I don?t see how or where I can change the time at which the program searches for an update.
Avast checkes for updates right after a connection is made to the net. After that it will check every 4 hours. You can change the interval time in the avast4.ini file [url=http://forum.avast.com/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1647;start=0](more info on the ini file)[/url]

You can disable the auto-update checking in the options. This is however not recommended. You may miss a very important vps update. I think you better install tweakui and use that to stop applications to steel focus.

That way I?m not interrupted in mid-battle with evil Stormtroopers!
I think security is more important than a game.
apparently if it tries to access the net while I?ve got ZoneAlarm locked, when I unlock ZA and go to browse, the connection is unable to work, and I always get it back after a restart of Windows.
Doesn't sound like a problem with Avast to me.