Avg free U/I unaccessable and icon missing from sys tray and taskbar

Hello Steven,
I'm sorry to hear that, you're experiencing issue with AVG user interface. In this case, I request you to repair AVG (http://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?urlname=How-to-repair-AVG ), update ( http://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?urlname=How-to-update-AVG ) it one more time, and reboot your computer once. After reboot, please check if your AVG programs is working fine. Feel free to contact us again if you need any further assistance.
Best regards,
Alok.

Running AVG free on Win 8. AVG prompted for an update a few days ago. After the update I found a much simpler user interface than before. I entered my preferences. Yesterday I noticed system notifications indicating avg was out of date and there was no icon showing in my taskbar nor systray. I executed the AVG shortcut on my desktop  but no user interface opens, yet I believe another AVG process was launched. If I select to update from windows security window AVG asks if it can make changes to the computer, I accept and then nothing changes (windows security still shows "out of date"). How do I access AVG user interface now to update and change preferences?

Hello Steven,
I'm sorry to hear that, you're experiencing issue with AVG user interface. In this case, I request you to repair AVG (http://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?urlname=How-to-repair-AVG ), update ( http://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?urlname=How-to-update-AVG ) it one more time, and reboot your computer once. After reboot, please check if your AVG programs is working fine. Feel free to contact us again if you need any further assistance.
Best regards,
Alok.