I’ve just updated to version 5. After the install I disabled some of the shields.
The icon shows up in the tray with an ! mark in a small yellow triangle and it no longer rotates.
Is it working properly ?
Apparently not since you have disable avast to the point that it can not scan.
No scan means no ball rotating.
No rotating ball means no scans.
Well I left the email and network shield enabled -
shouldn’t it scan when retrieving new emails from the server (Outlook Express) ?
It used to do this just fine in 4.8 Home.
Why ???
What shields did you disable ?
It is working properly, in that when you disable some shields, avast will change the icon to indicate that you aren’t fully protected as it monitors the shields.
From the avastUI, Settings, Status Bar, Components Monitored and uncheck those that you disabled.
HI all, thanks for responding.
The shields I have active are as follows:
mail, web, network.
I opened up the Avast interface real-time shields and I can see on the individual tabs
I have active, that they are working and scanning as normal.
It’s just the icon that is not rotating.
The reason I’m in this precarious position is as I’ve said before in other posts,
this is an old PC; it’s just too slow with everything active.
You need the main File System Shield as that is the main scanning engine. It is the one that when a file is opened/run it would scan and this is what initiates the icon animation (a scanned file).
So add that and you will see the icon animation, it is as I say an ‘essential’ shield and with the other three you mentioned the minimum. The P2P and IM Shields aren’t essential if you don’t use P2P or IM applications.
Whilst the Behaviour shield at present doesn’t cover a great deal of filters/rules, that is due for an update/improvement in avast 5.1 when it is released soon and then I would consider it as an essential unless you are using some other HIPS application. Though on an old system you are making compromises, but that old system is just as likely to be attacked, perhaps more so than a new one.
Thanks DavidR for that explanation. I guess I got used to the way it worked in 4.8.
In that release, the icon rotated even though “standard shield” was disabled.
The reason I'm in this precarious position is as I've said before in other posts, this is an old PC; it's just too slow with everything active.
Check my computer specs below. They are less than yours and I do not have that slow problem. I would suggest that it isn’t Avast that is slowing your computer but something else. Maybe too many programs running at startup or maybe something else.
CharleyO - I see the confusion. The specs you see in my sig are for my other PC.
The PC with the issue is from 1999. AMD K6 3+ CPU @ 550 MHz , 256 MB RAM !
It’s not even fast enough to run Flash video in webpages.
You’re welcome.
Thanks for unconfusing me, davexnet. 
I can now understand why it is so slow. Believe it or not, my first PC was almost the same specs but even a little older with an AMD K6 @ 450 mhz. I still have it and it worked last time I started it up.
Anyway, I’m sorry I got confused. :-[
NO problems - as you know maintaining this type of PC is quite interesting in this day and age.
I run Flash block, Noscript to make browsing the web bearable. But it’s extremely limited
what you can run on it. It’s a true “legacy” box and I use it for a handful of old apps.
That’s all. It’s connected to a 15 inch Sony monitor from 1994. Still working fine!
I think the base speed of my CPU is also 450, but through software overclocking (K6speed)
It jumps to 550 MHz at boot time. A great setup in it’s day !
My first PC actually was from 1994, a Zeos P90 (Pentium 90) which I still have, but it’s unusable
at the moment due to a dead BIOS battery. (One day I’ll solder in a new one and fire it up)
Yes, which is why I’ve not started up that old Acer from 1995 (or was it 1996?) that came with a Proview 17" monitor. I had other computers since the early 80’s but they were all Commodores and Amigas. I still have all them also and each worked last time I used them. Someday, I should set them all up in a spare room.
Back on topic, if you disable any of the shields, the icon no longer rotates.
is it WAD? Seems a strange choice.
I have the Mail Shield disabled, and the system tray icon still rotates. Avast 5.1.798 seem to be working fine here. I’ve done a standard Quick scan, right click scan from Windows Explorer, and all that seems fine.
The only thing I’ve seen is the issue with the path corruption in the AvastGUI, as others have noted.
Well I’m using version 5.0 - and it doesn’t behave the way you described.
perhaps this is one of the “improvements” in the interface on the 5.1 beta.
I must say, version 5.0 does seems a little rough around the edges.
WAD
must say, version 5.0 does seems a little rough around the edges.You need to use it to see that it is as smooth as silk. ;)
But then an AMD64 Vista Ultimate running Vista will be like a sow’s ear.
You’re right about Vista - that’s why I hardly use it. On the other hand XP works great
on my modest box.
It’s just my impression. By rough around the edges, I meant some of the UI choices (or lack of them).
I once had a TV like that. The order of the options in the menu, direct functionality from the remote,
other ergonomic problems - They were all fixed on the succeeding model. It was essentially the
same TV, but all the ergonomic design issues were put right.
I’ve just installed the latest 5.1 beta and the icon still does not rotate if any of the shields
are stopped (the behavior shield, for example). Since DavidR seemed to be saying his icon
was rotating normally, I wonder if it’s because I’m on XP?
What else could it be? I’m stumped.