Xbench,
Addtional comment: The reason the ini file is protected is so that you cant delete it unintentionally. Without the ini, Avast wont run at all.
Your action to rename was a good one until you decided on what you wanted to do.
I tend not to uninstall and reinstall unless it is a last resort, but sometimes it is the easiest and fastest way to correct a corrupted file or files in any program.
Later,
Techie