How to Fix Windows Security Center Is Turned off Error

Windows Security Center comes preinstalled with all versions of Windows 10 computers. It has improved so that you don’t really need a third-party antivirus application. However, some users have found that Windows Security Center is disabled for them and cannot be enabled.

Windows Security Center has come a long way since the days of Defender. Users who don’t really want to make it work are now vulnerable to all kinds of cyber threats like viruses, malware, ransomware attacks, etc. You should take this as a priority and fix it as soon as possible. Here are some solutions that should help you.

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 suite and you have full control over what components are activated on your computer.

Check out the link shared above to see if you can manually activate it if you haven’t already tried it. You will notice a green check mark 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 the one offered by Microsoft for free or the one you downloaded from the web. I recommend using Malwarebytes, as it’s 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 will disable your computer’s protection to make it easier to hack. Run a full scan.

Download Malwarebytes

3. Service problem

The services run in the background, regardless of the user who is logged on to Windows. Every application, software, or program that runs on your computer has an associated service that runs in the background. If the service stops for any reason, the corresponding application will stop working and may crash.

Step 1: Search and open Services.msc from the Start menu. You can also open it from Windows 10 Task Manager or using the Run prompt.

2nd step: Locate Security Center services in the Name column and right-click it to select Properties.

Step 3: You set the startup type to Automatic (delayed start) and click the Start button below to start the service. Click Apply and OK after that. Everything will be grayed out if the service is already running. You can check this in the same next Service Status pop-up window.

Step 5: Do you get an error saying something like “Windows could not start Security Center”? Go back to Properties and on the Connection tab, click Browse.

Step 6: You will now enter the name of your computer in the “Enter the name of the object to select” box and click on Check names to authenticate the username. Click OK, and then enter the password for the computer user name when prompted. You grant administrator rights in order to make changes to the services.

4. Repair the WMI repository

Step 1: Launch the command prompt from the Start menu by clicking Execute as administrator.

2nd step: Give the command below to check the repository.

winmgmt /verifyrepository

Step 3: Everything is fine if you get the result this consistent. If it is inconsistent, then give the command below, then restart your computer after the command is executed.

winmgmt /salvagerepository

5. Registry Editor

We will create a new file and import it into the registry editor. I recommend that you do a restore point before going ahead to avoid any data loss.

Note: Make sure you scroll all the way to the right to select and copy all the text in the code block.

Step 1: Open a new Notepad file from the Start menu and copy-paste the code below.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetserviceswscsvc]

“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_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetserviceswscsvcParameters]

“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_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetserviceswscsvcSecurity]

“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 choose All Files from the Save as type drop-down menu.