Vlk
For me - it just sits there. Also, the local network icon will not load so we can not connect to the internet. If I tell avast to start (from desktop icon or blueball) it will scan memory and then I have to tell it to go from disabled to normal (regular) and then it will start. The local network icon then appears and we can connect to the internet.
It acts as if something is turning off the resident scanner when the modem is turned on. If the modem is turned off then everything works fine. Also, everything works fine if we wait until winxp loads all the start services and avast and then turn the modem on.