Avast icon in tool tray never stops spinning?

[REDACTED]

The Avast icon in tool tray never stops spinning, All day!  From what I have read this means that it is scanning an active file.  How do I determine which file it is so I can exclude it ?
Second highest user in my W. Task manager.

[Eddy]

It doesn't mean it is scanning a file, it can also be scanning webtraffic.
Disable the shields one at a time to see which one is constantly scanning.
Also provide details
- What exact version of avast?
- What os/sp?
- Any other security (related) software installed? (or previously)?

[Pondus]

any activity in the computer when on is monitored in realtime ..... that is what realtime protection is

so this can be windows indexing, windows update check/download, any program on your computer that is connected in/out, P2P / Skype /  torrent program / backup program / open mail client or browser .......

if you dont like to see it spinning, you can turn off animated icon

[REDACTED]

Well I seemed to have stumbled onto the fact that it might be ''windows explorer'' that is the culprit, and it can not be shut down.

Yes, thank you I do have Avast
spin' mode shut of on my desktop, I left it on on the laptop because I am trying to see just what is hammering the cpu on it... and figured the 'spin' might clue me in to when it is active.

I turned off all the the options and left Virus definitions and Virus Defn version turned off and added email to the off list as it is seldom used unless I am traveling and I can turn it back on...  the spin stopped for a while and then came back to life as normal, constantly spinning,,while I was using SKYPE...

ps.  there were no other programs running at the time and I had repaired and boot defragged the registry  with Glary Util. and ran  CC Cleaner as well for residual junk...

In 1/2 an hour I had two SKYPE lock ups and auto shutdown of the program. It's beyond me...

[DavidR]

You say:

Well I seemed to have stumbled onto the fact that it might be ''windows explorer'' that is the culprit, and it can not be shut down.

I just wonder if it might be something related to windows explorer, the Microsoft Indexing service - whilst that may not be directly shown as the process responsible. You could try disabling the Indexing and see if that has any effect.

If you have been making changes to the avast settings - it may be worth setting them back to the default settings. AvastUI > Settings > Troubleshooting > 'Restore factory defaults' expand the section and click the Reset now button.

[Eddy]

I suggest a check just to rule out some things:
https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=53253.0