security centre unavailable

a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I start up
the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently unavailable
because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having said
that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.

thanks.

PS I've had SP2 running since December without a problem. I also regularly
scan for spyware/adware/malware etc, so I don't think that's the problem.
This issue arose about two weeks ago, for no apparent reason.

Go to Start/Run and enter "services.msc" without the "". Expand the frame
to full screen to make it easier to navigate. Go down to Security Center
and right-click to set it to Automatic and Start it.
Do the same with RPC (Remote Procedure Call ) and Windows Management.
Do you run Registry cleaners at all? Sometimes they "clean" things that
they shouldn't.
Reboot and see if it's OK after doing the above.

--
Peter.
Toronto, Canada.
XP Home SP2.
P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
"philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BA476BEE-42B0-4728-A67C-16134D00A412@microsoft.com...
>a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I start
>up
> the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
> because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
> automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
> Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently
> unavailable
> because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having
> said
> that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
> everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
> Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
> happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.
>
> thanks.

P.S. Correction ... right click and go to "Properties"

--
Peter.
Toronto, Canada.
XP Home SP2.
P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
"philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:BA476BEE-42B0-4728-A67C-16134D00A412@microsoft.com...
>a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I start
>up
> the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
> because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
> automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
> Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently
> unavailable
> because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having
> said
> that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
> everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
> Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
> happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.
>
> thanks.

thanks for the reply, Peter.
Interesting. . . I did as you advised, but after rebooting I still found
Security Centre was Unavailable. So I checked Services.msc again and those
services you mentioned, which I had put to Start, had switched themselves off
again. Any idea what's causing that?


"Peter" wrote:

> P.S. Correction ... right click and go to "Properties"
>
> --
> Peter.
> Toronto, Canada.
> XP Home SP2.
> P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
> "philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:BA476BEE-42B0-4728-A67C-16134D00A412@microsoft.com...
> >a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I start
> >up
> > the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
> > because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
> > automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
> > Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently
> > unavailable
> > because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having
> > said
> > that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
> > everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
> > Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
> > happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.
> >
> > thanks.
>
>
>

Well, I'm stumped for an answer. You've checked for viruses and spyware?
Can you system restore to when it did work? Other than that there is free
email support for SP2 here (I think)
http://www.support.microsoft.com/co...rnational.aspx/ you'll need to
sign in with your .net Passport when asked, or create one. At the
submission stage you will be asked if it's OK to scan your PC set-up, say
yes as it helps MSFT to analyse the problem.
Other than that, I would assume that the only thing to do would be a
format/reinstallation.
I'll post back if I get a brainwave.

--
Peter.
Toronto, Canada.
XP Home SP2.
P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
"philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0A6F3C95-6504-4C6A-B266-5D5044C369AD@microsoft.com...
> thanks for the reply, Peter.
> Interesting. . . I did as you advised, but after rebooting I still found
> Security Centre was Unavailable. So I checked Services.msc again and those
> services you mentioned, which I had put to Start, had switched themselves
> off
> again. Any idea what's causing that?
>
>
> "Peter" wrote:
>
>> P.S. Correction ... right click and go to "Properties"
>>
>> --
>> Peter.
>> Toronto, Canada.
>> XP Home SP2.
>> P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
>> "philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:BA476BEE-42B0-4728-A67C-16134D00A412@microsoft.com...
>> >a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I
>> >start
>> >up
>> > the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
>> > because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
>> > automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
>> > Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently
>> > unavailable
>> > because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having
>> > said
>> > that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
>> > everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
>> > Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
>> > happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.
>> >
>> > thanks.
>>
>>
>>

The only reference I can find is:
Security Tab

To Display the Security Tab: Start/Settings/Control Panel/Appearance &
Themes/Folder Options. View/Advanced
and clear "Use Simple File Sharing".


--
Peter.
Toronto, Canada.
XP Home SP2.
P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
"philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0A6F3C95-6504-4C6A-B266-5D5044C369AD@microsoft.com...
> thanks for the reply, Peter.
> Interesting. . . I did as you advised, but after rebooting I still found
> Security Centre was Unavailable. So I checked Services.msc again and those
> services you mentioned, which I had put to Start, had switched themselves
> off
> again. Any idea what's causing that?
>
>
> "Peter" wrote:
>
>> P.S. Correction ... right click and go to "Properties"
>>
>> --
>> Peter.
>> Toronto, Canada.
>> XP Home SP2.
>> P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
>> "philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:BA476BEE-42B0-4728-A67C-16134D00A412@microsoft.com...
>> >a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I
>> >start
>> >up
>> > the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
>> > because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
>> > automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
>> > Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently
>> > unavailable
>> > because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having
>> > said
>> > that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
>> > everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
>> > Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
>> > happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.
>> >
>> > thanks.
>>
>>
>>

Answer # 3
Try booting into safe mode (F8 while it's booting up) and select "Last known
good configuration".

