Avast 7.0.1426 won't let me access the internet

[vineyridge]

IBM Thinkpad 600X
Windows XP Service Pack 3
Zone Alarm
ZoneAlarm version:9.2.057.000
TrueVector version:9.2.057.000
Driver version:9.2.035.000

This is a laptop that has been unused for several months.  It's supposed to go on a trip today, so I fired it up yesterday and updated my Avast by a wired dialup connection that took several hours.  I decided to go to bed and woke this morning to finish the installation. 

Now I cannot access the internet through either Firefox or IE with Avast turned on.  With Avast off, I have no problems.  I know it's Avast because I had the shields control set to restore after 10 minutes and suddenly couldn't connect.

What should I do?  Or what should you guys do?

I'm planning on going back into Windows system tools and restoring to before yesterday.

[DavidR]

Does ZA allow avastSvc.exe internet access ?
- If it does delete the entry for it and reconnect to the internet, this should force the firewall to ask permission again.

[AntiVirusASeT]

u should remove any firewall rules in zone alarm firewall on avast. this is because avast acts as a proxy (web shield) to monitor all connections to and from ur laptop for malicious stuff.

after removing all rules for avast, try updating/ using internet explorer to connect to internet. this should trigger an alert or (defensenet of zonealarm should auto create the appropriate rules for avast as it is whitelisted here)
make sure that avast is allowed for everything.

on a side note: ur zone alarm is out of date

current version: ZoneAlarm Free Firewall version: 10.1.101.000
vsmon version: 10.1.101.000
Driver version: 10.0.217.000
ZoneAlarm Browser Security: 1.5.380.0
ZoneAlarm ForceField Spyware Scanner: 1.5.53.235
ZoneAlarm ForceField Anti-Phishing Database: 1.2.104.0
ZoneAlarm ForceField Spyware Sites Database: 04.155