startup froze

i read the posting on “Avast is locking up the PC”.
apparently, i installed Avast Home Edition on my PC yesterday nite. my os is Win XP Home Edition, IE 6 and with 256 RAM. i also have norton antivirus installed.
i guess i make a big mistake for not uninstalling Norton b4 i install Avast.
so now, my windows will load. i will see the blue balls of Avast moving for a little while. then, nothing more. i cannot click on start, not any programs, not Ctrl + Atl + Delete. Nothing.
What should I do? Reformat?
as i mentioned earlier, i read the posting on this similar problem. they are long, and i cant understand.
am still wondering, is there a solution? what can i do? besides reformat my PC?

please help

Noo, reformatting is definitely not necessary. Uninstall either Norton or avast from the Windows Safe mode - see e.g. http://www.avast.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1455;start=msg8562#msg8562

It shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to get your computer working again…

Vlk