Solved Action Center missing from Control Panel

[gravis]

Hey guys!
I have Win 7 Home Premium, 64 bit on a HP 630 laptop. I cannot find Action Center where it should be, and if I try to add the icon to the system tray, it is grey and cannot change it from turned off. I have NOD32 installed, with regular virus checks and the laptop is working properly, so I would say that it is not a virus.
Thanks for the help in advance!


(I need Action Center to be able to install HP Support Assistant, as my battery seems to be faulty. It randomly turns off under 20%, so if someone has some kind of solution for this problem too, that would be great!)

 

[Brink]

Hello Gravis, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Is Action Center just grayed out in your System Icons settings for the notification area, or is also missing in the Control Panel (icons view)?

For the system icon in your notification area, see if step 1 in OPTION TWO of the tutorial below may be able to enable it.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/19085-system-icons-enable-disable.html

 

[gravis]

It is missing from the Control Panel. I tried to access it through Category View > System and Security, but it is just not there. The first option is Firewall instead of Control Panel. But i can't find it in icons view either. I also tried to search for UAC from the start menu, but no result.
For the notifications area, I clicked the arrow pointing upwards > customize > turn system icons on or off, and here is where Control Center is completely greyed out, and cannot be changed from off to on.

 

[LuzTeTT]

Have you tried running control /name Microsoft.SecurityCenter from the command prompt?
Have you checked if the file still exists in the System32 folder?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61298-action-center-shortcut-create.html

 

[gravis]

Have you tried running control /name Microsoft.SecurityCenter from the command prompt?
Have you checked if the file still exists in the System32 folder?

Woah, sorry I don't really understand this. How do I run what you said? And what should i look for in System 32? I searched for 'control' in the System 32 folder, and this is the result.

EDIT: Haven't seen the link for the AC shortcut, checking it now! Thank you

 

[LuzTeTT]

Have you tried running control /name Microsoft.SecurityCenter from the command prompt?
Have you checked if the file still exists in the System32 folder?

Woah, sorry I don't really understand this. How do I run what you said? And what should i look for in System 32? I searched for 'control' in the System 32 folder, and this is the result.

You can create a shortcut. My post was magically updated to contain the instructions for that.
Just to confirm that Windows is still capable of loading the control panel applet, you can open Command Prompt and type the following prior to pressing your enter/return key to launch it directly: control /name Microsoft.SecurityCenter

You could probably also hold down the Windows Key + R and type in the bold text above for the same result.

 

[gravis]

Have you tried running control /name Microsoft.SecurityCenter from the command prompt?
Have you checked if the file still exists in the System32 folder?

Woah, sorry I don't really understand this. How do I run what you said? And what should i look for in System 32? I searched for 'control' in the System 32 folder, and this is the result.

You can create a shortcut. My post was magically updated to contain the instructions for that.
Just to confirm that Windows is still capable of loading the control panel applet, you can open Command Prompt and type the following prior to pressing your enter/return key to launch it directly: control /name Microsoft.SecurityCenter

You could probably also hold down the Windows Key + R and type in the bold text above for the same result.

Tried to create the shortcut, or run control /name Microsoft.SecurityCenter, but nothing happened. So this means, that the control panel applet cannot be loaded? What should I do now?

 

[LuzTeTT]

Oh, dear.
You should confirm that the file is not missing.

In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows\System32, or hold your Windows Key + R and type in C:\Windows\System32 prior to pressing your enter/return key.
If prompted about accessing protected files, allow and proceed without worry. You aren't modifying files or anything here so there is no risk involved.

In the top right hand corner where the search bar is locatd, type in wscui.cpl and hope for the best. If you get a result, then it is there. Double click it and, again, hope for the best. Report back with your result.

 

[gravis]

Oh, dear.
You should confirm that the file is not missing.

In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows\System32, or hold your Windows Key + R and type in C:\Windows\System32 prior to pressing your enter/return key.
If prompted about accessing protected files, allow and proceed without worry. You aren't modifying files or anything here so there is no risk involved.

In the top right hand corner where the search bar is locatd, type in wscui.cpl and hope for the best. If you get a result, then it is there. Double click it and, again, hope for the best. Report back with your result.

No result for wscui.cpl, seems like it is not there.

 

[LuzTeTT]

I thought as much. There are quite a few ways to place the file back in there where it belongs. This list is sorted by risk of infection/susceptibility of damage, from worst to best. Choose one or none.

• Download the file from a third-party website.
• Copy it from a friend's or neighboring computer's System32 directory on to a USB stick or similar, and then copy it on to your computer and in to the System32 directory.
• Locate the file on your Windows 7 installation medium. It will need to be extracted using Microsoft's own proprietary command line compression interface. I'm too tired to explain how, but there are articles on Seven Forums explaining how to do this. You can then place a fresh copy of the file on your PC in the System32 directory.
• Download third-party software to do a deep search on your computer's storage, whether that is a HDD or otherwise, and see if the file is still there in all of its bits and bytes to be restored on to another partition and then you may move it back to where it belongs.
• Check the Recycle Bin to see if it is there and then restore it by right clicking on it and choosing accordingly.

