Heyy Boxcrdar...been there done that ... dont be giving up there. I probably cant help you other than offer you a means of support in the fact that this is probably not gonna be a big problem. A few weeks ago, we bought my daughter a brand new Toshiba laptop and started loading her programs ie. deleting Norton's free offer (no thanks), installing MSN messenger, Limewire Pro, Office & AVG (sound similar?)...course it seemed to work for like 2 days..then once we added itunes so she could song her ipod...the lap went screwy just as you are describing treating AVG in a popup blocker fashion...rest of story sounds exactly like what you are describing. Long story short ~ we gave up ~ hubby took it to his guru at work and within 10 minutes it was running as it should...All I know it was something to do with the "factory" install of XP (his guru dont give up much, he just fixes it)...you would think when you pick up a computer from a reputable retail outlet ...it would be loaded to work...Sooo keep the Faith, I'm sure someone here will isolate the problem and fix it for you soon! Take Care.