rookie question - where's the UI?

[George48]

I bought the Internet Security product, downloaded it, and installed it (apparently successfully).  I ran it (it shows up in Task Manager) but there's no window, no user interface, nothing.  Any ideas?

[mchain]

Hi George48,

Multiple ways of tackling this problem.

Simplest way is to find the new Avast orange ball lower right corner in the 'system tray' if XP, same location if Vista or Win 7.  Move the mouse down to the icon and right-click.  Pop-up will show, and click 'Open Avast User Interface'.

Another way is to click Start if in XP or Vista, and select Avast! from the Program list.

By the way, the orange icon below will rotate when scanning files, and the name of that file is avastUI.exe.  Just so you know.

[George48]

Thanks.  First, I see no orange ball in my system tray.  Also, sequencing though the ALT-TAB chain, Avast does not appear.  Last, when I click Start/Avast... I don't see any result.

[DavidR]

So what happens when you double click on the avastUI.exe file - C:\Program Files\AVAST Software\Avast\AvastUI.exe ?

Have (or did) you another Anti-Virus installed in this system, if so what was it and how did you get rid of it ?

What other security applications do you have installed (firewall, anti-spyware, etc.) ?

[George48]

Double-clicking the exe has no apparent effect.  I right-clicked and chose "run as administrator" to get the process that Task Manager reports.
Thanks for the questions - I didn't think this long story was relevant, but... 
This morning I saw strange messages that seemed to come from the malware "Windows Ultimate Security".  I got it disabled.  Then I  downloaded "STOPzilla" after reading some good reviews, but while it was scanning I read some not-good reviews, so when it asked for money I uninstalled it.  Then I downloaded AVG, which I had used before, but the install failed.  So I bought Avast, because a friend recommended it. 
Have I made a big mess?

[Pondus]

Have I made a big mess?

yepp   


Windows Ultimate Security Patch Removal Guide
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-windows-ultimate-security-patch

[DavidR]

It may be as a result of having remnants of the failed A V G install, presumably there was no add remove programs to uninstall it ?
Uninstall possible remnants of previously installed AVs see, http://singularlabs.com/uninstallers/security-software/, this has a collection of manufactures removal tools, so that should remove any remnants, registry, etc. Item 2 in the list.