 

[Brink]

No result for wscui.cpl, seems like it is not there.

In that case, you could also run a sfc /scannow command to hopefully restore the system file.

 

[gravis]

I thought as much. There are quite a few ways to place the file back in there where it belongs. This list is sorted by risk of infection/susceptibility of damage, from worst to best.

• Download the file from a third-party website.
• Copy it from a friend's or neighboring computer's System32 directory on to a USB stick or similar, and then copy it on to your computer and in to the System32 directory.
• Locate the file on your Windows 7 installation medium. It will need to be extracted using Microsoft's own proprietary command line compression interface. I'm too tired to explain how, but there are articles on Seven Forums explaining how to do this. You can then place a fresh copy of the file on your PC in the System32 directory.
• Download third-party software to do a deep search on your computer's storage, whether that is a HDD or otherwise, and see if the file is still there in all of its bits and bytes to be restored on to another partition and then you may move it back to where it belongs.
• Check the Recycle Bin to see if it is there and then restore it by right clicking on it and choosing accordingly.

Thank you very much for all the help! I checked the Recycle Bin, but it is not there. I won't be home for a long time, so I cannot get the Win7 installation discs either. Getting it from someone else's computer might break my computer? I guess, that gathering the bits and bytes require some kind of knowledge too, which I don't really have. Also, is it a problem that it is missing? I mean, what does Action Center do? And how could it disappear?

 

[Layback Bear]

Can you try something that is simple and can't hurt.

Go to Start and in the Search type in Action Center. Does it show in the list? If so just tick on it.

If it's not there, Brinks suggestion would also be my next choice.
sfc /scannow

 

[gravis]

Can you try something that is simple and can't hurt.

Go to Start and in the Search type in Action Center. Does it show in the list? If so just tick on it.

If it's not there, Brinks suggestion would also be my next choice.
sfc /scannow

I tried that, but nothing. Running the SFC scan as soon as NOD32 is finished. Thank you very much for all the help guys!

 

[andrew129260]

1.)Download security check below.

This will show me what security software you use and what the status is of services such as windows firewall:

Downloading SecurityCheck

Open and run: SecurityCheck.exe
Follow the instructions inside the window that appears.

When done, a Notepad report opens automatically, called: checkup.txt

Please post the checkup.txt in your reply using the paperclip:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

* Download the Farbar Service Scanner.

* Once download, right click the fss.exe file, and choose run as administrator.

*Checkmark the following boxes:

-Internet services
-Windows firewall
-System Restore
-Security center/action center
-Windows Update
-Windows defender

*Click Scan. A notepad window will appear with your log file. Save it to the desktop. Then upload the log here in your next reply using the paperclip on the reply box.

 

[gravis]

The SFC scan found some files, but could not repair them. Shall I upload the log file? Also, here are the logs for SecurityCheck and Farbar.

 

[andrew129260]

You have some real issues here.

You were definitely hit with some bad malware to cause this. Action center is not disabled, it is gone from your system entirely, as well as windows defender.

Windows Defender:
==============
WinDefend Service is not running. Checking service configuration:
Checking Start type: ATTENTION!=====> Unable to open WinDefend registry key. The service key does not exist.
Checking ImagePath: ATTENTION!=====> Unable to open WinDefend registry key. The service key does not exist.
Checking ServiceDll: ATTENTION!=====> Unable to open WinDefend registry key. The service key does not exist.

File Check:
========
C:\Windows\System32\nsisvc.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\nsiproxy.sys => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\dhcpcore.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\afd.sys => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\tdx.sys => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\tcpip.sys => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\dnsrslvr.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\mpssvc.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\bfe.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\mpsdrv.sys => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\SDRSVC.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\vssvc.exe => MD5 is legit

ATTENTION!=====> C:\Windows\System32\wscsvc.dll FILE IS MISSING AND SHOULD BE RESTORED.

C:\Windows\System32\wbem\WMIsvc.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\wuaueng.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\qmgr.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\es.dll => MD5 is legit
C:\Windows\System32\cryptsvc.dll => MD5 is legit

ATTENTION!=====> C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MpSvc.dll FILE IS MISSING AND SHOULD BE RESTORED.

According to the log, the legit site of google and yahoo is unreachable.

Connection Status:
==============
Localhost is accessible.
LAN connected.
Attempt to access Google IP returned error. Google IP is unreachable
Attempt to access Google.com returned error: Google.com is unreachable
Attempt to access Yahoo.com returned error: Yahoo.com is unreachable

I am going to see if one of our experts can look at the sfc scan result log.


Yes please upload the log. You may need to copy it from outside of the folder onto your desktop in order to do so.

 

[gravis]

The log was over the upload limit, you can get it from here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ujytu9z26b25ebr/CBS.log

 

[andrew129260]

When finished with the above, please run the following Here:

1.) Download RKill from here:

Downloading RKill

2.) Save it to your desktop or downloads folder.

3.) Launch it by right clicking on it, and choosing run as administrator.

4.) Once opened you will see a black box that looks like this:

Let it finish.

5.) When the tool finishes, it will create a log. Save and then upload the log here using the paperclip.

 

[gravis]

Here is the RKill log.