Windows 7: "The Windows Security Center service can't be started" (again)

I get an Action Center flag telling me to turn on WSC service, but when I try it tells me that it can't be started. I know -- this is a common issue, but I haven't found any threads that solve the problem for me.

I'm running Windows 7 home premium 32bit. It's a new install on a new hard drive (but everything else in the machine is older than 6 months).

As far as I know, the problem started when I got rid of AVG and installed ESET smart security 4 (free trial). My first guess was that ESET disabled Windows security so there wouldn't be any conflicts, but windows doesn't seem to recognise ESET in the security center in the same way it recognised AVG. It's as if Windows security knows ESET is there and won't turn on, but doesn't want to admit it in public.



Most of the threads I've seen treat this as a malware issue, so here's what I've tried so far:

ESET scan (found nothing)

Malwarebytes scan (found nothing)

Advanced System Care 4 malware scan and deep registry scan (found a cookie!)

Windows defender scan (found nothing)

sfc /scannow (found nothing)

None of this fixed the problem. I've also checked that Windows firewall and WMI are running and are set to "automatic" in services. I get a strong feeling that this isn't malware related. I think it's far more likely that it's the result of ESET not being installed/configured properly, or of me fixing things until they break in an attempt to optimise the system.

Sorry for the apparent thread repetition, but I haven't been able to find anything that works. Any pointers gratefully received.

Just passing by..... & I'm curious.

Did you use the appropriate AVG Remover Tool to remove their program from your computer?

AVG - Download tools and utilities

As JMH pointed out ... make sure you've used the AVG uninstaller/removal tool.
Then right click on ESET.exe (in your downoads folder) to run as Administrator.

Problem solved The cause? Me being a moron. There's an option in Advanced System Care 4 that disables Windows security centre. It was disabled there. <sigh>

Thanks for looking in, though. And I'll check out the AVG utility to make sure it's all gone.

Keep up the good work! :-)

Hi aardvark2012, welcome to 7F!

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