Yeah, that's quite likely, man, it's got to be the VPS update. That is, the VPS update verified all avast files and found version mismatch in ashServ.exe (that's because you replaced it with the "hand-crafted" version I sent you). So it replaced it with the "right" version.
Please replace it again - and you should be all set.
A new program update will be released early next week. This new version of ashServ.exe (that appearently works even on your machine) will be included in the update.
Vlk