Win7 HP.. Now only bootable in safe mode :(

[#1]

Quote from: CX23880

I spent a few hours head-scratching when this happened to me. I was sure that I hadn't changed anything on the system, so was beginning to suspect a hardware failure of the NIC. It was a leap of faith to blame Avast.

Similar story with my netbook a couple of years ago. It took me 1.5 weeks to work out it was avast that was to blame when it happened. It's never happened again since (until this time) so I'd forgotten all about it and never gave it a second thought.
Thanks for your help, you've really cheered me up! 

[#2]

I don't use Avast myself and I'm certainly not going to start now!  I'm amazed you can be so blasé about it:
"Heigh-ho good old Avast, completely b^&*!!ing up my computer again.  I'll install the latest version so it can do it better" seems to be the spirit of what you are saying.  There are other free alternatives, you know. 
System Restore never loses user files (unless they have been added to your Downloads folder on Vista/7 - which is a crude attempt at a safety feature).  I say that with the experience of having used it maybe a hundred times or more.  The only scenario I can imagine where files would be lost is if they had been converted into executables by a virus - in which case they were already gone.     

[#3]

The alternatives?
Avira: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/avira-antivirus-update-cripples-millions-of-windows-pcs/12129
AVG: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/avg-and-rising-signatures-update-detects-windows-files-as-malware...
Or perhaps pay for AV software?
Trend: http://www.zdnet.com/trend-micro-gives-false-positive-details-4010009280/
McAfee: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/21/mcafee_false_positive/
They all have problems.  I used to use Microsoft Security Essentials but got fed up with the delays and bouts of high CPU usage, particularly on my netbook with its single-core Atom CPU. To be fair to MSE, it never caused a single issue on any of my systems, except for poor performance.

[#4]

I`ve been using AVAST for about 4 years now.... and never had ANY problems with it.....

[#5]

Quote from: CX23880

They all have problems.  I used to use Microsoft Security Essentials but got fed up with the delays and bouts of high CPU usage, particularly on my netbook with its single-core Atom CPU. To be fair to MSE, it never caused a single issue on any of my systems, except for poor performance.

I agree none are perfect.  I like Microsoft Security Essentials because in my experience, although it is subject to bouts of intense activity that do slow down less capable computers, I find these bouts are relatively short-lived and I have not known it to cause issues either.
I like Kaspersky as a paid-for anti-virus; mainly because of its effectiveness.
I guess any such program can be forgiven the occasional fall from grace but when it turned out that Sprite had had the same problem with Avast on another computer that seemed a bit much. 

[#6]

In fairness to avast, the last time this happened, I uninstalled it and downloaded the latest 'fresh' version and from memory, that solved it. I guess somewhere along the line all the updates it does every other day must affect it somehow.
I'd never touch McAfee again and Norton.. pfff.. AVG had its chance with me and I've a vague recollection of trying others that I wasn't impressed with.
Avast isn't perfect I know that but I prefer it over the others.

[#7]

Quote from: ReedRichards

I don't use Avast myself and I'm certainly not going to start now!  I'm amazed you can be so blasé about it:

Thought you'd be interested in this!:
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-57512727-12/new-test-results-highlight-windows-security-struggl...

Quote

Meanwhile, a select few held steady or did better than before. CheckPoint ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 10.2 treaded water at 16; Avast Free Antivirus 7.0 (2012) and Avira Internet Security 2012 both bumped up from 14.5 to 15

The other free alternatives (AVG for example) have slipped downwards.
I've installed the latest Avast and my system is fine now