Publisher's Description:

Ad Muncher removes adverts, popups, and general browsing annoyances from all popular browsers and Web-utilizing programs. It also removes banners displaying and popup generating programs like ICQ, Morpheus, Kazaa, Grokster, iMesh, BearShare, LimeWire, etc.

Ad Muncher v4.72 Changelog

Release date: Currently in beta testing

Most significant changes: This release will make Ad Muncher fully Vista
compatible, as well as addressing some important bug
fixes and vastly improving the installation system.

Support for filtering 64-bit applications won't be
included until v4.73 so that Vista support is available
as soon as possible.

[Build]/[Type] - [Description] ==================================================

Key: E = Enhancement
F = Fix
NR = Not Released. Some features are implemented together without Ad
Muncher being recompiled, so in these cases the build number won't
reflect the amount of work in the change, or in which order it was
implemented. "NR" will be listed for these entries instead of a
build number.

NR/F - Fixed possible crash when "Allow popups" filters were used with a "%"
character in the URL.
NR/F - Fixed possible crash when using IP scramble.
NR/F - Fixed conflict with video player on jmeeting.com.
NR/E - Finished work on a Vista-friendly IPC system to allow patched programs
to communicate with Ad Muncher when running at different privilege
levels (e.g.: IE 7 in protected mode).
NR/E - Added option, enabled by default, to remember lock status when Ad
Muncher is closed.
NR/E - Moved "Lost your code?" button from the about tab to directly
underneath the code entry fields to help people find it.
NR/E - Changed automatic update frequency check code so that it will include
manual update attempts in the "last update check" time used. This
should help avoid some unusual update check times people have been
troubled by.
NR/E - Improved submit() javascript function redirection to avoid some
possibly incorrect redirections.
NR/E - Simplified Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape browser extension, removing the
configuration window. It will now rely on the browser extension
password being stored in the registry by Ad Muncher.
NR/E - Modified browser extension for Firefox/etc to work with Flock.
NR/E - Fixed resource leak in connection routing code when a connect to
loopback failed.
NR/F - Fixed bug in config.dat writer that could cause some errors to not be
detected.
NR/F - Fixed bug in license.dat writer that could cause some fields to not be
deleted correctly when they should be.
NR/E - Improved registration handling so that Ad Muncher will automatically
attempt to verify its license if license.dat is deleted or the first
time each version is run so that it won't just sit there with a red
icon until it's used.
NR/E - Finished work on a new installation system for v4.72, written from
scratch with reliability, compatibility and minimal footprint in mind.
Some new features are detailed below.
NR/E - New installer layout adopted that more closely matches what people
expect an installer to look like, making it more intuitive to use.
NR/E - Implemented Vista-compatible "Bouncer" system, where two copies of
AM-Install.exe are running while installing, one with elevated
privileges and the other running as the user that launched it,
allowing the installer to perform user-specific operations like
launching Ad Muncher after the installation completes.
NR/E - Custom storage locations for all of Ad Muncher's configuration files
are now supported, with their locations being stored in Install.ini in
the program folder. This now allows for per-user or system-wide
configuration, as well as legacy support for storing the settings in
the program files folder if needed.
NR/E - Improved commission-tracking code, which now stores a unique ID
identifying where the installer was downloaded from inside the
installer EXE file itself, rather than as part of the filename, to
mitigate the possibility of the filename being modified and the
commission code being lost.
NR/E - Installation progress is now displayed while installing, rather than
simply pausing the display while operations are performed.
NR/E - Error reporting is vastly improved in the new installer, in most cases
providing a description that should be helpful to the user in
diagnosing the problem.
NR/E - A true silent mode has been added, where command line options can be
used to install, upgrade or uninstall Ad Muncher without any interface
appearing, even if an error occurs (unlike the previous silent mode),
with the option of logging errors and warnings to a file.
NR/E - A new "Upgrade" mode was added, which is used by Ad Muncher when it is
installing an updated version retrieved via the update system. This
new mode avoids asking any of the preference questions it already has
