I am running Win98SE.
I am using Avast home 4.7.844.
Avast recently (within the last week) updated itself. I don't know if it was just the virus database or the entire program. This morning, while checking my email, I got the familiar "server not found" error (it was looking to 127.0.0.1). In the past rebooting the computer would fix the problem. Not this time. After a reboot, I would get four pop up error messages from Avast saying something like "Inbound email will not be protected. Error: 10093". I'd get similar messages for outbound messages and I don't know what whatelse, but the error message was all the same.
Going to the Avast control panel and looking at the Outlook/Exchange provider, there was a message saying "The provider is waiting for a subsystem to start". I tried terminating the provider, and trying to use my email to no avail (still the server 127.0.0.1 error). I uninstalled Avast, rebooted, downloaded Avast again, rebooted, went through the settup screens, and guess what... EMAIL STILL DOESN'T WORK!
I have tried repairing the (brand new) installation of Avast and guess what... EMAIL STILL DOESN'T WORK! Do I sound frustrated? I wonder why?
I've been happy with Avast for the last year or two and even recommended it to a number of people. Can someone please tell me what the problem is so I can actually check my email?
Thank you