Windows Security Center will not turn on and seems to be missing.
My brother in law's laptop had some malware which I have gotten rid of. After I cleaned it up I went to start his Security Center since the Action Center (windows 7) said that Windows Security Center Service is turned off. When I click "turn on now" it says it cannot be started. I tried doing it manually by going into services and clicking on Security Center, but it isn't there. My laptop is also Win7 and I confirmed that it is normally there but on his it is missing. Is there a way to install it or fix the problem? Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.
March 15th, 2011 5:08am

Please start the command prompt (cmd.exe) with admin rights [1] and run sfc [2]: sfc.exe /scannow Is it able to find and repair broken files (create the txt file shown under [2] and look if all files are restored)? Are you now able to start the Security center? The best option is to backup all data and install the Windows again, because you don't know which changes the malware made. best regards André [1] http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/How-do-I-run-an-application-once-with-a-full-administrator-access-token [2] http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833"A programmer is just a tool which converts caffeine into code" Want to install RSAT on Windows 7 Sp1? Check my HowTo: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=150221
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March 15th, 2011 10:11am

"verification 100% complete" "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violation." Still can't start Security Center. Unfortunately I can't re-install windows as he can't find the backup discs that came with the computer. I've got plenty of protection on it now, hopefully this time around he'll listen when I tell him to update and scan regularly. What are his chances with malware/virus/spyware protection but no security center? Thank you for your help. Merydeth
March 16th, 2011 4:08am

It just says "the service name is invalid" "more help is available by typing net helpmsg 2185." but that doesn't do anything either
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March 18th, 2011 1:35am

Thanks nizbot - this registry add worked a charm. My scenario; - My Security Centre service was missing - An admin-level cmd prompt 'net start wscsvc' would get error 2185. - The registry had a blank entry for the wscsvc entry - All AV / malware scans revealed nothing (was a day-old laptop)
June 7th, 2011 4:28pm

thanks you this soultion work for my condation the problem was windows security center dose not apper in windows services.msc
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July 17th, 2011 5:37pm

NIZBOT YOU LEGEND!!! save me pal its took me a month to find a souloution to that cheers mate :D
July 17th, 2011 6:16pm

I realize this topic is a bit old, but the following solution worked for my Win7 client experiencing this issue after being infected with a fake AV. Essentially the virus/malware blows out the wscsvc registry entry. If you export it from a working W7 machine and import/merge it to your registry, you should get the Security Center service back upon restart. Start-->Run... Type: regedit and hit enter Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LoCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\wscsvc If you don't see that key, then you have a similar issue to mine. Just import the wscsvc registry entry as described below. This person hosts a version both x64 and x86: http://cid-9fb18a384ebfc662.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Documents/wscsvc%5E564%5E6.zip?sa=59322391#resId/9FB18A384EBFC662!139 The solution was originally posted by Niki Han at: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprosecurity/thread/084209d7-81c7-47f5-85e4-1eb532bac8ba I realize this is probably too late for the OP, but it may help someone down the road. Could you (or someone) reupload that registry key zip? I can't access it from that link. Also - thanks for the solution!
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July 26th, 2011 9:50am

I found this and it fixed my problem. I hope it helps anyone else. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-performance/superfetch-advanced-settings-choosing-apps-and/e9ded298-9373-403b-aa3a-2bd2ae456480
September 10th, 2011 12:51pm

when I have run this, it says some of the corrupt files were fixed. pls suggest what should I do now?
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November 10th, 2011 6:38am

A friend of mine brought his laptop in to work because it was infected with this fake AV and I want to do a clean install for him. Unfortunatly he did not heed my advice when he bought it and has no full copy of windows on CD . There is a key on the back of the computer. Can I use a disk I own and then use his key or can I download an ISO from microsoft with this key? Also he did not do backups. Can I transfer his files to a disk or removable drive and then put them back on the machine after reinstallation without risk or is this particular virus (windows 7 recovery) to tough for microsoft security essentials to kill or block. His machine was running MSE but I doubt that it was up to date and it had real time protection turned off, By the virus I assume. Cheers
December 3rd, 2011 10:10pm

This finally did it!! Thank you. The "Win 7 Antivirus 2012" trojan virus had delited that file and the BFE file in the same register.
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December 18th, 2011 3:07am

Nizbot i want to thank you very much for the info to rectify my problem with my registry. It was not to late but just in time because if i had not seen your post i would have reformatted and reloaded windows.. this has saved me hours of reloading... thanks again .
January 22nd, 2012 1:33pm

nizbot you nailed it - exactly the fix need on a Win7 Pro x64 PC while going through post infection remediationDale Unroe
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March 13th, 2012 3:24pm

Hey. I tried the solution mentioned: I downloaded and imported the registry, but security center item in my Service window still is not there. So I still can't start Windows Security Center (and in turn reinstall Microsoft Security Essential). I don't know if the fact I have Windows XP instead of Windows 7 makes a difference or not. Can anybody help me with this? I fixed it. Since I have windows XP, I needed to use this. http://www.winhelponline.com/articles/33/1/How-to-restore-the-missing-Security-Center-service-in-Windows-XP-SP2.html Thanks anyway.
May 6th, 2012 4:58am

I picked this link up from the Microsoft forums. It uploads a zip file which installs the necessary registry information to restore the wscsvc entry for you: http://www.winhelponline.com/temp/w7-wscsvc.zip Download and reboot comp. Worked for me, hope it helps you too. Good luck!
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June 16th, 2012 4:04pm

There is other post related the same problem. i tried all but no one worked. only this one worked and its so simple solution for that. its superb.
June 17th, 2012 6:10pm

I've got the same problem as OP, only I'm running XP rather than Vista (and I can't find a forum thread dealing with the same problem for XP). Doing as Nizbot's suggested, I don't have the wscsvc file in my registry. Is that because that's not suppposed to be there in XP, or because of the problem, and ifn I can find an XP version of the registry entry I should be home and dry. Takk.
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July 24th, 2012 12:49pm

I've got the same problem as OP, only I'm running XP rather than Vista (and I can't find a forum thread dealing with the same problem for XP). Doing as Nizbot's suggested, I don't have the wscsvc file in my registry. Is that because that's not suppposed to be there in XP, or because of the problem, and ifn I can find an XP version of the registry entry I should be home and dry. Takk. I've now managed to find another computer with XP and copy the registry entry on, which means Security Center is running, but the firewall and autoupdates aren't working. Does anyone know where I'd find them in the registry? Thanks
July 26th, 2012 3:38pm

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