AdwCleaner 8.0.0 is out: drops Windows XP and Vista support

[harlan4096]

Malwarebytes released AdwCleaner 8.0.0, a free tool to remove adware and potentially unwanted programs, from Windows devices on November 26, 2019.

The company acquired AdwCleaner back in 2016 and has produced new versions of the application for free since.

Note: AdwCleaner 8 drops support for the Microsoft Windows XP and Vista operating systems. These operating systems are not supported by Microsoft anymore and users who run these need to stay on older versions of AdwCleaner to continue using the application.

AdwCleaner 8 supports Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 officially. The new version can be downloaded from the developer website and run without installation after the download.

The program's main interface has not changed in the new release. It displays the "scan now" button in prominent position to scan the system for adware, potentially unwanted software and preinstalled software (that may be unwanted as well).

The program's core was updated in the new release. The new version features an upgrade to Qt 5.13 and new OpenSSL version, and the build toolchain was upgraded to use Visual Studio 2017.

Chrome users will notice that AdwCleaner 8.0.0 supports the latest version of the Chrome browser again so that remediation is supported. The new version drops support for Firefox scanning and remediation but it will be back in early December according to Malwarebytes when AdwCleaner 8.0.1 is released.

Chrome users benefit from a new scan and remediation module and Firefox users will benefit from the same once the implementation lands in the next version.

Another change in AdwCleaner 8 is that debug logs are not generated anymore by default. It is still possible to enable the option in the settings, but it is turned off by default. The new version features updated translations and definitions next to all that.

The program should be more stable thanks to the improvements made in the version.

Tip: you may want to check the settings on first run before you run a scan. You find options to turn off the cloud database (which may impact scan results), enable or disable basic repair options, e.g. reset firewall or IE policies, and maintain a list of exclusions that you don't want scanned by the application.
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