Thank you all for the input. I've went and uninstalled Avast, made sure mail setting went back to original, downloaded the current version and installed it. It worked without a hitch as I figured it would.
Until this can be a "problem of the past" I won't be downloading any program updates. :'( I feel pretty safe with just up to date definitions. No sense in having to go through this 2+ times a week when there are program updates. I looked at the settings that were put in by Avast and they were identical to before I uninstalled it.
Just to close off with:
Had the same problem ... so opened OE Tools/Accounts
I found that by "remove" all previous info and then"add "the old info plus original SMTP/POP server ie NOT Avast 127. etc
Then closed OE and hit the Wizard and had no probs since.
Hope this helps
One of the first things I did was to remove all of the settings in OE that Avast set so that it would bypass it, checked mail and got some. That way I knew that the mail server was working preperly.
Ok guys, you always have to close the email client (program) before you run the Mail Protection Wizard
One thing I always made sure of, when running the MPW to have OE closed down.
I wish I could figure out why it does this.
I've had this happen before but was able to fix it by resetting the settings and running the wizard. Now it just doesn't want to fix itself. The only answer has to be in the coding. Perhaps I should leave this tidbit in the "Wish List" thread.
Thanks again for all of the help. It's great to have a group that you can go to that will try to help out.