Avast Update Blocked My Internet Access

When I turned my Windows 8.1 laptop on today, Avast told me it needed an update. So I updated it and restarted the computer, and when it turned back on again, I couldn't access the net. When I opened Firefox, it just opened on a blank new tab instead of Google as usual. I tried going to IMDb.com but got a message saying the connection to the server was reset. I thought at first it was just my connection had gone down, so I tested the live television app on my iPad. I was able to view stations as usual so then I thought there was something wrong with Firefox. I opened Chrome and it opened on Google as usual but then when I tried going to IMDb.com, I got another connection reset message. But then that message disappeared and IMDb opened. So then I thought it had something to do with the Avast update, so I disabled Avast and reopened Firefox. It opened on Google as usual and was able to access IMDb with no problem. So then I reenabled Avast, assuming it would cause the same problem again with Firefox, but it didn't. I'm posting this through Firefox with Avast enabled. So can anyone tell me what happened? Anyone else have the same problem?

 

The Avast Forum is your best place to investigate this. It is not the first time this problem has occurred with an update as seen here:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/avast-antivirus-update-blocks-internet-access/