WHY IS THERE SPY WARE IN MY AVAST4 did avast update me to a new adware infected piece of crap that is always writing to my HDD so that it wont scan disc? WTF IS UP ??? ???
There’s absolutely no spyware in Avast. Get rid of your Pest Patrol or whatever similar rubbish you are using.
Pest Patrol is really a peace of junk. I mean do they check false positives at all? I checked with it once and it marked half of my legitim programs as spyware.
Thanks for the reply sir! 
I am using adAware 6 and spybot s&d and the path to ASHSERV.EXE is:
C:\program files\Alwil Software\Avast4
is ASHSERV.EXE part of avast? if it is, how do i get it to stop writing to my HDD or should I let it do it’s job and then it will quit?
Ok I looked in the avast4 dir. and lots of files are ash*** so i guess it is part of avast… ( you guys knew that)
I searched in google under ASHSERV.EXE and the first thing i see is “ASHSERV.EXE is spyware” so i stopped it from connecting to the internet (through Zone alarm) and ran spybot S&D thinking i cleaned it out. It does not show up in ZA programs and i tryed to add it so that i could alow it but its stiil not there. If it needs to use the internet thats fine, i just want to use my PC with out it telling me Im not connected to the internet or using up my bandwidth.
user811,
Firstly, the language used on this forum should be suitable. Your immediate “inflammatory remarks” (modified text from earlier post) of Avast were not necessary.
Ashserv.exe is a file which Avast uses as part of its’ functionality, and allows the user access to scanner functions and also assists in the ability to check for update/s to the vps database files and program via the systray. If you were to “open” the ashserv.exe file manually, you would see an additional instance of A and I ball icons in the tray.
It is necessary for Avast to write to the hard drive or wherever Avast folder is located.
Avast contains NO spyware or malware of any kind.
Some anti-spyware programs of which one was mentioned, will report Avast as spyware. This is not true and are most definetly false positives.
Adaware and Spybot S and D are good programs, but be cautious of removing all the listed files in the Spybot scan. It sometimes reports necessary files. Adaware is not known for such nonsense.
Allow Avast to make its connection. You will be secure.
Good luck. ;D
Techie, there was no defamation of Avast, sorry, but cool it down or talking like that will scare people off. Even just as a mod you are seen as representative of the company, surely you should be looking at the problem from his POV and understand the concern he had, instead of claiming defamation
user811, sorry he said that, I can understand your concern and worry, and I wish some people would look at these problems from the POV of the person posting, instead of jumping on them >:(
RJ,
Your remarks were out of line. I did nothing wrong.
If I were not looking at the problem, I would not have offered advice.
I commented because of his use of the “WTF” and reference to Avast “crap”.
How about I change the word defamation to inflammatory? Would that make you feel better?
It IS MY RESPONSIBILITY as a Mod to guide new users in the proper conduct and behavior here, and I did.
Your action were unwarranted and cast a shadow on my good intentions which were clearly shown by my ending remarks to user811:
“Good Luck ;D”
Enough goes on around here normally to contend with. I don’t think it is advisable to start reading more into things than are present in actuality. 
Lets stay with the CONTENT of this thread so both of us can help him. Ok?
no my comments weren’t out of line, yours were.
This person came to the forum with what he thought was a genuine concern, and the reply from you was out of line.
Try looking at it from his point of view ok. This person, who might not know much about computers is representative of computer users on a whole. He had a genuine concern and was worried, I think his language shows just how worried he was. You should of picked up on that, and replied to just the question to ease his mind, rather than proclaim defamation
ummm sorry for butting in but wouldnt it serve the users better here if this was done privately???
You won’t give support?? People make mistakes you know… Geeze.
Is there any problem to solve/help here? ;D
Technical,
I think Eddy confused me with you. He fixed it ;D
I hope the “problem” is over. ???
We will see.
Avast contains spyware?
Get the facts right before you say that.
No, definetively not. Sure they’re false alarms whatever program detects it.
I use Ad-aware, SpywareBlaster, SpyBot, PestPatrol and Bazooka. Nothing 
There ahve been a number of issues with Spybot S&D and false positives when using the beta downloads for updates.
user811, didn’t say which program exactly detected it (but I would guess s&d as that’s what he tried to remove it with), or if he is using the beta updates.
Blocking ashserv.exe with ZA and his attempt to fix with s7d will almost certainly have stuffed the installation, so he would be best to try a repair.
The HDD activity, if I remember rightly has been discussed before and had something to do with either the ODBC/XML or MS jet drivers?
@RJ
Techie101 is a forum moderator and I think his comments were entirely justified and he also tried to help, not simply comment on the language and tone of the post. Unlike yourself who didn’t offer any help.
I don’t see Techie101 did anything wrong in this thread. Of course bad language is forbidden in these forums and he as a forum moderator has full rights to do that. I did it accidentally few times (although I used abbreviations :o), and he corrected me… nop complains about that…
Whoever said that avast! contains spyware, was wrong. Shouting like that isn’t a best way to get help in these forums… especially making stupid statement like that and above all in capital letters. Always double-check the facts before you jump with conclusions !
Techie101 wrote:
Some anti-spyware programs of which one was mentioned, will report Avast as spyware. This is not true and are most definetly false positives.
Well, I always ask, why no one wants to do something about that ? Isn’t there any way we can make those programmers fix those issues with their third party antispyware programs ? I mean, it’s outrageous to state that part of one of the best antivirus programs out there, contains spyware… c’mon people…
Cheers !
We, Techie and I, Technical, are not Moderators here.
We can do nothing regarding to this thread.
Please, don’t send me IM about this. Be kind, be smart, survive 8)
If the user edit a previous thread, the next answer or question will appear non-sense talking… 
user811, all I can say, and you can take this as an official statement of the “team”, that avast contains NO spyware. BTW tt has been said here many times - it’s a matter of trust. BUT - if you don’t trust your AV software - whom are you gonna trust?
That said, your dirty language will not be tolerated on these forums next time.
I guess enough said - I’m closing this thread.
Cheers
Vlk