answers to (like where to install Ad Muncher, the license agreement,
etc) and generally streamlines the update process.
NR/E - Many bugs in the old installer were corrected, including one where an
empty program folder could be left behind when uninstalling under
Windows 9x (note to other programmers who may be googling: wininit.ini
doesn't support directory deletion on reboot).
NR/E - Removed option to set Ad Muncher to launch on startup from within Ad
Muncher's configuration window. This option can now be set from within
the installer to avoid having to elevate to a higher integrity level
under Vista.
NR/E - The installer will now remember the preferences used so that they don't
need to be chosen again when reinstalling.
NR/E - Moved Opera browser extension installer to the Ad Muncher installer EXE
(from the separate EXE that was invoked by AdMunch.exe), again to avoid
having to elevate to a higher integrity level under Vista.
NR/E - Despite the added features and bug fixes, the new installer will
actually have a smaller footprint than the previous one, thanks in part
to a new packaging system which extracts and runs AdMunch.exe with
command line options telling it to behave as the installer, which means
that a lot of code shared between Ad Muncher and the installer is now
only present in a single EXE file. The final v4.72 release should be
around 20% smaller than v4.71.
NR/E - The Ad Muncher help file is no longer bundled with Ad Muncher. Instead
when help is requested an online help system will be opened in the
browser, allowing us to keep the help file updated, allowing Google to
index it and reducing the download size for the vast majority of people
who don't use the help file.
NR/E - Added 48x48 icon to the installer to improve the appearance when saved
to the desktop under Vista.
NR/E - Added code to the IPC system in the installer to allow it to read
certain files from the context of the bouncer. This will avoid a
problem under Vista where the installer could not read its own EXE file
if it was executed from a network share then elevated to under an
account which didn't have access to that share.
NR/E - Added code to allow Ad Muncher to modify the security permissions on
license.dat and registration.dat so it is writable from all user
accounts under Vista.
NR/F - Fixed race condition in registration dialog that could cause a blank
"check status" window to appear.
NR/E - Added code so that the installer will automatically locate and import
any configuration files stored in Windows Vista's "virtual store" when
upgrading from a previous version.
NR/E - The registration name and code are now stored in a separate file,
registration.dat, which is stored locally in the common app data
folder. This allows for the main configuration files to be stored in a
roaming app data folder without automatically registering all computers
it is used on with the same code.
NR/E - If a configuration file is corrupt it now won't be deleted, instead the
content will be erased but the file will be left intact, so that any
modified security permissions are maintained.
NR/E - Implemented some backup mechanisms for finding the various appdata
folders under Windows NT 4. Not entirely happy with how they all work,
but haven't been able to find the perfect solution. If anyone knows
how to find the common appdata folder under a fresh NT4 install (no
service packs) please let us know (SHGetSpecialFolderLocation and
normal registry locations not working, registry search for "all users"
also brought up nothing useful).
NR/E - Removed "[Moo! 1000th Ad Munched]" advert replacement (used to be
displayed every 1000 removals), didn't think it was entirely
appropriate for corporate environments.
NR/E - Added separate option to the load/save/reset configuration tab to
allow users to choose whether the registration details are loaded,
saved or reset along with their other settings.
NR/E - Modified the Opera browser extensions installer to also install when
Ad Muncher is starting (not just when Ad Muncher is installed) to
account for Opera installations after Ad Muncher is first installed.
This will only work if AdMunch.exe has write access to the appropriate
locations, but it will degrade gracefully if not.
NR/F - Fixed bug in Install.ini saving code that could cause blank fields to
not be correctly saved.
NR/E - Improved Install.ini saving code to save the fields to the file in a
more logical order.
NR/E - Moved browser extension startup code into its own thread to reduce Ad
Muncher's startup time.
NR/E - Added some extra path sanity checks to the installer to make sure it
never modifies anything it shouldn't.
NR/F - Fixed lack of synchronize flag when setting shared file permissions.
NR/E - Modified directory creation in the installer to set global read/write
