Author Topic: Lost System Tray icon  (Read 36132 times)

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Spiritsongs

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aswclear.exe
« Reply #30 on: October 02, 2006, 09:01:00 PM »
 :)  Hi Alan :

     As one of my posts clearly states, aswclear.exe
     does NOT completely REMOVE Avast from a computer .

     Hi buttoni :

     You mentioned the "Windows Security Center", which I
     hope you know if its "firewall" is NOT disabled, could
     conflict with your Comodo !?
     As to "ashShell.dll", should seriously consider installing
    "Unlocker" from http://ccollomb.free/fr/unlocker/ .
     This good & FREE program adds another option to your
     RIGHT-click Menu, to use when "Delete" does NOT work .
     And after my recent apparently successful re-install of
    4.7.871, my firewall asked for permission of Avast to
    "connect"; it now says "ashServ" & "ashWebSv" are
    "allowed" & 2 others are "ask".

buttoni

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #31 on: October 02, 2006, 09:24:17 PM »
Thanks for the interim suggestion, Spiritsongs.  That sounds like a useful tool to have onboard.  And I always forget about HijackThis Tools "Delete file on reboot" option, which I already have onboard.  I'll try one of these options when I try another uninstall, which I no doubt will have to do, but am unwilling to until an Avast programmer advises further.  Yes, I know two firewalls running is a no-no and WinFW SErvice has been off for over a year on my system.  Security center only shows Comodo running as Comodo actually turns of WinFW during the install.  But mine was already off.

Since you have Comodo, can you confirm whether the Parent Application for each of those files is C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4 [/color] for all of them and not some subfolder file?  I'm new to Comodo (1 week, dumped McAFee PFW) and know how to add an application rule, but don't want to denote the Parent incorrectly.  Didn't have to denote Parent Apps in McAfee.
« Last Edit: October 02, 2006, 09:31:15 PM by buttoni »

Offline alanrf

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #32 on: October 02, 2006, 09:51:41 PM »
Spiritsongs,

I did read what your post clearly stated.

I also rely on the evidence of my own system and my own knowledge of Windows systems.  I have just uninstalled 4.7.892 again on my system using aswclear.exe.

avast has removed all files and folders it placed on the system, it has removed all registry entries that it creates on the system. 

There is nothing left of avast that is executable by Windows on my system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am not trying to minimize the problem that is reported in this thread.

I need to clarify one point for buttoni.  In the test uninstall/install I performed yesterday I downloaded nothing from filehippo.  The avast setup file I used to reinstall avast was the one for 4.7.892 downloaded from the avast website.  It installed perfectly for me and it does contain the ashdisp.exe file.  The folks I support have also all updated to 4.7.892 without problems.

In the setup log posted above by buttoni it is very clear that the ashdisp.exe program is installed on the system and the registry entry to start it is created.  It is also clear that something has removed it since it cannot be found in the next avast log section.   

I have to guess (and that is all it is at the moment) is that some element of protection in the systems having the problem is considering ashdisp.exe an unacceptable startup program and removing it.   

None of the folks I support are using the Comodo firewall, most are using ZA and a couple just the Windows XP firewall.  I know that Windows Defender involves itself in asking the system user to permit or deny changes in startup.  Do you know if the recent update to the Comodo firewall contained any similar protection? 



Spiritsongs

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Firewalls, etc
« Reply #33 on: October 02, 2006, 09:52:18 PM »
 :)  Hi buttoni :

     Did not mean to imply I have Comodo, which I do NOT;
     have the bought out, then abandoned by Symantec/
     Norton known as "Sygate Personal" and I quoted its
    "Aplications" Menu .

     One thing about the browser you are using: my Duplicate
     Bridge partner has AT&T DSL and she has mentioned she
     does NOT use its "browser", but clicks on her "IE" icon
     and uses that . AT&T ( and AOL as well ) "use" IE, but
     there appears to be slight differences, so I wonder IF
     there may be a positive result of DIRECTLY using IE when
     on the filehippo site to download !?

buttoni

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #34 on: October 02, 2006, 10:24:54 PM »

In the setup log posted above by buttoni it is very clear that the ashdisp.exe program is installed on the system and the registry entry to start it is created.  It is also clear that something has removed it since it cannot be found in the next avast log section.   

I have to guess (and that is all it is at the moment) is that some element of protection in the systems having the problem is considering ashdisp.exe an unacceptable startup program and removing it.   

