Avast symbol missing from taskbar

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

I changed my connection to broadband today and now the small Avast globe has vanished from my taskbar. Anyone know how I can retrieve it?

2

Download avast! External Control clicking on ‘Control’ in my signature.
Unzip it and run.
You’ll see avast! tweaker option.
Choose to show system tray icon and let us see if it helps.

Another way to fix the problem, just add the path to ashDisp.exe into
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
(as the value named avast!).

Are you by any chance using spysweeper?
If so, use the restore/recover or whatever it may be called to restore the deleted registry entry and update your definitions file for spysweeper. It reports incorrectly (false positive) the avast ashDisp.exe which is the icon you see on your system tray.

For the ‘i’ icon (VRDB): http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=14356.msg121337#msg121337

Fix tool for missing tray icons. Download it here: http://www.excessive-software.tk/
Download it and extract aswTrayIconFix.exe anywhere you want.
Run it and just click Fix button. Log off and log in again or simply restart your PC and icons should be back again. The program is standalone extract&use (although it looks like installer).

3

Thanks guys, how do I download external control?

4

read the top line of tech`s post again :wink:
signature is the line across the bottom of the post

5

Thanks guys…Tech, I’ve downloadedthe control as you recommended. Can you now tell me please how to “unzip and run”

6

Do you have WinZip?
If not, if you double click the file, will Microsoft open a wizard to ‘extract’ the files from the zip? If so, just choose a destination folder for them.
Run is just double click the extracted files.

If this does not work, you can try http://www.7-zip.org/ to download a free packer/unpacker 8)

7

Thanks pal but I’m a relative beginner…sorry to be a pain but could you possibly make it simpler , without perhaps some of the technical language.

8
  1. Can you open zip files,what happens when you double click on a file with the .zip extension?
  2. If you have a file association (what program is used to open a .zip file) then the associated program will open the zip file and display the contents (multiple or single compressed file). You can then extract the files to a folder that you created, ‘Avast AEC’ would be appropriate.
  3. If you are presented with a choice of which program should open this file, etc. then you need a program that can open zip files. Use the link that Tech gave and download 7zip and install it, that should associate itself with a number of archives (zip file types).

Now you have the tools to open and or create a compressed file, commonly called archives or zip files.

9

David , thanks pal but I asked for non-technical language I find your post impenetrable…I’m a beginner.

10

I don’t know how to explain it any simpler, there really isn’t anything technical there, just a series of steps.

  1. You have downloaded the avast! External Control (AEC) zip file, what happened when you double clicked it?
    You can be a technical as you like, but preferably detailed.

  2. I believe if you had a zip program you would know about it and double clicking on the AEC zip file would have opened it. So I suggest you download 7zip and install it, once installed then try and open the AEC zip file.

We can deal with any other issues or problems if you have any after you have done that.

11

David thanks pal, you know so much more about computers than me, and you are living proof of how experts quickly forget what it’s like to be a beginner. Your “simplified” reply was couched in computer terms, that , while easily understood by someone with your expertise, made no sense at all to me. Could I ask you to re-read it as it would appear to you A FEW WEEKS AFTER YOU ACQUIRED YOUR FIRST COMPUTER.
Anyway…at the end of my tether, I uninstalled and then re-installed Avast and, bingo my icon is restored. So simple, so quick.
Thanks pal,
Andy

12

Your welcome, it is unfortunately difficult to unlearn something you have learned over the years and take for granted.

However, you will find that you will need a zip program as many programs are compressed in this way for distribution.

13

Andy, like David said, this won’t be easy…
Anyway, if you can, try to read some threads here, the ones you feel better and confortable. As time goes by, you’ll learn a bit.
We’ll make the effort to be as simple as we can.
Welcome to avast! forums.