Windows Security Center comes preinstalled with all versions of Windows 10 computers. It was developed so that you don’t really need a third-party antivirus. However, some users discovered that Windows Security Center was closed for them and could not be opened.
Windows Security Center has come a long way since the days of Defender. Users who are not serious about installing and running it are now free of viruses, malware, ransomware attacks, etc. It is vulnerable to all kinds of cyber threats, such as You should address this as a priority and fix it as soon as possible. Here are some solutions that should help.
Let’s start.
1. How to Activate Windows Security Center
Windows Security is a suite of different applications that do different things. Microsoft Defender is now part of this package and you have full control over which parts are enabled on your computer.
If you haven’t tried it yet, check out the link shared above to see if you can enable it manually. You will see a green checkmark next to each enabled security component.
2. Third-Party Antivirus
It is not recommended to run two separate antivirus applications on the same system. Use either the one offered free by Microsoft or one you download from the web. I recommend using Malwarebytes as it is not the same as using an antivirus.
Pro Tip: This is also a good time to scan your computer for malware and other threats. Most viruses or cyber threats disable the computer’s protection to facilitate the attack. Run a full scan.
3. Service Issue
Services run in the background regardless of who is logged into Windows. Every application, software or program running on your computer has an associated service running in the background. If the service stops working for any reason, the related application will stop working and may crash.
Stage 1: Search and open Services.msc From the start menu. You can also open it from the Task Manager in Windows 10 or using the Run prompt.
Step 2: Find Security Center services under the Name column and right-click to select Properties.
Stage 3: You will set the startup type like this: Automatic (Delayed Start) and click the Start button at the bottom to start the service. After that click Apply and OK. Everything is grayed out if the service is already running. You can check this in the next Service status popup.
Step 5: Getting an error like ‘Failed to start Windows Security Center’? Go back to Properties and click Browse under the Sign In tab.
Step 6: You will now enter your computer name in the ‘Enter the object name to select’ box and click Check Names to verify the username. Click OK and enter the password for the computer username when prompted. You grant admin rights to make changes to the Services.
4. Repair WMI Repository
Stage 1: Start Command Prompt from the Start menu by clicking it. Run as administrator.
Step 2: Issue the following command to check the repository.
winmgmt /verifyrepository
Stage 3: If you get the result consistently, all is well. If it is inconsistent, issue the following command and restart your computer when the command is run.
winmgmt /salvagerepository
5. Registry Editor
We will create a new file and import it into the Registry Editor. I recommend creating a restore point before proceeding to avoid any kind of data loss.
Note: Make sure to swipe all the way to the right to select and copy all the text in the code block.
Stage 1: Open a new Notepad file from the start menu and copy and paste the code below.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\services\\wscsvc] “DisplayName”=”@%SystemRoot%\\\\System32\\\\wscsvc.dll,-200” “ErrorControl”=dword:00000001 “ImagePath”=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\\ 74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\\ 00,76,00,63,00,68,00,6f,00,73,00,74,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,2d,00,\\ 6b,00,20,00,4c,00,6f,00,63,00,61,00,6c,00,53,00,65,00,72,00,76,00,69,00,63,\\ 00,65,00,4e,00,65,00,74,00,77,00,6f,00,72,00,6b,00,52,00,65,00,73,00,74,00,\\ 72,00,69,00,63,00,74,00,65,00,64,00,00,00 “Start”=dword:00000002 “Type”=dword:00000020 “Description”=”@%SystemRoot%\\\\System32\\\\wscsvc.dll,-201” “DependOnService”=hex(7):52,00,70,00,63,00,53,00,73,00,00,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,\\ 4d,00,67,00,6d,00,74,00,00,00,00,00 “ObjectName”=”NT AUTHORITY\\\\LocalService” “ServiceSidType”=dword:00000001 “RequiredPrivileges”=hex(7):53,00,65,00,43,00,68,00,61,00,6e,00,67,00,65,00,4e,\\ 00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,66,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,\\ 67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,6f,00,6e,\\ 00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,\\ 00,00,00,00 “DelayedAutoStart”=dword:00000001 “FailureActions”=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\\ 00,01,00,00,00,c0,d4,01,00,01,00,00,00,e0,93,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\services\\wscsvc\\Parameters] “ServiceDllUnloadOnStop”=dword:00000001 “ServiceDll”=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,\\ 00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,\\ 77,00,73,00,63,00,73,00,76,00,63,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,00,00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\services\\wscsvc\\Security] “Security”=hex:01,00,14,80,c8,00,00,00,d4,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,30,00,00,00,02,\\ 00,1c,00,01,00,00,00,02,80,14,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,\\ 00,00,02,00,98,00,06,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,fd,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,\\ 05,12,00,00,00,00,00,18,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,02,00,00,00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,\\ 20,02,00,00,00,00,14,00,9d,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,04,00,00,00,00,\\ 00,14,00,8d,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,06,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,00,01,\\ 00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,0b,00,00,00,00,00,28,00,15,00,00,00,01,06,00,\\ 00,00,00,00,05,50,00,00,00,49,59,9d,77,91,56,e5,55,dc,f4,e2,0e,a7,8b,eb,ca,\\ 7b,42,13,56,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,\\ 00,00,00
You will save this file as: hkey.reg. To do this, click Save as on the File menu and select All files in the Save as type drop-down menu.
Step 2: Open Registry Editor from the Start menu with administrative rights.
Stage 3: Navigate to the folder structure below.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\wscsvc
You will delete this subkey by pressing the Del key on your keyboard.
Step 4: To import the notebook file you just created, return to the Registry Editor and click File > Import.
You can also use the same File menu to export registry entries. Useful for backing up folders before deleting or editing them.
6. SFC and DISM
SFC will check for corrupt system files and repair if necessary. DISM is another system-level scan that will check and repair the Windows image file.
You will open Command Prompt again with administrator rights and issue the following two commands one by one and in this order.
sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
one stop shop
Windows Security is a step in the right direction from Microsoft. I am glad that this essential yet necessary component has been updated to suit the threats users face in the current world. Defender was a meager product at the time, and most of us had to rely on third-party antivirus products instead. Antivirus is also just an app and thus prone to any problems other apps encounter.
But don’t worry, there are ways to fix any error and we have a solution that works most of the time. If there’s something we forgot, share it with us in the comments section below.
Next: Is it Windows Security or Windows Defender that doesn’t turn on for you? If it is the latter, click the link below to learn how to fix it.
