Hi David,
I’ve heard back from support and this is what they said “SecureLine VPN functionality problem might sometimes be caused by an error in the program’s engine or by an internal system error.”
They suggested a re-install by using Avastclear uninstall utility (in safe mode).

So far it seems to be working better. I’m usually a little wary of reinstalling “this” software because I have different paid timelines for Premiere and Secureline VPN (Premiere is paid for a longer period).
Anyway, so far so good.
Thanks for the offer and also thanks to everyone who replied!!

P.S. @David…that path to the secureline.txt file isn’t on my Win 7 computer. A search doesn’t turn the file up either.

thanks again,

Paul