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Consumer Products => Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security (legacy Pro Antivirus, Internet Security, Premier) => Topic started by: street_lethal on January 20, 2010, 09:26:18 PM

Title: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: street_lethal on January 20, 2010, 09:26:18 PM
The subject is self explanatory. When I boot on a XP SP3 machine the Avast taskbar icon shows up and has an exclamation point over it for a few seconds and then goes away. I assume it does this when all of the shields are not fully running yet?


Also on one machine when I did a in place upgrade, I then went to the scan sections and everything was blank, rebooted and it was o.k. everything showed up, quick scan, full scan, etc...
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: street_lethal on January 21, 2010, 05:09:57 PM
As to the exclamation point over the Avast taskbar icon for a few seconds anybody have the same situation?
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: waking on January 21, 2010, 05:33:33 PM
The tray icon is orange and spins during activity (option setting) *if* all is
secure and normal/Protected. If you have certain settings or conditions which
will cause the Summary to go yellow/Attention (such as having Updates set to
Notify rather than Automatic or a Shield disabled), there will be a yellow triangle
with an exclamation mark in it over the orange ball. In this state, the ball does
NOT spin during activity.

If you have a serious condition which will cause the Summary to go red/Unsecured
(such as having all shields turned off), there will be a red square with a white
'x' in it over the orange ball.

During startup the icon may reflect the fact that one or more of the Shields is
not yet up and running.

P.S. - The description of the tray icon's appearance in the 5.0.377 help (Basic
Settings) is for the 4.8 icon, and has not been updated to accurately describe the
appearance of the icon in v5. While it has the color of the ball right (orange),
it says:

"... if it is greyed out, or has a line through it, one or more of the shields may
not be active."
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: street_lethal on January 21, 2010, 05:47:46 PM


During startup the icon may reflect the fact that one or more of the Shields is
not yet up and running.



That's what I was thinking so i'm not going to bother with it, as long as the shields are running. Just weird though, my other slower machine with Avast 5 doesn't have the same situation with the exclamation point over the Avast icon on boot. You would think the slower machine would have this issue and not the faster machine.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: Avastfan1 on January 21, 2010, 09:57:16 PM
Hi Street_Lethal,

I am also experiencing the same problem.

Not sure if the new Avast Free 5.0.377 is defective?

Hopefully there will be an official response from the Alwil team?

Avastfan1
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: schmidthouse on January 21, 2010, 10:11:43 PM
Hey Ho ;D   THis is also the case with both my Computers running WindowsXP SP3. I assumed this was simply due to all sevices getting the get go. I'm not quite sure here..... is this a problem or is this normal boot up operating  ???
Anyone.... 8)
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: stevey on January 21, 2010, 11:03:39 PM
I have the same problem, keep getting the red x followed by the yellow exclamation on every reboot, but after a while the avast ball goes orange again.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: waking on January 21, 2010, 11:28:08 PM
AFAIK, it *isn't* a "problem". Different systems have different hardware,
different software, different startup programs and services, etc. Avast!
itself consists of different components and services which have to be
started individually and separately. The timing and synchronization will
vary from system to system.

Would you be more comfortable if the avast! icon didn't appear *at all* until
it is fully loaded and fully operational? Or would you be more comfortable if
it showed a "Starting..." icon or splash screen during startup?
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: stevey on January 22, 2010, 06:41:51 PM
i'll take your word for it that it's not a problem then but it would have helped if that sort of explanation about the different icons was in the help section.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: schmidthouse on January 22, 2010, 08:33:11 PM
AFAIK, it *isn't* a "problem". Different systems have different hardware,
different software, different startup programs and services, etc. Avast!
itself consists of different components and services which have to be
started individually and separately. The timing and synchronization will
vary from system to system.

Yep...I would have to agree 8)
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: street_lethal on January 23, 2010, 02:26:59 AM
I uninstalled and reinstalled Avast 5 the other day on the system I was talking about with this issue just to see if my installation was borked and it's doing the same thing. On reboots the exclamation point goes away faster, about a second, on cold boots i'll get the red x quickly and the exclamation point will hang there for about three seconds. We'll see if an update changes anything, until then i'm not going to mess with it again. But, Waking could be correct, what he says makes sense and is what I was thinking.