access to the Ad Muncher section of the common appdata folder. By
default Vista only allows write access to the directory's creator
which would otherwise prevent sharing of settings.
29466/F - Fixed possible crash in CPUID handling code.
29473/E - Added code to flush the shell icon cache for particular files when
creating links to avoid incorrect icons being displayed in the start
menu folder.
29512/F - Fixed crash in the new uninstaller when clicking the "Back" button in
certain situations.
29515/F - Modified the uninstaller to not delete the registry entry which
remembered the previous installation path when the "Remove Ad Muncher
configuration files" option is disabled.
29517/F - Fixed incorrect default install path when a previous version of Ad
Muncher had been configured to disable the built-in chat client.
29518/F - Fixed bug in IE browser extensions uninstaller that could leave entries
behind in certain situations (thanks Noctem).
29560/F - Fixed misaligned "Lost your code?" button on "About" tab when window
was resized.
29562/F - Fixed broken WSAConnect filtering (thanks Lukian).
29565/E - Improved IPC system to avoid possible erroneous communication between
different builds of Ad Muncher.
29635/F - Fixed IPC-5 error on some Vista machines.
29641/F - Fixed hook loading problem under Windows 9x.
29642/F - Fixed failure when setting security permissions when running on a non-
English version of Vista.
29645/F - Fixed fault reporting failure on some Vista machines.
29654/F - Fixed possible problems when launching Ad Muncher after installing on
some Vista machines.
29655/F - Fixed possible erroneous detection of temp path when downloading and
launching Ad Muncher updates.
29659/F - Added extra code to the fault reporting HTML to avoid odd behavior when
opened in IE7 under Vista.
29660/E - Changed Load/Save/Reset tab to have all section options enabled by
default, as this is what most people will actually be doing.
29670/E - Modified configuration importing code to write the content to
configuration files without first deleting them so that any security
permissions are retained.
29689/E - Improved security permissions assigning function so it can be called
multiple times without adding duplicate access control elements,
allowing Ad Muncher to verify required write permissions on
configuration files when needed.
29694/E - Added a more useful error message if the UAC prompt is declined when
installing under Vista.
29700/F - Fixed lack of "Ad Muncher" submenu in IE browser extensions under IE 7.
29708/E - Improved installer to automatically remove empty directories when the
option for where to store the configuration files is changed.
29714/E - Changed text on registration/trial start dialog to clarify that the
30-day trial is free of charge.
29715/F - Fixed some cosmetic title case problems on push buttons.
29716/E - Improved file enumeration code to avoid possible problems when deleting
files using a wildcard.
29717/E - Added button to import configuration to the trial start/registration
dialog.
29718/E - Modified automatic refresh removal to not remove meta refreshes that
have a timeout of one second or less, which are used on microsoft.com
for some kind of server farm bouncing, and when removed could cause
a blank page to appear instead of the actual content.
29735/E - Added extra code to avoid crashes when working alongside some buggy
Windows message hooks.
29736/F - Fixed crash after a large number of processes had been logged to the
filter targets activity logs.
29737/E - Reduced startup time significantly.
29780/F - Fixed potential crash in the installer.
29789/E - Added code to check for leftover DLLs from very early versions of Ad
Muncher to avoid potential conflicts.
29790/E - Added code to the Vista virtual store configuration importing function
so that if more than one old configuration file is found, the oldest
one is deleted before importing begins. This is done to avoid
potentially importing the older one if the importing function is called
more than once (for example when uninstalling/reinstalling) with
unexpected results.
29793/F - Fixed browsing problems when another program overwrote Ad Muncher's
winsock hooks and Ad Muncher tried to restore them.
29796/F - Modified the "Programs are currently routed through Ad Muncher" message
on shutdown to ensure it doesn't get obscured by other windows when
installing Ad Muncher.
29797/F - Fixed incorrect error handling in some mutex code.
29813/E - Improved patching system reliability.
29824/F - Fixed IPC error when using "Run as" to launch Ad Muncher as a different
user under XP.
29825/F - Added code to avoid a conflict with the menus on box.net.
29829/F - Changed messagebox handling code to avoid the possibility of some
critical messages being obscured by other windows.
29830/F - Fixed outdated homepage link in Firefox browser extension, and
