providers avast 4.7

[tommynew]

my Outlookexchange provider is not scanning i.e. I have only 6 active providers, is this a fault or because I have the free edition TomN

[DavidR]

Do you have MS Outlook (not express) installed on your system ?

If not the Outlook/Exchange provider isn't required, the Internet Mail provider provides protection for normal pop3 email like OE, Thunderbird, etc.

I suggest you also consider what the other providers do as you may not need them all running, If you don't use Instant Messaging (IM) or P2P or you don't know what they are you may not require it.

A browse of the avast help file, Resident protection give a description of all the providers and their settings so you should be able to confirm which you need enabled.

[Lisandro]

or because I have the free edition TomN

This is not a difference between the Home (free) and the Pro versions.
As reported before, the message "The provider is waiting on the subsystem to start" will be shown there until you open MS Outlook.
The plugin will be enabled automatically after that. Check if the avast plugin is not disabled into MS Outlook:
Outlook 2003 > Help > About > Disabled items
Outlook 2000 > Tools menu > Options > Other > Advanced Options > Add-In Manager