By the way the system with this issue has practically nothing loading on start besides the standard MS services. I have Sygate 5.6 starting with Avast, that's it. XP SP3, e6420 overclocked to 2.66 Ghz, 2 gigs of ram. The slower system(laptop) without this issue also has nothing loading besides the standard MS services and Sygate 5.6. AMD Turion 2 Ghz single core processor(not a X2), 1 gig of ram. It's running Media Center 2005 SP3. Same exact guts as XP but with the Media Center crap which I never use. The fast system blazes to the desktop( I told ya I run it lean) which is why I might be seeing the exclamation point, the laptop sits at the "welcome" screen for a bit which is maybe why when I get to the desktop on the laptop I don't see the same thing going on.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: ky331 on January 23, 2010, 06:11:00 PM
I've also noticed that the yellow triangle with an exclamation point appears for several seconds each time I boot up my laptop, before switching to the normal/rotating orange ball.   I have speculated that this is due to the time it's taking for my wireless card to be engaged, and start accessing my router for an internet connection --- it seems that the triangle disappears concurrently with my firewall showing internet activity.

In particular I have noticed that avastUI.exe --- which I believe controls the system tray icon --- accesses the internet (I had to allow it permission in my firewall).   I believe this tends to corroborate my speculative explanation.  Perhaps someone at avast can definitively confirm this?
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: street_lethal on January 23, 2010, 06:28:40 PM
I've also noticed that the yellow triangle with an exclamation point appears for several seconds each time I boot up my laptop, before switching to the normal/rotating orange ball.   I have speculated that this is due to the time it's taking for my wireless card to be engaged, and start accessing my router for an internet connection --- it seems that the triangle disappears concurrently with my firewall showing internet activity.

In particular I have noticed that avastUI.exe --- which I believe controls the system tray icon --- accesses the internet (I had to allow it permission in my firewall).   I believe this tends to corroborate my speculative explanation.  Perhaps someone at avast can definitively confirm this?

Could be, could explain why it does it for a longer time on cold boots for me, I turn my modem and router on and then my computer. My computer has to get a IP from the router. If the router and modem are left on and I do a reboot I get the exclamation point for a half second. No biggie as long as it works and doesn't hang there forever.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: MikeBCda on January 23, 2010, 09:20:06 PM
Essentially the boot-up behavior is more or less the same as it was in 4.8 ... if you moused-over the avast 4.8 (and of course older ones too) icon during bootup, you'd typically see that some of the providers weren't yet running (in my case, the Web shield and Email shield were usually the last two to "kick in".

That's one of the features in v5 I'm delighted to see -- if, for example, you've paused (or even stopped) one or more providers and forgotten to reactivate it/them, you now have a visual reminder/warning about it without having to do a mouseover check.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: r2d2 on January 24, 2010, 09:37:24 AM
Same thing happening here the taskbar icon shows a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark? this lasts for approx 3 secs it also causes the desktop/taskbar icons to refresh when it eventually loads and changes to the normal avast icon  ??? can someone from avast please confirm will this issue be addressed/resolved with the next program update  :-\ my current version is 5.0.377

cheers
r2d2   
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: waking on January 24, 2010, 09:55:10 AM
... will this issue be addressed/resolved with the next program update ...

While I don't speak for avast!, it should be clear from the prior comments
that there *isn't* anything that *needs* to be addressed or "resolved".

Consider it a useful indicator that you need to wait for all shields to be
installed and activated before commencing to use your computer.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: anjandavid on January 24, 2010, 10:16:00 AM
I have the same problem, keep getting the red x followed by the yellow icon on every reboot, but after a while the avast ball goes orange again. then LAN connection appaired taskbar,my current version is 5.0.377.but one thing i want to know that i heard that melwere were effected in boot time??? is it true??

english is bad
sorry...
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: gizbar on January 24, 2010, 10:27:21 AM
It's not a problem! As with all services/startup programs, it takes time to run them all, even if you have the latest and greatest core i7! As your system boots, it will load all of the drivers/startups/services as quickly (but sequentially) as it can. Your pc will not dive off to the internet to find the latest piece of malware just because Avast! hasn't finished loading!

Just how quickly do you need to get on the internet? If it's that quickly, then leave the PC on and don't shut it down.
If not, just wait until it finishes and then go on.

I would only worry if it doesn't clear after booting, then you need to find out why. Has something on Avast! failed, or is there a problem with malware or a virus?

regards, Gizbar.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: r2d2 on January 27, 2010, 03:29:55 PM
Just wondering if you guys might have noticed any difference since the virus update def 100127-0 - I'm pleased to report my system now starts up without displaying the warning triangle/exclamation mark so I'm just wondering if avast have included a fix for this issue in the latest update  :) would appreciate your thoughts  ;)