BINGO, Alanrf.  I think you just may have hit on my problem.  I have been running SpywareDoctor 4.0 a few months now.  It has a StartupGuard feature.  Though the screenshot attached clearly shows it will remove offenders, I thought it would warn me before deleting!!!   :o Apparently not!!!  I confess didn't know it removed "silently".  I though turning off SpywareDoc during my Avast prgm update was all I needed to do.  Wrong.  SWDr deleted multiple fiiles/registry entries after my reboot.  Wonder why it sees these files as "harmful"?  It did nothing when I installed Comodo a week or so ago?  Now I see why those other Avast files never asked for internet access with Comodo.....They weren't THERE!!  :o

I'm gonna run with your theory and try a full uninstall of the older version 4.7.871 using aswclear.exe (as this is my only means now to do so).  I'll once again do the "Search and Destroy" mission on remaining files/RegKeys.  I'll PERMANENTLY turn of SWDr StartUp Guard (don't ever want to deal with this again!).  I'll reboot and then try a fresh install from Alwil Avast website. and see what happens.  Can't be any worse off than I am right now, right?   ;D

Interesting note:  The Results tab view on this SWDr feature had no entries.  Hmmmmm.........Curious. I expected to see several Avast entries there.  ???

@ Spiritsongs:  Sorry I misunderstood about your firewall.  Let me try Alanrf's theory out first, since it is more likely the culprit.  ATT DSL tech told me on the phone once that IE6 does "all the driving" in their browser and all they did was put their & Yahoo's "branding" on the screens.  I think Alanrf has really hit on the solution.  Will post back results of my on-going "adventure?" ASAP

« Last Edit: October 02, 2006, 10:42:29 PM by buttoni »

buttoni

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #35 on: October 02, 2006, 11:38:12 PM »
IT WORKED!!!!  ;D  What a rollercoaster of uninstalls/reinstalls this last two days has been.  I downloaded v.4.7.892 from Alwil site.  Removed existing Avast with aswclear.exe (it got all but 4-5 pretetch entries). Only couple empty folders and keys left in registry to delete.    Install went OK and it took my license key w/o a glitch.  About Avast is showing v4.7.892 with VPS 0640-0 created 10/02/06.  I have both of my cute little A-balls spinning around in the System tray.  AshDisp.exe is present and in Startup lineup in msconfig, And Avast scanner is working fine.  At reboot I checked & SpywareDoctor 4.0 StartUp Guard is off and will stay off for good.  I'm so disgusted with how slow it loads at bootup, resource usage & false positives, I think I'll be checking out another realtime anti-spyware package very soon!  This episode was just frosting on that cake!

My thanks to David, Spiritssong and especially to Alanrf for interpreting my Setuplog and triggering me to take a closer look at SpywareDoctor (besides just turning it off during an install)  I really appreciate the help & time you all spent on this.   :-* coming your way through cyberspace!  Whew!  That's over!
Now to go cook dinner!   Thanks again for being there and helping.   :)

Offline alanrf

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #36 on: October 02, 2006, 11:56:49 PM »
buttoni,

I am very glad to hear that you are up and working on 4.7.892 with the rest of us.

Offline DavidR

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #37 on: October 03, 2006, 12:06:56 AM »
I hate to say it but what did I put in reply #1 of this topic. It could have saved you a lot of pain.

Quote from: DavidR
As these are the usual avast icon killers, what other security based software do you have that might block new startup entries, e.g. Spybot S&D (TeaTimer), AdAware (AdWatch), SpySweeper, PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc.  ?

But at least you have found the problem and it is resolved.
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irishgodfather

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #38 on: October 03, 2006, 12:39:17 AM »
@ irishgodfather
What was there when you clicked the View setup log ?
Can you post the last 30 lines or so of the setup.log file, perhaps someone from the Alwil Team or others can see what the error is about.

Since this Topic relates to Lost system files, what was your reason for (re)installing avast, since you have 5 posts in the forums, I assume you already had avast installed ?
Is this in anyway related to your Topic on Vista, e.g. installing for the first time under Vista ?
This is for the drive I have XP on.
I've been using Avast for years with no problem.
The other day my task bar icon disappeared.
I was told in a different forum to uninstall and reinstall it. I went to add/remove to remove it. That's where I got the error.
As far as View setup log. No idea where to do that.
My main concern is will Avast still update?
It's listed as up to date and running in security.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2006, 12:41:22 AM by irishgodfather »

Offline DavidR

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #39 on: October 03, 2006, 01:26:53 AM »
As far as View setup log. No idea where to do that.
Clicking the button at the time would have been the easiest option but, you can find it here C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\Setup\setup.log it is a text file and can be opened with a text editor, notepad or wordpad depending on size.

My main concern is will Avast still update?
If avast hasn't installed correctly although it might look like it is OK, the least of your problems is updates, rather security/protection. Your best bet is a probably reinstall - uninstall, reboot, run the uninstall utility, reboot, install using the latest version you downloaded, reboot.

