i mean Thunderbird, not Firefox ... doh.
running Windows 2000 PRO SP4.
funny thing is, it _seemed_ to be working after the clean install, but after some time Avast again starts blocking again ... :-(
- i start Thunderbird ; no connection to IMAP server
- terminate Avast Internet Mail, server asks for password !!
- log in
- start Internet Mail again, retrieve mail from server
- after some time Avast blocks again
so it definitely is Avast ... IMHO.