What did the tool find out of curiosity
I cant remember it quite clearly but i do believe it found:
win32loader
and it reported it deleted.. I ran the scan again and it was not found the second time (as it was deleted the first time).
Okay i started the thread off a bit angry at Avast but I found out rootkits are dangerously silent when they infest the computer.
I thought Avast killed my xp install but it was mainly just my lack of complete computer guru knowledge about AHCI mode not supported on the original XP install disc... so just needed a repair install and a few extra virus scans and I'm good..
Now i have 116 updates since windows XP SP3... they should come out with SP4... lol