Avast setup had a longer then normal chat to Avast servers and afterwards some of my on-access settings had changed. Any reason for this?
Sometimes, if the servers are very busy, it may take a bit more time than usual, but what I am concerned about is why your OA settings changed. Can you tell me which ones had changed? Did you reset them correctly....and did Avast then function normally?
I do not use any e-mail client software, I do all of my e-mailing online (Yahoo). Do I still need Avast mail scanner switched on or will the Standard Shield take care of things when I'm transfering things to my hard drive?
Avast uses the Internet Mail scanner to monitor and scan POP3 email and also the SMTP outgoing email from an email client. Since Yahoo is web-based, unless you pay for POP3, Avast will scan only those files you download and attempt to open. Should a file or download be infected, Avast will alert you and give you the options to repair,move, or delete.

;D