Dear Forum,
First I uninstalled Avast 5.0.396 beta, rebooted into safe mode, ran the Avast uninstall utility, rebooted, searched for and deleted all Alwil and Avast files and directories on the computer.
Then, I downloaded Avast Free 5.0.377 from the Avast website. Shut down MBAM 1.44, PCTFW 6.0.0.88 and rebooted. I then installed a new, fresh version of Avast 5.0.377 with NO other programmes running.
Although the install displayed the ‘error: cannot connect to server’ message, it completed successfully and prompted for a reboot. After rebooting, the computer started successfully.
I then updated manually the ‘update programe’ and ‘update virus definitions’ and it downloaded the latest 5.0.396 version.
This also completed successfully and prompted for a reboot. After successfully rebooting, I am now working on a computer with the new version running alongside MBAM 1.44 resident protection module and PCTFW 6.0.0.88.
I shall report back on any random freezes which occur.
Hopefully, the Alwil lads have sorted most of the freeze problems.
Avastfan1