clarified the error displayed if an outdated extension is used with a
newer version of Ad Muncher.
29833/F - Fixed bug where "Add to list" button on logs tab would not be enabled
when entries were highlighted using the search function.
29848/E - Betas will now be forced to use daily update checks to ensure that
important fixes are distributed quickly.
29865/F - Fixed flawed title rendering in the installer when using non-standard
Windows color schemes.
29914/E - Modified messagebox display code to always include the Ad Muncher icon
so it's obvious which program is showing it.
29917/F - Fixed incorrect dialog display when the "Import Configuration" button
was clicked on the registration dialog when the configuration dialog
was already open.
29930/E - Added code to save the entered email address when reporting adverts
using the browser extensions so it doesn't need to be entered every
time.
29940/E - Added code to report IPC errors to the user from within the hook DLL
to help catch some browser lockups that may be caused by mutex
deadlocks.
29943/F - Fixed incorrect mutex error handling in some parts of Ad Muncher.
29946/F - Fixed possible crash when updating the default filter list.
29960/E - Added code to display an alternate crash report if a crash occurs
outside of Ad Muncher's code. These reports are almost always the
result of buggy firewalls or AV products, so the message includes some
tips on resolving the issue.
29970/E - Improved the file extraction functions used by the installer, speeding
up extraction and avoiding some possibly incorrect "insufficient space"
error messages.
29971/E - Improved command line option handling in installer to read any supplied
configuration files from the context of the un-elevated installer
process to avoid possible access issues (particularly on network
drives) when elevating under Vista.
30002/E - Added option for configuration exporting to include the installation
preferences used when installing Ad Muncher, and added "/C" option to
the installer to import a .AMC configuration file, including the new
installation preferences. Configurations for network deployment can
now be stored in a single file.
30004/E - Changed automatic license check when Ad Muncher is updated to a new
major release so it happens without showing the license check dialog
if possible.
30005/E - Finished updating the help system to use the new online Wiki, with
context sensitivity so it jumps to the appropriate Wiki page based on
where you are in Ad Muncher's configuration window.
30012/E - Reduced CPU usage in patch verification code, and modified the windows
hook handler so it will verify Ad Muncher's patches are in place
whenever a window message is handled. This should help avoid some
problems with other programs overwriting Ad Muncher's patches.
30018/E - Added text to the browser extensions dialog clarifying that the
password is no longer required due to several enquiries about this.
30026/F - Fixed erroneous "Fault Outside AM" message when a program lockup was
detected.
30028/E - Improved CallNextHookEx hook handle passing under NT-based versions of
Windows.
30030/E - Modified IPC error reporting in hook DLL to only report errors if the
error would definitely prevent a connection from being filtered.
30040/F - Fixed possible lockup when verifying the license by clicking on the
"Verify license" button on the "About" tab.
30041/E - Added error message when a failure is encountered when opening a URL
in the browser (for example when clicking a link in Ad Muncher's
configuration dialog), with the URL that was being opened included
in the message, to help deal with incorrectly installed browsers.
30046/E - Minimized the amount of code executed within the hook DLL mutex to
improve performance and avoid possible deadlocks.
30052/E - Modified manifest information to allow XP visual styles to affect
Ad Muncher.
30060/F - Fixed delayed progress bar updates in the installer under Vista Aero.
30126/F - Fixed possible lack of filtering if a timeout occurs when communicating
between the hook DLL and the parent Ad Muncher process when the system
is under heavy load.
30127/F - Fixed possible crash when updating the default filter list.
30131/F - Fixed possible crash when verifying license on a fresh installation.
30142/F - Fixed possible interference with other windows hooks on NT-based
windows systems.
30161/E - Added version information to all EXE and DLL files in Ad Muncher.
30168/F - Fixed conflict with Haute Secure.
30181/F - Fixed possible crash if a stack overflow occurred while in the fault
trapping code.
30184/F - Fixed possible javascript damage.
30185/F - Fixed bug in treatment of swf filenames.

Released: March 13, 2008
Publisher: Murray Hurps
License: Shareware; $25.00 to buy
OS Support: Windows 2000/2003/9x/XP
Uninstaller?: Yes