Internet Mail scanner waiting for subsystem to start

Avast! has been running fine for months, but now I notice that when I hover the mouse over ‘A’ in the System Tray a little box says " . . . 3 provider(s) total, 1 running" (it used to be 2 running). When I open “On-Access Protection Control”, Internet Mail, I see the message “The Provider is waiting for a subsystem to start”.

I have tried running the Mail Protection Wizard again but this has not helped.

I have also had problems with OE 6 the last couple of days. The settings for incoming and outgoing mail servers are being automatically changed making it impossible to send and receive mail until I correct them.

Are these problems connected?

Yes, they both mean that the mail scanner (ashMaiSv.exe) is not running. The Mail Protection Wizard creates a registry entry for ashMaiSv.exe to be started at system startup. You need to be logged as Administrator to enable creation of that entry. If it doesn’t work, add ashMaiSv.exe to Start->Programs->Startup menu.

I have a similar problem with my email! However, I’m using OE 5.

“I have also had problems with OE 6 the last couple of days. The settings for incoming and outgoing mail servers are being automatically changed making it impossible to send and receive mail until I correct them.”

Had the same problem when I first installed Avast32 Home Edition, but when I made the corrections they remained and had no further problem. Now that I’ve upgraded to Version 4 Home Edition, the same thing is happening again, but it won’t accept any changes I make!

I’ve been trying to find ways in Avast to fix this, but can’t. How do I log in as Administrator to fix this?

???

Logging in as Administrator only works for Windows NT based OSs (Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP).

You assign a password for the Administrator account during the setup of these OSs. During logon, you would type “Administrator” as the user name, and whatever password you had assigned to that account as the password.

I use Windows 98 SE, but will give this a try! Do you have any other suggestions if it doesn’t work?

???

:cry:

Your right, can’t log in as Administrator on Win 98SE.

Out of frustration, I’ve turned off scanning of my incoming emails. I have too many accounts to keep correcting everytime Avast changes them. I don’t like doing this! Any other suggestions?

I am careful about incoming emails when I don’t know who is sending it, especially if there are attachments., normally I delete them The preview pain in OE is not showing either.

ANY suggestions are appreciated.

I had this problem once and resolved it running Mail Protection Wizard to disable protection, restarted and then enabled it again with the Wizard.

Make sure that Outlook Express isn’t running while you run MPW.

Look if the process ashMaiSv.exe is running. Also look into the file C:\Program Files\ALWIL Software\Avast4\Data\log\aswMaiSv.log if there are any “error” entries.

Okay, this is getting frustrating and confusing! When I turned off the email protection, I used the Mail Protection Wizard to disable it. (However, can’t remember if OE was running or not when I did so. I don’t think it was, but not certain.) Now… I can’t find the Mail Protection Wizard! It just isn’t there, anywhere. I even uninstalled Avast, and reinstalled to try starting over again. Only got the MPW during the installation process. But still no Mail Protection Wizard after installation. I’ve tried finding it with OE running and without it running. No MPW.

All I can do now is either pause or stop the provider.

Next advice: ashMaiSv.exe does run when checking for new emails, but I don’t think it runs at any other time. I also checked the C:\Program Files\ALWIL Software\Avast4\Data\log\aswMaiSv.log, but there were no “error” entries.

And Avast still changes my settings.

Not only does it change the settings for my regular ISP email accounts, it changes my other email accounts as well. I need access to these accounts from home for work purposes.

Sorry it’s taken me a few days to come back on this after your speedy response, Vojtech. You were quite right, Ashmaisv.exe had disappeared from the Startup programs along with Adaptec DirectCD. They appear to have been sabotaged by the installation of “CDswitch” downloaded from Veryltd.com.

I have restored both programs to C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp and all is working as it should.

Thanks for the help.

I’m having this problem and I can’t get this to work. I’ve tried the suggestions here and have had no luck.

Is there any more info on this problem? What caused it to all of a sudden stop?

Ummm… please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe this is a feature. The email scanner will be started when a supported email software is being started.

Start your Outlook Express or Outlook, or any other email software supported by avast! 4. When the program has started, check your mail scanner, it should be running now.

Or then I have misunderstood this whole issue… :stuck_out_tongue:

Logd,

but I believe this is a feature. The email scanner will be started when a supported email software is being started.

This is true only for the Outlook provider. The Outlook plugin is actually loaded by Outlook itself to its own process so it can’t run if Outlook is not running.

However, things are different in the case of the Internet Mail provider. The Internet Mail provider works as a generic SMTP/POP/IMAP host that can generally serve any client (let it be Outlook Express, Eudora or any other mail sw) and therefore is run at system startup (because it really has no apriori knowledge of who’s going to need it).

Hope this helps,
Vlk

I see. :slight_smile: