Can't remove the Mail Shield.

[vsub]

I don't remember installing it(I installed avast few months ago and I rarely open the gui)but the Mail Shield is there and it stays as
Protection Status: Unknown

If I try to start the shield,I get
Unable to start the Mail Shield!
Shield unreachable

And if I try to stop it,nothing happens

If I try to remove it
Add or Remove Programs=>Avast=>Change/Remove=>Change=>Uncheck the Mail Shield=>Next=>Finish.

The Shield is not removed after that nor after restart
I don't use anything that need that kind of protection so I never install that module(maybe I installed it by accident but I'm not 100% sure)

I'm using Avast Home 8.0.1489 on Windows XP x86

[Pondus]

leaving that shield (or any shield) as it is will not slow down your comp......

but you could try a new clean install..... uninstall avast with the removal tool reboot and install again to see if that changes anything