--
Peter.
Toronto, Canada.
XP Home SP2.
P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
"philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0A6F3C95-6504-4C6A-B266-5D5044C369AD@microsoft.com...
> thanks for the reply, Peter.
> Interesting. . . I did as you advised, but after rebooting I still found
> Security Centre was Unavailable. So I checked Services.msc again and those
> services you mentioned, which I had put to Start, had switched themselves
> off
> again. Any idea what's causing that?
>
>
> "Peter" wrote:
>
>> P.S. Correction ... right click and go to "Properties"
>>
>> --
>> Peter.
>> Toronto, Canada.
>> XP Home SP2.
>> P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
>> "philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:BA476BEE-42B0-4728-A67C-16134D00A412@microsoft.com...
>> >a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I
>> >start
>> >up
>> > the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
>> > because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
>> > automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
>> > Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently
>> > unavailable
>> > because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having
>> > said
>> > that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
>> > everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
>> > Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
>> > happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.
>> >
>> > thanks.
>>
>>
>>

Security Center also has another dependancy in services.msc Workstation
should be started and automatic.

--
Peter.
Toronto, Canada.
XP Home SP2.
P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
"philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0A6F3C95-6504-4C6A-B266-5D5044C369AD@microsoft.com...
> thanks for the reply, Peter.
> Interesting. . . I did as you advised, but after rebooting I still found
> Security Centre was Unavailable. So I checked Services.msc again and those
> services you mentioned, which I had put to Start, had switched themselves
> off
> again. Any idea what's causing that?
>
>
> "Peter" wrote:
>
>> P.S. Correction ... right click and go to "Properties"
>>
>> --
>> Peter.
>> Toronto, Canada.
>> XP Home SP2.
>> P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
>> "philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:BA476BEE-42B0-4728-A67C-16134D00A412@microsoft.com...
>> >a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I
>> >start
>> >up
>> > the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
>> > because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
>> > automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
>> > Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently
>> > unavailable
>> > because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having
>> > said
>> > that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
>> > everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
>> > Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
>> > happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.
>> >
>> > thanks.
>>
>>
>>

Hi Peter,

the microsoft link you gave is dead. do you know another way in?

"Peter" wrote:

> Security Center also has another dependancy in services.msc Workstation
> should be started and automatic.
>
> --
> Peter.
> Toronto, Canada.
> XP Home SP2.
> P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
> "philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:0A6F3C95-6504-4C6A-B266-5D5044C369AD@microsoft.com...
> > thanks for the reply, Peter.
> > Interesting. . . I did as you advised, but after rebooting I still found
> > Security Centre was Unavailable. So I checked Services.msc again and those
> > services you mentioned, which I had put to Start, had switched themselves
> > off
> > again. Any idea what's causing that?
> >
> >
> > "Peter" wrote:
> >
> >> P.S. Correction ... right click and go to "Properties"
> >>
> >> --
> >> Peter.
> >> Toronto, Canada.
> >> XP Home SP2.
> >> P4 @ 3.0ghz, 160gb HDD, 1.0gb DDR.
> >> "philwil" <philwil@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:BA476BEE-42B0-4728-A67C-16134D00A412@microsoft.com...
> >> >a couple of strange things started happening recently. First, when I
> >> >start
> >> >up
> >> > the pc my taskbar security centre icon tells me my computer is at risk
> >> > because automatic updates is switched off (it isn't. I have it set to
> >> > automatic download, and as far as I'm aware it's working).
> >> > Second, when I go to the security centre I'm told its currently
> >> > unavailable
> >> > because security centre service has not started or was stopped. Having
> >> > said
> >> > that, I can get into firewall, auto updates and internet options, and
> >> > everything appears to be okay. Restarting makes no difference.
> >> > Is it working properly? I don't know. Does anyone know why this is
> >> > happening, and what I can do about it? I'm using XP Home with sp2 etc.
> >> >
> >> > thanks.
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>