Ok, so I did all that - issue still remains :frowning:

I found in safe mode that i couldn’t use avastclear.exe as there was no install folder after running the uninstaller from ‘Uninstall a program’ in control panel.

Avast says ‘Attentions Firewall is off: Turn on’. When i turn it on i get told ‘Unable to start firewall’. Ive tried turning the windows firewall on and off with no progress.