Avast 2014 blocking all websites except Gmail and Google

I recently installed Avast 2014. Since then, every website in Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari, and Opera (yes, I tried them all) is blocked except for Gmail and Google search from the Chrome address bar (going to www.google.com directly doesn’t work). When I say blocked I mean that the browser just hangs and will not connect to the website. And I am talking about every website - from the www.nytimes.com to Facebook.com to anything except for Gmail and Google search from the Chrome address bar.

I know it’s an Avast issue because the only way I can get the websites to work is if I disable Avast for 10 minutes. Then they keep working even after the 10 minutes. But, the moment I close my computer, I have the same issue whenever I reopen it.

I have Windows 8 64bit installed.

Please help. Thanks!

I recently installed Avast 2014.
what AV did you use before installing avast? did you remove it before installing avast?

General: Uninstalling a third-party antivirus software. http://www.avast.com/en-eu/faq.php?article=AVKB11