v4.72 Now in Beta

[Murray]

Hi everyone,

For those who haven't yet noticed, Ad Muncher v4.72 is now in beta testing. The main focus of this release is to add support for Windows Vista, all other features (like 64 bit support) have been moved back to later releases so that we can get Vista support tested and out as soon as possible. This won't delay those features, it just means that there will be a final release in the middle of what would otherwise be a much longer development cycle.

There are also some important bug fixes included, so even if you're not running Vista it's a good idea to upgrade.

The current beta is available from:

http://www.admuncher.com/beta.pl

And the full list of changes is available from:

http://www.admuncher.com/changelog.txt

Thank you to everyone who has been trying out the beta and providing feedback, we really appreciate your efforts

[JeremyG]

Looks good! I'm happy to be in protected mode again!!! Seems to be working fine.

[MaB69]

Hi,

Antivir flagged heuristicly your last beta installer as Crypted (heuristic level set to high)
Send your file to Avira for analysis
I hope they will fix their heuristic engine

29814 is running like a charm. Any changelog please ?

Thanks

Regards,

MaB

[Murray]

Unfortunately a few antivirus engines seem to be picking up Ad Muncher's installer simply because it is using the UPX compression engine. We'll be releasing a few betas over the coming week or two so we'll wait for the final release to submit it to the AV companies for whitelisting.

The changelog is always available from:

http://www.admuncher.com/changelog.txt

Not every change will have a changelog entry, for example I could just be recompiling to remove some diagnostic code or fixing a typo, hence why the last entry in the log is for 29813.

Thanks for trying the betas

[BerserkerPup]

I installed Ad Muncher v4.72 Beta Build 29848 today on Vista Home Premium (32-bit) running on a duo-core, but I had to un-install it because my computer was freezing up with it. No BSOD but the keyboard, mouse and screen froze. I was also getting alerts from my firewall that a application was attempting to change it (other than the regular permission request) and the action caused the firewall to delete all the allowed application rules and restart the requests for permission for each application again, as it attempted to connect to the internet. I ran spyware scans but the computer came up clean.

Other programs that were running at the same time:
Windows Sidebar
PC Tools Firewall Plus
NOD32 v.2.7
WinPatrol
SuperAntiSpyware
Comodo BOClean
BigFix
Winamp Agent
ObjectDock Plus
WinTidy

Never even managed to open up IE7 to see how it worked. Just figured that I'd let you know...

[Noctem]

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong.

For one thing, you've got far too many 'security' applications running. There have been some conflicts in the past between NOD32 and Ad Muncher. I did some quick searching for the apps you've got installed, and many of them sound like second-tier security apps. And BigFix is bordering on a 'big brother' type of application.

What I would try and do as a start is uninstall most, if not all, of those apps, then install Ad Muncher. Then make sure you download the latest versions of all of those programs, and install one-by-one to see which one is interfering with Ad Muncher.

[Murray]

I think I've managed to reproduce the problem when running alongside PC Tools Firewall with their code injection detection enabled.

I'm trying to find a workaround now, and will post an update when I have some news.

Sorry for the trouble.

[Murray]

Argh, false alarm, it was just a dodgy VM image that was causing the lockups I got - haven't been able to reproduce them since. If you have a spare few moments it would be particularly helpful if you could try removing some utilities on your system until the problem goes away, then try adding them again until it reappears so that we know which specific program of the many is conflicting with AM.

P.S.: I must say PC Tools Firewall is one of the more nervous security apps I've used, AM itself generated a good half dozen "Is this okay?" prompts

[Kevin_b_er]

Awesome.

Been using AM for a few years now, almost always running Beta.

I may have some issues with Firefox crashing lately, but I can't seem to figure out if its AM or my multitude of plug-ins.

I don't run Vista at all, but I just wanted to say that whenever you get gzip support in there, I will happily buy a new version, even though my license key is still valid since 4.5 or something. My pages loading in a quarter of the time is a big bonus to me.

[allenfr]

Please move this if it belongs in the Bug discussion - thanks.....


Problem: Ad Muncher seems to be causing IE 7 to run extremely slow when browsing at least one web site (http://www1.investorvillage.com/index.asp). Other well-known web sites, such as Yahoo, are very fast to load.

