Real-Time still functional if spinning "a" disappears from tray?

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

No one will deny the unceremonious disappearance of the avast spinning “a” icon from the Windows notification tray (several program icons so vanish!).

still, i have not seen the answer to the most obvious question … in fact, i have never seen this most obvious question even asked! … if the spinning “a” disappears then is the real-time avast protection still filling its av niche at unperturbed performance?

2

The ‘a’ icon is not the resident protection. Is ashServ.exe running in background?

  1. Check the option in the Appearance tab of settings.
    or
  2. Repair your avast installation through Control Panel.
    or
  3. Make a link to ashdisp.exe in your startup folder
    or
  4. Add the path to ashDisp.exe into a value named avast! in the Windows Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
    See picture here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=26155.msg213891#msg213891

If that does not help, please, uninstall, boot, install again, boot.

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), PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc.?

3
No one will deny the unceremonious disappearance of the avast spinning "a" icon from the Windows notification tray (several program icons so vanish!).
I deny this. ;D Not saying it didn't happen to you; but it hasn't happened to me. In your original post about this, you never said if you completed all the steps recommended. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=39866.msg334108#msg334108 Only that a reboot fixed the issue. That fix appears to have been temporary. Might pay to go through those steps again.
4

i’m happy that you understand but I am lost: what is “ashServ.exe”?

3. Make a link to ashdisp.exe in your startup folder
  • again, what is “ashdisp.exe”?
  • please delineate the steps to make such a link
4. Add the path to ashDisp.exe into a value named avast! in the Windows Registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run See picture here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=26155.msg213891#msg213891
again, i must ask you to delineate and explain the steps to accomplish this task (I am using Vista). the image that you offer is insufficient for my needs because i will not fool with the registry if i have no idea what i am doing!
If that does not help, please, uninstall, boot, install again, boot.
not necessary because the icon reappeared at a rebooting.
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), PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc.?
none of these.

YOU DID NOT ANSWER THE ULTIMATE QUESTION: under the stated circumstances, is Avast’s av function performing?

5
In your original post about this, you never said if you completed all the steps recommended.
this is the second time in about 3-4 weeks-- that's enough for me to consider it a separate event! plus, [i]i did[/i], the first time, fix it through control panel. i did not perform the remainder of the steps because, as is the case now, i do not tinker in areas that i know nothing about and that can cause great damage -- such as the registry.
6

Is the resident (the core) of the antivirus. It should be running in background to protect you.

Is the icon on system tray. The file is on avast folder, you can double-click it and the ‘a’ blue icon should be back (temporarily).

It would be better go directly to the ‘repair’ procedure of avast.

7

AshServ.exe is (or should be) visible in taskmanager. Seeing that should reassure you that the protection is on, but doesn’t solve your problem.
Since a repair hasn’t had long lasting effects, and you’re not prepared to add stuff to the registry (fair enough) you could try a complete uninstall then re-install.
Download (if you don’t have it already) the latest Avast program from the website, also download the uninstall utility. http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-uninstall-utility.html
Disconnect from the net, uninstall Avast using add/remove programs, (or whatever it’s called in Vista), reboot as prompted, run the uninstall utility, reboot if prompted, install Avast from the fresh file. Follow the post-install prompts. Reconnect, get VPS updates.
Hopefully that will clear it up.
Let us know how you get on, or if you need anything more explained in detail.

8

PS when installing/uninstalling software, it should be done under an admin account. I’m only familiar with XP. In Vista I believe the equivalent is achieved by disabling UAC during the process.

9

Or simpler, just allowing the elevation question of UAC and letting it run as admin.