This is just a shot in the dark, but did you run into anything like a proxy reset? I'm just wondering if there is anything running around out there capable of turning off the webshield proxy.

hmmm…no i dont think that there is anything running around capable of turning off the webshield proxy…exept my brother he already once disabled the avast! VRDB Generator, or maybe i did something to turn off the webshield proxy that i cant remember now :-[