XP issue- MSE failing to start on PC boot

I think the FSS log is posted on the front page, unless you want it run again? Though I've made very few changes to that PC lately, just a couple game installs. I'll have to run it later tonight when I get a chance.

I'll go through those tips but I think some of them don't apply to XP. I get the feeling that MSE is just a bit buggy on XP SP3 since this particular issue seems rather common.

It could be that if not started every day, MSE gets confused? I don't have this issue on Windows 7 though. Could be internet issues as well, it might be trying the check before the PC has connected. Now this Dell seems to be "always on" even when the PC is off- my switch always has the green light for that port lit even when the PC is off. I don't really understand why that is.

Either way if I run manual definition install through Windows Update MSE goes green so I suspect it's an issue with definition update.

Looks about the same as the last FSS.

Funny, this problem doesn't seem consistent. Last time I used this PC was Saturday morning, and I just turned it on and MSE started fine with the green icon. I'm wondering if it's just the internet connection- MSE tries to check for updates, net's not up yet, it gets stuck, because when this does happen a manual update of the defs fixes it.

The BIOS is set to "fast boot" Windows. Could that be a potential cause? It seems whether MSE goes green or stays red is totally random- and I think its start is just delayed. The other day it stayed red, I ignored it and played a game for about a half hour. exited the game and MSE was green so it started up at some point.

I don't think the net connection is responsible- I've seen it go green before the PC has negotiated a network connection.

This isn't a huge problem I plan to lose sleep over since it seems there's no obvious cause.

A couple of times. For whatever reason the service occasionally does not start right when the PC boots. I haven't made any changes to the PC since my last FSS scan which you said was clean. For whatever reason, on rare occasion the service start is delayed.

Yes, it's checked.

msseces is checked under the startup menu

Microsoft Antimalware Service is set to automatic startup under services.

I just started the PC tonight, MSE stayed red. I ran FSS while it was red, went into Update and manually updated the definitions which made it go green, then ran FSS again. They look identical to me.

When I ran it the first time it just worked. Second time after MSE went green I got the usual popup box asking me if I wanted to run it.