Equipment/Software:

- PC running Vista Home Premium (Multi Media) on an HP Pavilion Elite m9047 (Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 2.4 Ghz and 3 GB of RAM) behind a Linksys router.
- IE 7 (all updates applied) with protected mode off.
- AV (Norton Security Suite - never been used/activated....came with PC)
- anti-trojan (Trojan Hunter)
- Ad Muncher 4.71 (later tried 4.72 release 29848) with all default settings

Troubleshooting: I disabled my anti-trojan and Ad Muncher, then loaded only one and restarted IE 7 and went to the InvestorVillage web site - when done, I unloaded/closed the software component (anti-trojan, Ad Muncher), then try the next (Trojan Hunter). When only Ad Muncher is installed, it is causing the slowdown (I'm talking 30 sconds to 1 minute to load the home page, compared to it loading faster than I can snap my finger, when Ad Muncher is closed and IE 7 is restarted without it). When I perform the same test with anti-trojan, IE 7 runs like I expect - the home page of InvestorVillage loads extremely fast.

I downloaded the beta 4.72 release 29848, installed it, then reran the same test and got the same result.

Any suggestions?

[jeromy]

[quote="allenfr"]Problem: Ad Muncher seems to be causing IE 7 to run extremely slow when browsing at least one web site (http://www1.investorvillage.com/index.asp). [/quote]

Loads very quickly for me in IE (with UAC and protected mode OFF)

[Murray]

allenfr: when the slow loading happens, does the browser appear to be locked up? i.e.: interface not responding to input, hour-glass mouse cursor, etc.

Also, when the slow loading is taking place, could I get you to load task manager and check if any processes on your system are at high CPU usage, in particular either AdMunch.exe or your browser.

[allenfr]

Murray, in answer to your questions, I checked the following:

- hour glass: while waiting for the home page to load, the Windows Vista "hour glass" (actually a mouse pointer, with the Aero blue circle) does display, as does the progress bar at the bottom right - it takes at least 10-12 seconds for the home page to load. I also noticed 30 pictures downloading (I assume they are small JPGs) during this waiting, but didn't know if any were ads/popups (does Ad Muncher check each by sending back a query to your site?). These pictures also download when I close Ad Muncher, then restart IE 7 without it and go to the same page - it all just happens almost instantaneously (no wait - no more than 1-2 to load/display the home page).

- high utilization processes: I had Task Manager open and sequenced to show descending CPU Utilization (all users box checked) - "System Idol Process" was at 98-99% all of the time until just before the home page explodes onto the screen, then Ad Muncher uses 1%, followed by IE using 2%, then the home page is displayed. If I uncheck the "Show processes from all users" box, I only see processes for my account: just before the home page explodes onto the screen, Ad Muncher uses 1%, IE uses 4-5%, then an instant later the home page appears. Again, the elapsed time is about 10 seconds and during the final second is when Ad Muncher and IE use any CPU.

I have also experimented with IE 7: disabled all add-ons (7 of them), disabled the Phishing Filter Settings (Internet Options/Advanced, "Disable Phishing Filter), closed IE 7, restarted it then went to the same site and got exactly the same result (very slow load) when 4.72 beta Ad Muncher is loaded (with default settings). I should also note that I always run IE 7 with two changes from its original settings: I disabled its built-in popup blocker, since I plan to use Ad Muncher; Internet Protected Mode: OFF.

[acr]

Any update to the PC Tools issue? Does the problem still occur if code injection protection is disabled?

[NetSoerfer]

I'm running 4.72 Build 29848 on Vista 32bit Business with UAC activated, and I am unable to install any advert list updates since 1805.

Clicking on Updates -> Check now gives me two available updates (1828 and 1834 for registered users). If I click Load selected updates for either of them, they're downloaded and Ad Muncher claims Update installation complete.

However, Last program update and Last advert list update always say Januar 21, 2008 and the version information is stuck at Build 29848/1805.

I already tried running Ad Muncher with elevated privileges from the start menu, but that makes no difference for me.

On a side note, I'm seeing more and more adverts lately, which emphasizes the work you're putting into keeping the advert list up to date. Great work, keep it up!