally, then rebooted again into Safe Mode, ran the avast! uninstaller for version 5, and finally rebooted again into normal mode. I then did the clean install of 5.1.864 (only File, Mail, Web, and Network shields -- the same components as I had been using with 5.0.677).
Most of my issues with 5.1.864 were interface related:
1) The back-forward buttons on the main avast screen seem to be a bit off. If, starting from the summary screen, I navigate to several other portions of the UI, the back button does not take me all the way back to the summary screen. Instead, it stops before it gets there (i.e. only backtracks part of the way through my UI navigation history), at which point the back button becomes grayed out, and I have to manually reopen the summary screen.
2) The summary screen will not hold my setting to leave the details of the "Secured" section expanded to show the status of the shields, updates, etc. It is always collapsed except on the first opening of the main screen; if I move anywhere else in the UI, returning to the summary screen produces the collapsed details view.
3) As I am using the Free version, the display of the "Upgrade" section near the bottom of the main UI window always shows, but the graphic being used there is very slow to load -- often as long as 10-15 seconds after opening the UI before the "Time-limited: 50% Off" graphic appears. This seems to be consistent with a general slow-down in web navigation and page loading with the Web shield activated in 5.1.865 as compared to 5.0.677. I am using Firefox on a DSL (PPPoE) connection as my primary web browser, and it seems to be more affected in this way than Internet Explorer, for which browsing the web does not seem to have slowed as much.
Though the web slow down is bothersome, the other two issues are relatively minor. I like the UI tweaks, especially the detailed pop-up notifications from the tray icon during scheduled scans, and I hope that these other issues can be sorted soon. For the time being, though, I have reverted to using 5.0.677 and will wait for future updates before trying again.
Looking forward to 6.0 in the (near) future,
Crashman
*** UPDATE FOR 5.1.874 BETA ***
Updated over-the-top of 5.0.677 using the stand-alone installer.
1,2) UI navigation issues using the back-forward buttons remain.
If, after a machine reboot, I open the main screen using the tray icon, the "Current Status" screen shows with the details fully expanded as I had left it before reboot, and the back navigation button is grayed out, but the UI is not the focused window (dotted border around the words "Current Status" on the navigation tab). Clicking on the window returns focus to the program (dotted border disappears), but the back navigation button turns orange, even though I never navigated away from the main screen, and requires one click on the back button to return it to gray (during which the screen contents do not change and the forward arrow becomes orange). If I then immediately close the UI and reopen it again, the same summary screen displays (usually with the details expanded) with both back and forward buttons active, but the back button will now take TWO clicks now to turn gray, even though the screen contents again do not change in response to the back clicks; clicking on the forward arrow also does not change the screen contents.
If I navigate away from the main screen, the back button does not always return me all the way to the main screen before turning gray, but even when it does, the details panel displays collapsed.
3) Web browsing seems to be fixed. Both Firefox and IE browse pretty consistently briskly, certainly at least as snappy as with 5.0.677, if not snappier. Also, the "Time-limited 50% off" panel in the main avast! UI screen displays much more quickly than was the case with 5.1.864.
Sorry for my long-windedness, but I really like this program and want to help as much as possible with any UI glitches.
Thanks,
Crashman
