dead GUI

When I start avast, the control panel GUI device sits in the middle of the screen - dead!
Task Manager shows it’s running, OK, but it’s inaccessible.

Am running XP pro on a machine that is otherwise functioning normally.

Try a repair of avast. Add Remove programs, avast! Anti-Virus, Change/Remove button and scroll down to Repair, click next and follow. You need to be on-line to do this.
If that doesn’t work try, uninstall, reboot, install, reboot.

OK, thanks, the re-install worked …

Glad to help, welcome to the forums.