Just loaded Avast! The system seems to run fine, until I open a program--any program. The program rapidly freezes up and will not allow me to close, even with task manager. The system itself is still running, and I can open another program--which will in turn freeze up and not allow itself to be closed. Meanwhile, CPU usage remains at a minimum. If I restart and disable Avast! everything works perfectly--programs open, function, and close normally--which would seem to suggest that Avast! itself is the problem.
Prior to installing Avast! I removed all other security software from my system. I'm running Win XP. Any wisdom out there?