I am posting this from work and the issue is on my home PC, but I had a worm infestation that a scan with avast! Professional Edition seems to have removed. However, after a restart of my computer, none of the reassuring blue ball icons for the Resident Shield and other features of avast! have appeared in my system tray.
Needless to say I have not subsequently logged onto the net with my home PC since I am assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that the worm may have compromised that aspect of the protection provided by avast!
I’m running XP Service Pack 2 on the PC and I am afraid I do not have the name of the worm here with me.
I’m not expecting that anyone can tell me what the worm is doing or has done as much as I am concerned that I may have lost on-line protection and if it is safe or not to get my computer back onto the Internet.
Thank you in advance for any help and/or guidance you may be able to offer.
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.
What avast processes are running in Task Manager, they begin with ash or asw, see image ?
David, thanks loads. When I get back home tonight (I’m in Malaysia so I just began my workday), I’ll follow your instructions and also get the details on the nasty and post them here.
I seem to have picked it up from a co-worker when we shared a file on a project via my thumb drive. The flash drive appears to be permanently infected, as a reformat doesn’t seem to have done much good: when I plug it back into the computer it gets an ‘Infection’ alert from avast! every 20 seconds or so, even after a reformat.
The issue arose when the thumbdrive opened on its own when I plugged it into the computer. That concerned me and I realised I had an issue when I opened “My Computer” and it had a folder icon instead of the removable storage one. Everything went downhill from there.
Regarding the other security items you mentioned, none of them are presently in use and the couple I tried have been removed. Right or wrong, I have been relying on avast! professional for “one stop” protection.
I’m a car designer and hugely computer illiterate (despite the fact I use them every day), so once again thanks for your help.