With regards to Symantec's comments about "no protection", I've found that a lot of utilities don't recognize avast (maybe Symantec's trying to sell you their own?).
I get the same thing from my AIDA-32, which in other respects is incredible -- it correctly pinned down my P&P monitor to make, model, serial no., and even (approximate) date of manufacture. But it too is convinced I don't have any a-v protection.
Actually this might be an advantage (maybe the A-team can expand on this, I'm only guessing). I suspect that at least some viruses which specifically target "brand-name" a-v programs and databases won't recognize avast either, and leave it alone to happily "do its thing".