Sorry, David, I guess I should have specifically said what I thought was implicit in my stating my problem was solved, which certainly wouldn't have been the case if full background protection didn't activate along with the ashDisp ap running, something I had verified of course.
You're obviously correct in saying this workaround doesn't solve whatever the underlying reason was for the improper installation...which could be many things requiring possibly tons of effort by customers of varying technical skills and troubleshooting experience, and with little or no insights into the detailed design mechanizations, in order to eliminate each possibility...and even then still not ID the specific design element that may be at the root of the problem. Although I agree it's always desirable to reach that objective so the real problem can be fixed (reason I pointed out a possible design bug was involved in my note), once a workaround has been identified, it's neither desirable nor practical IMO to recommend various isolating techniques to customers who generally come to this forum for help, not to jump through hoops to act as a distributed test bed for others to use.
If an easily implemented workaround works, as verified by the observables, I would argue that further troubleshooting to identify the specific fault should be left up to the Avast design group to pursue, using the configurations and related data provided by customers in initial attempts to duplicate the fault in their test bed so as to enable appropriate fault isolation testing by appropriate design team members qualified to do so.
Btw, I asked you if you had further insights into the design which might either confirm or refute my speculation regarding the criticality of the task bar blu icon showing. Did you not see the question, or can I assume no answer means you don't have any detailed design knowledge of Avast mechanizations?