Avast 4.8.1368 Windows XP SP3
For about the last week, now, I've been having problems restarting my computer after any kind of abnormal stop: sudden power interruption, software application hang, operating system hang, etc. When I restart, anywhere from six to a dozen instances of the ashWebSv.exe process are started almost simultaneously (even though I'm not connected to the internet, since I use a dial-up connection), which, in turn, causes my computer to completely bog down. Most times, the desktop icons and the taskbar fail to show up for a very long time and the mouse pointer is almost impossible to move around. The computer is completely unusable for hours on end until all these processes do whatever they think they're doing and stop. I cannot manually stop them. I cannot tell them that everything's okay and just cut it out. I'm at my wits' end. I've wrestled this until I'm worn out with it. For the time being, I've used msconfig to disable all the Avast services, so, at least, I can get my computer to start up normally. I would like to have my virus protection back, but not if the program is going to make my computer unusable. I would like to upgrade from 4.8 to 5.0, but I'm not going to do it until I know that I've got a handle on this.
I'm just so tired of it and so disappointed with Avast. Will someone just please make it quit this? Please?