avast! stops me from connecting to websites?

Avast Free Antivirus / Premium Security
1

Hi all,

I have been using the free version of avast! for a while, but my free subscription ran out and it asked me to create an account (which I did). For some reason I wasn’t allowed to make my account without using the Internet Security trial (and yes I tried everything to not have to use the trial!). For some reason after the upgrade I’m only allowed onto very few websites! Afterwards I tried to remove the trial by going to Maintenance>Subscription and following the instructions here: https://support.avast.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=1219#idt_02
But the switch back button just wouldn’t appear, only the upgrade promotion!
That was the last straw and I uninstalled avast, but now I still can’t visit the websites I used to!

Other info:
Windows 7 x64
Browsers affected: Any!
Websites tried to visit: XDA Forums, Overclock.net, safe websites etc.

2

If after uninstalling avast the problem persists, well, probably the culprit is elsewhere.

3

But it occurred after the upgrade to avast! Internet Security. I got a pop up from avast about the firewall, which after I turned on started not allowing me to connect to certain websites. Since then I haven’t been able to connect again. If it’s not avast! then what could it be? Since I haven’t done anything today except browsed the web on the usual websites I do.

EDIT: Doing a system restore from right before the upgrade seems to have solved the issue.

4

Which was your old firewall? Windows one?