AVAST FREEZES IN FOREGROUND

[REDACTED]

A serious problem.

Avast freezes and there is no way to tell whether it's working. I've uninstalled and reinstalled it a couple of times, the second time following the steps suggested for troubleshooting if Avast components are not working properly.

When the app started up just after installation, clicking on the 'continue' button caused the cursor to stick to the UI indelibly. Hitting the left Windows key and typing 'task' enabled the taskmanager app to be selected with the enter key; however that is configured this time to be replaced by Comodo Killswitch, which was the only thing that made possible stoppage of the Glued Cursor in the Avast UI. The Windows 7 task manager failed to stop this behaviour when the problem first appeared, so Comodo Killswitch was the second resort.

'You are protected' popup appears, but right-clicking icon in systray does nothing except open the context menu, which then sticks there in the foreground, preventing any other activity. I've used Comodo 'force terminate' to stop that behaviour and then have succeeded in left-clicking the systray icon to open the interface. However if 'Smart Scan' is clicked, the scan does not start up.

All the following steps were attempted:

Uninstall Avast Antivirus from the system using the Avast Uninstall Utility as described in the following article:

Manually delete any remaining Avast folders in the following default locations:
   64 bit type/version:
   C:\Program Files (x86)\Avast Software or C:\Program Files (x86)\Alwil Software
   C:\ProgramData\Avast Software or C:\ProgramData\Alwil Software
      PLEASE NOTE: Depending on your system preferences, the folders          referenced above could be hidden.

Manually uninstall Avast Firewall Driver (or Avast Firewall NDIS Filter Driver) if it exists in the Properties of your Network connections, by following these steps:
   In Windows Explorer, right-click the Network icon on the left panel, and select    
Properties from the context menu to open Network and Sharing Center.
   Click Change adapter settings in the left panel to open Network connections.
   Right-click one of your connection icons (for example, Local Area Connection) and    
select Properties from the context menu.

Reboot your computer and start Windows in Safe Mode by following the instructions on the Microsoft website:

Advanced startup options (including safe mode)
In Windows Safe Mode:
   Search and delete all files starting with aswNdis*.* if any exist in the following folder and its subfolders:
   C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore 

Search and rename the file INFCACHE.1 to INFCACHE.1.BAK if it exists in the following default folders:
   C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore
   C:\Windows\Inf

If Windows (started in Safe Mode) refuses to delete any of these files, take ownership of the files as follows:
   In Windows Explorer, right-click the file that you want to take ownership of, then click Properties from the context menu.
   Click the Security tab, and then click Advanced.
   Click the Owner tab, and then click Edit (click Yes if prompted by User Account Control dialog for permissions).
   Below the Name in the list click Administrator or click the Administrators group, then click OK repeatedly until all opened dialogs are closed.

Clear all offline content and cookies from your web browser by following the instructions available on its vendor's website:
Internet Explorer:
Offline content | Cookies
Mozilla Firefox:
Offline content | Cookies
Google Chrome:
Offline content | Cookies

Temporarily turn off any firewall software.

Download and install the latest version of Avast Antivirus.
If you don't have Avast Premier or Avast Internet Security which include a built-in firewall, turn on your firewall software.

One of the steps proved impossible;

Search and rename the file INFCACHE.1 to INFCACHE.1.BAK if it exists in the following default folders:
   C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore
   C:\Windows\Inf

Taking ownership failed. The folder was read-only. Changing the read-only status and taking ownership and then attempting to rename INFCACHE.1 to INFCACHE.1.BAK resulted in an error message 'access denied'.

After some reading advised deletion of INFCACHE.1 to force Windows to rebuild the USB driver cache, I've deleted it, but after the computer has been restarted INFCACHE.1 has not been rebuilt. Attempts to restore the file to the Driverstore folder failed with the error message 'you need permission... access denied'.

I'm absolutely at a loss as to how as Administrator these actions, as Owner, are still inaccessible.

And still at a loss as to why after all troubleshooting instructions were followed Avast continues to malfunction.

A Malwarebytes scan has found no problems.

Comodo Firewall is and has been in Safe Mode unless terminated as stipulated in troubleshooting instructions.

What might the problem be and how do I get Avast going again? 

EDIT
Might this have something to do with it?

[REDACTED]

This is also my problem. There must be some type of virus causing the problem, as it was working normal. I just did my renewal for another year, but I dont think that could have caused this. Please help!