Thanks
r2d2
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: Mikos on January 27, 2010, 03:33:05 PM
That yellow exclamation point use to appear and then disappears once the shields are up and running. At least in my slower PC I did notice that. With my faster one though, well... Didn't notice. Perhaps it could be the update also that fixed it. Haven't seen it since yesterday.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: rabies on February 04, 2010, 10:16:53 AM
I just upped to Avast 5.0.396 and having the same issue and something even more annoying. On my Win XP machine, it's not only the taskbar icon showing an exclamatoin point, but the Avast User Interface also automatically launches on boot while the various Avast services are being loaded. I'm pretty sure this is not a normal behavior. Is there any way to stop the UI from launching on startup?
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: rafaelluik on February 04, 2010, 02:46:16 PM
It's not a problem! As with all services/startup programs, it takes time to run them all, even if you have the latest and greatest core i7! As your system boots, it will load all of the drivers/startups/services as quickly (but sequentially) as it can. Your pc will not dive off to the internet to find the latest piece of malware just because Avast! hasn't finished loading!

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

it's not only the taskbar icon showing an exclamatoin point, but the Avast User Interface also automatically launches on boot while the various Avast services are being loaded. I'm pretty sure this is not a normal behavior. Is there any way to stop the UI from launching on startup?

You have a problem... :-\

Try that:
For Vista / Win7: Go to C:\Users\<your_username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Tip: Paste this address to the search field at the Start Menu:
%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

For XP: Go to C:\Documents and Settings\<your_username>\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

If the Avast icon is there simply delete it.

If Avast icon isn't there...

Run msconfig.exe and go to the 4th tab of the window
Seek for avastUI.exe startup entry. If it the "command" doesn't contain /nogui at the end of it that means you will need to uninstall Avast and then install Avast again (download it again to prevent errors).
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: rabies on February 05, 2010, 11:20:22 AM
For XP: Go to C:\Documents and Settings\<your_username>\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

If the Avast icon is there simply delete it.

If Avast icon isn't there...

Run msconfig.exe and go to the 4th tab of the window
Seek for avastUI.exe startup entry. If it the "command" doesn't contain /nogui at the end of it that means you will need to uninstall Avast and then install Avast again (download it again to prevent errors).

I appreciate the tips, but unfortunately the problem still persists. Even with a full Avast 5 reinstallation, the User Interface still auto launches on boot. I just hope this bug can be remedied in future program updates.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: norel on March 12, 2010, 12:27:06 AM
Has anyone gotten any closer to figuring out why it does this?

I recently installed 5.0.462 on my mom's XP SP3 machine and it's doing this, but it doesn't do it on mine with Vista.

If I disable all Status Bar monitoring it still does it which makes me think it's not the result of a monitoring function, but possibly the icons themselves located in AvastUI.exe showing as the user interface loads.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: Lisandro on March 12, 2010, 02:10:11 PM
It's the avast loading... I think it's everything normal.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: Hally on March 12, 2010, 02:55:50 PM
Hi  :)

As to the exclamation point over the Avast taskbar icon for a few seconds anybody have the same situation?

Me!
Yellow Triangle with an Exclamation Mark  :o
It seems to be caused when Avast 5 starts up before..
1) Internet Connection
2) Firewall Starting Up

Don't have this problem with my - Desktop
However...
I do have this problem with my - Laptop  ::)

The only real difference between my - Desktop & Laptop...
My Laptop starts up much faster than my Desktop does.
1) Because my Laptop only has One User Account - & - Desktop Has Two!
2) The Laptop just does start up much faster  ;D

So I'm Presuming  :-\
The problem doesn't happen with my Desktop...
Because everything like - Internet, Firewall - & - Avast 5
All have just that little bit longer to wake up on start up  :D

Note: So Far.. Never seen an X .. Only The /!\

Hally
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: YoKenny on March 12, 2010, 04:06:26 PM
@ Hally

On my Win7 system avast! icon is immediately OK with no Exclamation Mark   8)

On my XP Pro system avast! icon is delayed a bit so Exclamation Mark shows for a short while.

@ norel

What are the system specifications of your mom's machine as to CPU speed an type and how much RAM does the system have?
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: REDACTED on December 08, 2015, 06:38:27 PM
I have same problem here,but,my orange triangle with exclamation mark,remain all the time! Not disapear...message is : one shield is not active...but all 3 shields apear active in on position...on Windows SP3 Lenovo  S 10E ...thanks!
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: CraigB on December 08, 2015, 06:50:22 PM
I think a new topic might have been better than reviving a nearly 6 year old one.
Title: Re: Avast taskbar icon, exclamation point for a few seconds on boot.
Post by: REDACTED on December 08, 2015, 07:04:06 PM
Sry,but ,today I reactivate my mobil laptop,and I updated AVAST...last time I update AVAST on this device was in september 2014...work ok,but I have this issue...