Simple User Interface hangs.

[FrankS]

Since some time, the Simple User Interface (i.e. the one started by for example clicking the "avast! Antivirus" icon on the desktop) hangs shortly after starting it.

It gives the "splash" popup, i.e. where it says "Testing of Memory and Startup", etc. When the splash popup has finished, avast hangs. There is a "avast! Simple  User In.." 'bar' on the TaskBar, but (double-)clicking that does nothing. Right-clicking it only gives the "Move", "Close" and "About avast!..." choices. "About avast!..." works. "Move" does not work. "Close" works", i.e. closes the process and its bar.

This means that I can not use avast to scan any files.

Any suggestions as what could cause this or/and a recommended fix?

Note that the Standard Shield and  Internet Mail work normally, i.e. e-mail viruses *are* caught, etc.. It is 'just' the Simple User Interface, and hence a manual scan, which does not work.

Thanks in advance for any and all responses.

[igor]

To me, it sounds like the window is opened outside the visible area of the screen  

You can try to start regedit, go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ALWIL Software\Avast\4.0\ashSimpl\Settings
and delete the SimplePos value (when the Simple User Interface is not "running").

[FrankS]

Thanks, Igor!

That was exactly the cause/fix!  

Any idea what could cause this? I.e. what could I have done wrong? What else could have happened?

Could there be similar entries in other HKEY_* branches, or is this the only one?

FrankS "Happily scanning along!".  

[igor]

Well, it was just a guess... I have no idea how it could have happened (unless you switched your configuration from dual monitor to single monitor, or something like that).

I don't know about any "copies" of this key... maybe in other users' HKEY_CURRENT_USER, if it's a multi-user system.

[FrankS]

My PC is a laptop which I sometimes use in a docking station and with a monitor. That monitor has a bigger resolution than the LCD of the laptop. While I normally close all programs before undocking the laptop, it is quite possible that one time I forgot that (or the PC crashed or whatever) while the Simple User Interface was in a position which was on-screen for the monitor, but off-screen for the LCD. So you could be quite right (again!  .

I just noted that I still have a related problem:

When I move the mouse-pointer over the buttons etc. of the Simple User Interface, I no longer get the little help popups which display what the buttons do. Is there a setting for that?

[FrankS]

Never mind. The no help-popup problem is gone. I do not know what fixed it.

Case closed.

Thanks again for your fine support!