I’m fairly IT-illiterate, but not totally hopeless, FYI. I just installed Avast on my computer (Windows Vista), and while it appears to be installed, I am missing the “blue ball in the lower right corner.” I found another post which recommended doing a repair from the control panel. When I go there, I only get the option to Change/Uninstall – no repair option. Any ideas on what my problem is? I don’t find any other spyware programs which would be interfering.
Scroll down on your options.
Repair is the last item. Hope that helps.
If the repair doesn’t work, let us know.
Welcome to the forum. 
You need to click the Change/Remove button first to be given the other pop-up with the alternatives.
Okay, thanks! The second reply was very helpful – I had not clicked on the change/uninstall to get to the second pop-up with the repair option. I’ve now done that but still don’t see an icon, but I haven’t rebooted yet. Does it need the reboot to appear?
could I have more than just an icon issue? When I click on the “Windows Security Alerts” icon, it indicates that I my anti-virus software is turned off. Avast is listed, so I followed the instructions to turn it on, but nothing changes. It appears that I was successful in downloading Avast, I’m just having a problem getting it activated.
You’re welcome, whilst it shouldn’t need a reboot, it wouldn’t hurt to do so. However a repair may not fix it if the cause is related to some other influence.
avast! icon missing - As a temporary measure until this is resolved you can create a desktop shortcut for this file C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashDisp.exe (the avast icon and interface to the providers). Right click on the file and select Send To, Desktop (create shortcut). You will need to run this after each boot until the problem is resolved.
What other security based software do you have that might block new startup entries, e.g. Spybot S&D (TeaTimer), AdAware (AdWatch), SpySweeper, Spyware Doctor (StartUpGuard or OnGuard), PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc. ?
Check the option in the Appearance tab of Program Settings. Or Make a link to ashdisp.exe in your startup folder.
- What avast processes are running in Task Manager, they begin with ash or asw, see image ?
Thanks, David. I created the shortcut (the AshDisp.exe), and when I click on it, I get the “Avast Splash Screen” – a box with a line listing my license number, then a line that says “Test of Memory & Startup”; below it is an announcement article. That’s the only thing I can access with the shortcut – should I be able to do more from the shortcut?
Something is obviously wrong, because when I open the Windows Security Center window, it indicates that my anti-virus software is turned off. The Avast is listed, but I’m not able to turn it on. I can’t find any other adware or spyware programs on my computer – I’m going down the list from my control panel. Should I be looking somewhere else? I do still have Windows Defender and Windows Firewall – could one or both of these be my problem? If so, I can’t see a way to uninstall these.
The processes I see in the task manager are: AshDisp.exe, AshSimpl.exe (3 listings) and VisthAux.exe (2 listings).
Sounds more like you created a shortcut to ashAvast.exe and not ashDisp.exe. So do you have any shortcuts for ashavast.exe (they aren’t required).
Typically there should be 5 including ashDisp.exe, and you have that in the the avast icon should be displayed as it is running. Crucially the ashServ.exe the main scanning component isn’t running nor id the ashUpdSv.exe the avast update process, nor are the ashWebSv.exe or ashMaiSv.exe the web shield and internet mail providers respectively.
The 3 occurrences of ashSimpl.exe means that the simple user interface tried to run 3 times (there should only ever be one instance of that), possibly because of having run ashAvast.exe trying to start avast.
The Windows Security Center can be a little flaky (technical term) at times. However I don’t think this is the problem hers, your installation is screwed I know getting technical again.
Have (or did) you another AV installed in this system, if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?
This is commonly what gets in the way of an avast installation.
You could try a clean reinstall if you haven’t had an other AV installed on this system now or before.
Download the latest version of avast http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again. Use that when you reinstall.
Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, find it here and save it to your HDD.
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- Now uninstall (using add remove programs, if you can’t do that start from the next step), reboot.- 2. run the avast! Uninstall Utility, reboot. If step 1 failed it may be necessary to run this from safe mode, once complete reboot into normal mode.- 3. install the latest version, reboot.
I did have another AV program – AVG – and I went through my control panel and did an uninstall before I downloaded avast. However, I had experienced similar problems with AVG --I thought I had it installed, but it seemed as if it just disappeared (looked like something was kicking it off). I wasn’t sure if it was an “operator error” (me!), or an actual technical issue. Someone recommended avast to me and said it was a bit more Vista-friendly, so I decided to try it instead.
Do your same reinstall instructions still apply since I had another AV that I THINK I’ve removed?
What’s the likelihood that I have a gremlin in my computer and I need to have it cleaned before trying any AV software?
Use AVG Remover, download here: http://www.grisoft.com/ww.download-tools
Then, I suggest an installation from the scratch:
- Uninstall avast from Control Panel first.
- Boot.
- Download the latest version of Avast Uninstall and use it for complete uninstallation.
- Boot.
- Install again the latest avast! version.
- Boot.
- Check and post the results.
Okay, gentlemen – I think I MAY have solved my issue (with your help, of course!). I used the AVG remover, uninstalled avast, then reinstalled it. Now I have the icon I was missing. Actually, I have a blue ball with an “a”, and also a blue ball with an “i”. I also have an avast antivirus shortcut on my desktop. So, it looks like I have it properly installed now. However, when I go to my Windows Security center, it is still giving me a message that my antivirus is turned off and it won’t let me turn it on. Should I be concerned about this, or should I assume that since I have the icon (and it’s revolving), that I have it working now???
Thank you for all your help.
It’s pretty safe to say that it’s working. Vista’s security center seems to not work well with avast all the time. If you want to resolve it completely, you may have to use avast’s uninstall utility from here: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-uninstall-utility.html, then re-install avast.
That worked for me previously.
I know it’s a little bit of work, and a reboot or two, but that will most likely get avast talking to vista’s security center again.
By all accounts the Vista SP1 version of the Security Center is flaky on its API for recognising AVs not just avast.
By all accounts the Vista SP1 version of the Security Center is flaky on its API for recognising AVs not just avast.
Thanks for letting me know, I’ve only tried Avast on Vista so far.
You can merge both into the ‘a’ one. The ‘i’ is for the VRDB (virus recovery database).
Sometimes, Windows Security Center stop recognizing your antivirus or firewall… So, check your system time and date and also http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=23457.msg193534#msg193534
See also: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/repairwmi.htm