I want ot put the roving ball back in my quick launch tray.
Welcome to the forum.
It normally isn’t in the quick launch tray (bottom left). It’s in the system tray (bottom right).
If it’s not there, when did it disappear?
First try a repair of avast. Add Remove programs, select ‘avast! Anti-Virus,’ click the Change/Remove button and scroll down to Repair, click next and follow.
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.