WD fails to autostart/Sec.Ctr. Fails to Recognize Symantec AV Corp

[Guest]

I installed Windows Vista Home Premium on a new PC (clean install). Shortly
thereafter, I installed Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Ed. v. 10.x. All worked
well. Then, last week, Security Center began logging an error at startup.

Clicking on security center brings up the box and shows that it cannot
locate an antivirus program. It also shows that Defender is turned off.
Defender can be turned on manually, and then searches for updates and stays
running.

Logging off of one user and logging in as another leaves Defender running.
Restarting or shutting down and powering up generates the error again. The
automatic startup box is checked.

Any ideas?

 

[Dave M]

Are you pretty sure NAV and Defender are both running or are they really
shut down?
For Defender look in Task Manager for running tasks:
MSASCui.exe
MsMpEng.exe

and look in Services for:
Windows Defender as being Started

If you think that the Security Center is not reporting accurately, then...

Run a cmd prompt as administrator.
Enter the following command: winmgmt /verifyrepository
and let us know the results.
If it reports "WMI repository is not consistent" it means your WMI
repository is corrupted.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Dave. I'm certain NAV is running--the shield appears in the tray and
all of the usual services and processes for NAV show up in the Task Manager.
Also, it appears to be scanning e-mails as they are sent. Defender is almost
certainly running after I turn it one, since I saw it performing a scheduled
scan thereafter. I'll check these things, though, and report the results
this evening.

 

[Guest]

Dave,

At startup, when the error happens, Windows Defender is running as a
service. MSASCui.exe is running as a process, but MsMpEng.exe is not running
at all. winmgmt reports that "WMI repository is INCONSISTENT." What's next?

 

[Dave M]

Hi Soldat;
OK... The repository needs to be repaired. The good news is that in Vista
it's pretty easy. First you need to be able to get to a command prompt...
like under XP if you're familiar with that, so here thanks to RobinB is how
you enable it.

That gives you access to the run box... type CMD and click OK
which should open a command prompt... I don't have Vista so bear with me on
these directions.

Then all you need to do is enter the following command, however you may
need enter it multiple times until the repository is repaired.
I believe it will always fail the first time... or so I've heard anyway and
perhaps 5 attemps will be necessary.

winmgmt /salvagerepository


When you get a successful repair, reboot and see if your security center
doesn't work better. Let us know if your still having Defender problems
after this also.

NOTE: These specific commands are only available under Vista.

 

[Guest]

Gi Dave M,

I found 2 more ways to get to RUN using Vista

Start a program by using the Run command

Using the Run command is a quick way to open programs, files, folders,
and—when you're connected to the Internet—websites. If you're not using the
Start menu in Classic view, the Search box on the Start menu can also be used
in place of the Run command.

Click the Start button , click All Programs, click Accessories, and then
click Run.

In the Open box, type the name of a program, folder, file, or website.

Tip
For quick access to the Run command, drag it from the Start menu to the
Quick Launch toolbar, where you can access it with a single click.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Also, Run box: WinKey+R
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Have a good day
--

 

[Dave M]

That's the WoW in Vista for you... I'll be ready for that new OS before
too long, thanks for the update.

I see that I neglected to tell Soldat to run the winmgmt
/salvagerepository as an Administrator. That's the problem with not having
the OS sitting in front of you, hopefully he understands that implicitly.
I wonder why Vista is regularly having problems with the repository though,
I think XP uses it as well for Security Center, but doesn't seem to have
these horrible corruptions as often. About all you can do if it does
happen in XP (where this command to rebuild it is not available), is to
shut the service down, delete the repository, and then reboot... here's a
link I found from Avast! regarding that OS:

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=23457.0

 

[Guest]

Thanks--after some research last night, I thought the /salvagerepository
switch might do the trick. I'll let you know.

Concerning the command prompt, you can also create one using a shortcut,
which is convenient because you can check the "run as administrator" box
permanently.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Dave! That appears to have worked, although it took some effort to
stop the win32 service so that it would run. I'll post again if a problem
re-emerges.

 

[Dave M]

Nice, Thanks for the update. That problem's been bugging a number of
people for quite a while now without any resolution, so it should be
documented here in enough detail for both XP and Vista users.