It would probably be best to download the latest version of avast and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again. Use that when you reinstall.
Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, find it here and save it to your HDD also.
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rv56

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #40 on: October 03, 2006, 01:51:53 AM »
@DavidR
Quote
As these are the usual avast icon killers, what other security based software do you have that might block new startup entries, e.g. Spybot S&D (TeaTimer), AdAware (AdWatch), SpySweeper, PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc.  ?

Thank you....
I was having the same issues with the system tray icons. Twice I uninstalled and both times came up not good.
After reading through this thread again today, I downloaded another copy of avast...uninstalled avast with the uninstall tool, shut down the real time protection in Windows Defender and shut down my firewall, and reinstalled avast, rebooted and there it is....both icons are now in place along with todays update!!!!!!
Thank you very much.....and thank you to all for helping to get this issue possibly solved.  :)
Real Time protection is staying off from now on as I'm sure this maybe what was causing me grief also.

buttoni

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #41 on: October 03, 2006, 01:53:51 AM »
I hate to say it but what did I put in reply #1 of this topic. It could have saved you a lot of pain.

Quote from: DavidR
As these are the usual avast icon killers, what other security based software do you have that might block new startup entries, e.g. Spybot S&D (TeaTimer), AdAware (AdWatch), SpySweeper, PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc.  ?

But at least you have found the problem and it is resolved.

You did, David, and I noted it.  But in my ignorance I didn't know that turning off SpywareDoctor during the install was not enough.  I didn't understand that StartUp Guard would  remove "suspicious" changes at reboot without the slightest warning/user confirmation alert.  In fairness to me, however, this program has no user manual, a limited number of FAQ's on the website, no forum and only email tech support.  How this feature takes action should be more full explained on the UI screen and an alert/warning should be incorporated for this feature.  

Interesting to me is that my Comodo FW install last week didn't trigger the same kind of action!  It too installed a file in Startup!  Why didn't SWD "axe" that one I wonder?  Surely you don't think PCTools Software could be singling out just Avast!  ;)  I mean, look what McAfee's Personal Firewall 8.0 release in August did to Adaware users(FW either wouldn't install or would promptly shut down if you had Adaware installed on the drive, even on-demand users like me).  I wouldn't be at all surprised if Alwil doesn't want to take this up with PCTools Software.  

I plan on emailing PCTools SWD support team through regular user channels to add to the next release "wish list" a user confirmation alert before it axes a user-invoked download!  
« Last Edit: October 03, 2006, 02:12:35 AM by buttoni »

Offline DavidR

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #42 on: October 03, 2006, 02:08:09 AM »
@DavidR
Quote
As these are the usual avast icon killers, what other security based software do you have that might block new startup entries, e.g. Spybot S&D (TeaTimer), AdAware (AdWatch), SpySweeper, PrevX, WinPatrol, ProcessGuard, etc.  ?

Thank you....
I was having the same issues with the system tray icons. Twice I uninstalled and both times came up not good.
After reading through this thread again today, I downloaded another copy of avast...uninstalled avast with the uninstall tool, shut down the real time protection in Windows Defender and shut down my firewall, and reinstalled avast, rebooted and there it is....both icons are now in place along with todays update!!!!!!
Thank you very much.....and thank you to all for helping to get this issue possibly solved.  :)
Real Time protection is staying off from now on as I'm sure this maybe what was causing me grief also.

Glad I could help, welcome to the forums.
There is no need to disable real time protection, just be aware that you have it and if you are about to install a new program that has a system tray icon pause or terminate the protection first, otherwise something nasty could do its dirty work.
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Offline DavidR

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #43 on: October 03, 2006, 02:15:57 AM »
I wouldn't be at all surprised if Alwil doesn't want to take this up with PCTools Software.  I plan on emailing PCTools SWD support team through regular user channels to add to the next release "wish list" a user confirmation alert before it axes a user-invoked download! 

My major concern with these type of tools that they don't seem to ask permission just go ahead and delete the start-up entry and in your case the file as well without so much as a by your leave. This is obviously a default action in the settings somewhere that needs to be changed to ask 'are you sure that xxx program can add a startup entry' or words to that effect. Worse still if there is no option to ask confirmation as you mention.

I know many users would quickly get fed up with constant reminders/nags but, that so preferable to no notification resulting in this kind of grief.
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Offline alanrf

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Re: Lost System Tray icon
« Reply #44 on: October 03, 2006, 02:37:15 AM »
I am puzzled by the Windows Defender comments from rv56.

One of the folks I support had been using Windows Defender for some time. 

I was on the phone with him when he installed the update to avast 4.7.892 and he reported that Windows Defender merely asked him to confirm the permission for the avast startup entry.    I do not use Windows Defender but if you do you may wish to check whether there is option to ensure it asks for user confirmation - as it did for the avast update.

Later edit:  rv56, are any avast entries shown in the quarantine area of Windows Defender on your system?
« Last Edit: October 03, 2006, 03:18:21 AM by alanrf »