I think that I don’t have a problem after all.

I just went to Avast user interface/Account. It shows Subscription Status: Valid. (see image #1)

However the Avast tray icon has a red X on it’s face. The white flag icon (Action Center) also has a red flag on it. Opening Action Center (see image #2) says to "Turn on Avast Antivirus. Nothing happens when I click on box “turn on”.