Hi,

I'm sporadically seeing the following error message:

The service 'Software Protection' has a Startup type of 'Automatic (Delayed Start)' and I've already attempted starting it and monitoring. The service goes from running to stopped in a short space of time and doesn't remain started. I'm unable to change the Startup type even using 'Run as administrator' on services.msc.

Potentially the Software Protection service is a red herring.

System:

Windows 8.1 Pro

Office Pro Plus 2013 licensed using MAK

This also occurs on another laptop which has 8.1 and Office 2013 so no point repairing Office / reinstalling etc.

Any help is appreciated.

• Edited by David4576 Tuesday, January 13, 2015 5:27 PM

You can have a look at this event in the Event Viewer after you restarting the services .Event viewer \Windows logs \Application

Thanks. I see 7 events for the Software Protection service after booting today:

Event ID 900
The Software Protection service is starting.
Parameters:caller=wmiprvse.exe

Event ID 1066
Initialization status for service objects.
C:\Windows\system32\sppwinob.dll, msft:spp/windowsfunctionality/agent/7.0, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
C:\Windows\system32\sppobjs.dll, msft:rm/algorithm/inherited/1.0, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
C:\Windows\system32\sppobjs.dll, msft:rm/algorithm/phone/1.0, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
C:\Windows\system32\sppobjs.dll, msft:rm/algorithm/pkey/detect, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
C:\Windows\system32\sppobjs.dll, msft:spp/ActionScheduler/1.0, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
C:\Windows\system32\sppobjs.dll, msft:spp/TaskScheduler/1.0, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
C:\Windows\system32\sppobjs.dll, msft:spp/statecollector/pkey, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
C:\Windows\system32\sppobjs.dll, msft:spp/volume/services/kms/1.0, 0x00000000, 0x00000000
C:\Windows\system32\sppobjs.dll, msft:spp/volume/services/kms/activationinfo/1.0, 0x00000000, 0x00000000

Event ID 1003
The Software Protection service has completed licensing status check.
Application Id=55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f
Licensing Status=
1: 05e80e9f-93e3-4433-8b6d-bac4ae66d7bc, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
2: 0cdc4d08-6df6-4eb4-b5b4-a373c3e351e7, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
3: 29d0b60f-66da-4858-bcaf-9eb513cd310d, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
4: 354d964a-56e7-43c5-a93f-287a7a750bd4, 1, 1 [(0 [0x00000000, 1, 0], [(?)( 1 0x00000000)(?)( 2 0x00000000 0 0 msft:rm/algorithm/hwid/4.0 0x00000000 0)(?)(?)( 10 0x00000000 msft:rm/algorithm/flags/1.0)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
5: 4614b66f-a1d7-441c-9731-23f22d0ff4e5, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
6: 51b43152-a885-432f-a1cb-a575ca416784, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
7: 763fe1c2-d40f-4f3c-9a28-7a3af6f0d987, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
8: 7f71c90a-6279-4274-b398-37f7e9019dd4, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
9: 8da2dfae-e4f5-4e6a-9272-96f8470e033e, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
10: 9e473b6d-b591-4c46-9c44-90a865f22e76, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
11: bbc56067-37f8-49dd-87b2-a418a9ba130a, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
12: c06b6981-d7fd-4a35-b7b4-054742b7af67, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
13: d03e843c-9044-4cd4-b5eb-78a9586b5598, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
14: 4a8149bb-7d61-49f4-8822-82c7bf88d64b, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]
15: ec67814b-30e6-4a50-bf7b-d55daf729d1e, 1, 0 [(0 [0xC004F014, 0, 0], [(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)(?)])(1 )(2 )]

Event ID 902
The Software Protection service has started.
6.3.9600.16497

Event ID 1003
The Software Protection service has completed licensing status check.
Application Id=55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f
Licensing Status=
1: 354d964a-56e7-43c5-a93f-287a7a750bd4, 1, 1 [(0 [0x00000000, 1, 0], [(?)( 1 0x00000000)(?)( 2 0x00000000 0 0 msft:rm/algorithm/hwid/4.0 0x00000000 0)(?)(?)( 10 0x00000000 msft:rm/algorithm/flags/1.0)(?)])(1 )(2 )]

Event ID 16384
Successfully scheduled Software Protection service for re-start at 2114-12-21T09:28:49Z. Reason: RulesEngine.

Event ID 903
The Software Protection service has stopped.

• Edited by David4576 Wednesday, January 14, 2015 11:50 AM

This issue is still occurring for me after installing that KB update so thats that ruled out! 

Further testing today has shown that whenever Office / Lync errors it attempts to start the Software Protection service but doesnt quite get there and remains Starting then stops. When it does work it goes to 'Running' then stops as expected a little while later. Procmon has got me as far as:

Date & Time:          22/01/2015 11:04:40

Event Class:             File System

Operation:               CreateFileMapping

Result:     FILE LOCKED WITH ONLY READERS

Path:        C:\Windows\System32\catroot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\Package_600_for_KB3000850~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.3.1.8.cat

TID:          9072

Duration: 0.0000300

SyncType:                SyncTypeCreateSection

PageProtection:     

 

But in short Ive flipped over from MAK to KMS now

 

http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/software_licensing/howto/kms-from-mak.cfm

• Edited by David4576 Thursday, January 22, 2015 2:26 PM
• Marked as answer by David4576 Thursday, January 22, 2015 2:26 PM
• Unmarked as answer by David4576 Thursday, January 22, 2015 8:49 PM

Hi David,

Considering you have tried to flipped over from MAK to KMS ,the issue may be a little different .

Will manually restarting the software protection service work ?

It is recommended to repair the office to have a check.

If the issue persists ,it is recommended to look for help from our office forum considering the issue is related to the office license.

Office forum

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/office/en-US/home?category=officeitpro

Best regards

• Edited by MeipoXuMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Wednesday, January 28, 2015 1:44 AM
• Marked as answer by Brandon RecordsModerator Tuesday, February 03, 2015 2:57 PM

Did you ever find a fix for this?  We're experiencing this on a LOT of our KMS-activated Office 2013 installs.  The Software Protection Service sporadically fails to start, closing the app.  All patches are current, we've tried repair installs, tried extending the service timeout window to 90 seconds (so it waits 90 seconds instead of 30 to give up on the SPS), still having the issue.

Any idea how this even started?