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No, you don’t need to install in Safe Mode.
Please download ANEW the setup.exe for Avast.
Run the installation and please reboot immediately, even before configuring or before anything else.
After reboot, configure Avast and use it for several days. It should work for about 30 days even without the free registration.
You MAY need to configure update → “direct connection (no proxy)”, and there are other settings that may help in your situation. Please be aware that I am not YET recommending this type of settings / procedures. I am just mentioning only one of many possible solutions, which depends on the specific cause of the problem (while the symptom might be very similar to the eyes of the final user).
If everything is OK, then in a few days you go to Avast GUI → maintenance → registration and register your Free Avast. If something is wrong, please report back here before registration or before “blindly playing around”.
Whichever the result, please report back.