The avast! icon disappeared

Hi, all. Since last update the avast!'s icon somehow disappeared. All the services seem as running, I still can run the antivirus’s interface via Start->Programs. But the icon… WHERE MY ICON ??? :slight_smile: My PC runs Win2K. All your comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

avast! icon missing - As a temporary measure 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).

What other security based software do you have that might block new startup entries, e.g. Spybot S&D (TeaTimer), AdAware (AdWatch), SpySweeper, PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc. ?

What avast processes are running in Task Manager - they begin with ash or asw ?

Hi, DavidR. Thank you for your post. I see a little misunderstanding here bacause I did not explained my problem exactly.
The disappeared icon is the ‘a’ icon on my takbar. I’ve tried to repair installation of the avast! software via Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs. At this time without any success. Although, currently I can see in Task Manager the following tasks running: ashMaiSv.exe, ashServ.exe, ashWebSv.exe, ashUpdSv.exe… One more note, I’ve did merged the ‘a’ and ‘i’ icons right after initial installation of avast! on my PC. It was a few monts ago. Again, thank you. And waiting for your comments. Thanks

Repair is very unlikely to restore the missing icon.
The ashDisp.exe is missing from your list in Task Manager. Merging the icons shouldn’t cause this.

Please answer the question about other security programs.
In the meantime you can use the work around I mentioned creating the shortcut.

Hi, DavidR. :slight_smile: Thank you again. I do not use of any third-party security / blocking programs like Ad-Aware, SpyBot etc. And I dont need the avast! icon on my desktop, - only on the taskbar.

  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

The desktop shortcut suggestion is a work around until the problem is resolved, the desktop shortcut will start the process and place the icon in your system tray.

Hi, DavidR.

  1. In the Settings->Appearance the appropriate checkbox is checked. I did not touched it since initial installation of avast! sw.
  2. In my second post I’ve mentioned my tries to solve this ‘problem’ via COntrol Panel->Add / Remove Programs->Repair. The whole procedure succeeded, but the icon is still not there.
  3. Why I need to manually add the ashDisp executable to my startup group and edit sys registry ? Its considered to normal situation ?

It’s not normal, but adding the ashdisp.exe in the startup group you’re allowing to see the icon on system tray.
ashdisp.exe is ‘the’ icon.
Some application is preventing and removing this entry… maybe other security program (ad-watch from ad-aware, tea timer from spybot, prevx, process guard, etc.).

Hi, Tech. Thank you for reply.
I dont have installed and dont use of ANY security program except avast! on my PC. At this stage I dont consider to manually restore the ‘a’ icon, because its not seems to me THE solution of (maybe) underlying problem. How can I know - what is the exact list of tasks launched by avast! ? Additionally, if I ‘manually’ run the ashDisp, it will be displayed to me in any case, including the case when the whole avast! is suspended / stucked / not existing / whatever… Thank you again - for your time.

These are the processes that you should see in task manager and the only relevant on to the problem is ashDisp.exe, the avast icon. Clearly that won’t be there so you need to do one of three things two of which Tech Mentioned.

See image example, I have changed it as my avast folder isn’t the default one.

Or reinstall avast - uninstall, reboot, install, reboot.

If you choose not to do the manual options that is entirely up to you, but obviously there is no point asking for help if you are going to discount the options. We don’t know why this has happened, all we are trying to do is offer a solution to get the icon back permanently.

thanks. I am really appreciate your opinion, no laugh.

Yes, it disappeared alright, and it keeps disappearing. Every time Firefox updates it seems to remove the Avast icon. Interestingly it’s installed and fully activated in the extensions manager but just doesn’t appear on the screen.
This has been going on for a month. I sent a support ticket about 3 weeks ago through Avast Help on my desktop. Nothing happened. I’ve now sent another request through Avast Support online and 5 days later I’m still waiting for a response. :frowning:

Probably would have been better to open a new topic for your issue listing the details of your system and other security software installed and whether you have performed a repair “and if failed” a clean install.

Posting in 10 year old topics isn’t generally a good idea, Avast has changed a lot since then :slight_smile: