Windows Security Updates (on Tuesday, of course), and it happens again.
The icon disappears from the system tray, and I can't double-click the GUI (no response).
I go through AdwCleaner to reset the winsock, and reboot.
Then, I update Avast Free Antivirus (finally! It was from last week).
After which, I use an old tool - Spybot S&D - to turn off some system startups.
I look around and see there's some old RealPlayer procedure calls, which I of course turn off.
I get a popup from Avast -- "Please restart your computer".
Nope, I'll leave it on for now. It's too much trouble getting Avast started again.
(Besides, it might not be an Avast popup... if I got a response from the admins, I'd know for certain if someone was trying to socially engineer an antivirus shutdown.)