I don't know what else I can tell you that I haven't already. I don't know how to do a 'screen shot' but I copied the exact error message below that I get from outlook express when I try to send/receive mail and when the 'scan inbound/outbound messages' boxes in avast are checked. As I said, right after the update, when these are checked I can't send/receive email and get:
"The server responded with an error. Mail Account', Server: 'pop.earthlink.net', Protocol: POP3, Server Response: '421 Cannot connect to SMTP server 209.86.93.203 (209.86.93.203:587), connect error 10060', Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 0x800CCC90, Error Number: 0x800CCC90"