Apparently the latest updates of Avast Free Antivirus cause a problem for Windows in which the UI does not load. Some postings indicate that fixes have been made, at least for Win10. However, on XP (SP3), version 18.4.3895.0 still has the problem. I have uninstalled, reinstalled, rebooted, and repaired. I have made all the suggested tweaks to "Services" (background intelligent transfer service; terminal services; remote desktop service), but the problem remains. Perhaps there needs to be an additional update that will fix XP.
I have been happily using Avast Anti-Virus for many years without a problem - this is clearly an issue with the current versions for Windows.
Does anyone has any further suggestions? Can someone from Avast address the problem?
Thank you