There are a couple of points perhaps worth noting - they are not crucial to the operation of the AV system but might save someone time or confusion.
On the first page that shows when you select Real Time Shields, then a particular shield, for example the Mail Shield, there is a button in the lower right hand corner to "Show Report File". The default file that refers to (in XP) is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Awil Software\Avast5\Report\EmailShield.txt, and with the default settings it simply shows an entry for each time the Shield is started.
Note that if you put your computer into hybernate rather than completely closing it down after a session, then there will be no entry in the file for the start of the next session, it will only log the start from bootup. (That is certainly the case for multiple sessions within the one day - I haven't yet checked whether there is some time period at which another entry will be forced if no proper reboot has taken place taken place).
If you go into Expert Settings for that Shield and change the default name of the file from * to say "mymailshield.txt", that file will replace EmailShield.txt at the above address, but not until you reboot, least wise that's what happens in my PC.
Note however that if you change the name (and since that provision has been made, obviously Awil expected someone to want to do it), the "Show Report File" button no longer works, it's not clever enough to use the new file name from the expert settings.
I suspect that other settings, like the choice of append or overwrite also require a reboot before they take effect.
