avast 4.8 home edition

Hi folks i have a question .When i boot up the windowsxp I get a warning
POP3 protocol
error 10049
check that .ashMaiSV.exe is not being blocked by fire wall

I’m using comodo fw and cant find where to look to find what the problem is
or wether its a software prob or virus ,as i have had to remove avg free recently due to its not loading properly on boot up.any plain English answers will be greatly appreciated as i am in the age group that looks upon these things as monsters that try to tear my mind apart
regards Dennis

The first thing I would suggest is to ensure all remnants of AVG are gone before digging any further.

AVG8 Remover, download tool from here, http://www.grisoft.com/ww.download-tools there is a 32bit and 64 bit windows version, ensure you use the correct one.

What is your email program ?
Do you have to use SSL (secure encrypted) email ?

It might be better to post the full text of the error.

AVG used to change your email account settings so that it could scan them, I don’t know if when you removed it these email account settings were reset to their defaults, I would check your email accounts and ensure the settings are correct.