I am using the windows firewall and can not remember if I should check avast as an exception of leave it unchecked…Thank you to anyone who can possibly help…
It entirely depends on what OS you are using ?
XP’s firewall has zero outbound checking so adding an exception is a bit of a waste of time.
Vista’s firewall has outbound checking, but it is disabled by default, if enabled you would need to allow, ashWebSv.exe (the avast web shield), ashMaiSv.exe (internet mail provider) and avast.setup (the actual avast update process).
Answered you here: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=47487.msg400966#msg400966
Better not asking twice the same.