About didn't quit when upgrading to 4.5. It quit when following my instructions for removing Voice Activated Dialing. If you read all my instructions about it I explain that the "About" feature will be disabled and mention the methods above to view that same information.
I followed that tutorial before and removed the VAD without it disabling my about. It wasn't until I upgraded to 4.5 the other day that it stopped working for me. I did get the ALT + Right Shift + H from your instructions, though.
Note: When removing Voice Dialing it will disable the Options >About screen on OS 4.3 and higher devices. You can get the same info about device and OS by hitting alt + e a c e or alt + rt shift + H.
When I upgraded the other day, I went through your tutorial and skimmed since I had already done it twice before. Then, when the about didn't work, I remembered reading something about that in your tutorial, went back and skimmed again to get the fix.
Any idea why exactly the removal of VAD is what causes it?
It's just part of it. I don't know why. When you go to About and then escape out of the About screen you get an About screen for the voice dialing software. My guess is, it has something to do with that.