From earlier post "Files suddenly behaving as 'read only' "

I'm using Windows 7 and having a problem with a "read only" attribute that doesn't appear on file attributes.

When I open a "doc" file in Microsoft Word 97 my Avast program gives me a warning that "a program" has opened a "read only" file and asks if I want that program to access that file. I tell it okay. When I go to save the file Windows (not Avast) tells me the file is "read only" and kills the saving process.
Yep, the problem seems to be caused by Avast, I spoke too soon on the earlier thread (posted right after start up), because a few minutes later the behavior began again. I "permanently disabled" Avast, shut down the computer, started it up again, and Word 97 has been opening, modifying and saving files for more than ten minutes without problem.

Perhaps this thread should be moved to software? Perhaps I should contact Avast? I'll do whatever you suggest, but my experience with Avast is they will disavow support for Windows 7, will tell me to upgrade to 10, and I'm not in a position to do that.