Security Center stopped

Windows XP HE
Internet Explorer 7
Using Windows XP firewall
Norton AV 2008 (I think)

Yesterday I discovered to my horror that Windows firewall was off; I don't know what this occurred. I went into Administrative Tools/ Services, set it for Automatic and started it.
I don't know how long it had been off or what may have happened when it was off.

Today I discovered it was off again. I don't know why this is happening.
Can you help me?

 

Like Evan, I've a feeling that there's a conflict going on here BUT I'm also wondering if the Norton you have "has" a built-in firewall. That is... is the Norton AV actually a suite rather than simply an anti-virus program? If so, then it will turn "off" the Windows firewall automatically and in actuality you were "always" protected (by Norton). You might want to look into the exact name of the program. Bring Norton up and check on the About tab at the top of its menu to learn what you have.

 

Hi Eleanor,

This is Mike from the Norton Authorized Support Team.

Norton AntiVirus 2008 does not contain a full firewall, only Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 contain the Norton Personal Firewall.

If you do have Norton AntiVirus 2008 and the Windows Security Center is reporting that the Windows Firewall is off, make sure you have run Windows Update and that all available patches have been applied. Next, manually run LiveUpdate to make sure that all Norton components are updated as well.

After you have finished running both the Windows and Norton updates, perform a "Full System Scan" with Norton to make sure that there are no infections. Some infections can disable the Windows Firewall so it is important for you to run a "Full System Scan" after you run all of the updates to check for infections. If Norton does find any infections, please let me know the name of the infections found and weather or not the infection was cleaned or quarantined.

Thank you,
Mike

 

For all who responded to my post. I have Norton Antivirus 2008. I've had it for almost a year and has never interfered with security before. I faithfully install all Windows updates.

I turned off NAV and restarted the computer, but Security Center did not start up so I doubt the problem is due to NAV. For now, I guess I'll just have to check Security Center every time I start the pc and hope for the best. Sure would like to know what's causing the problem.

 

Eleanor,

Did you follow the instructions that Mike York gave you in the above post? Your machine could possibly be infected and this could be shutting down Windows firewall. "Hoping for the best" will not make this problem go away.

 

Yes, I did follow Mike's instructions to the letter with no difference.

 

Stone in the dark here but the windows firewall and internet connection sharing service is one service. Maybe its set to manual or disabled startup type?

Rightclick on "my computer" and choose "manage "
on the left pane scroll down to services and then in the right side look for "windows firewall/internet connection sharing ICS" and set its startup type to "automatic "

It could be that the firewall service is corrupt alltogether, I've had such a issue long ago but before we go there, lets just cover the easy things first.

 

Lipe123 - I did as you instructed. Both windows firewall/internet connection sharing ICS and security center are set for automatic and started. What next?

 

I kinda wished that worked

You said they work fine when you enable them from the security centre, but after rebooting they are off again right?

Could you check in your event logs if the firewall gave any errors on startup? rightclick "my computer" -> "manage "
left pane: "Event viewer" -> system and application. look for yellow exclamations or lil red crosses.

 

There are some application errors involving a financial program my husband uses, but I don't know how to interpret them. I have been getting some Dr. Watson reports on my desktop apparently related to the same program, but don't know how to interpret them either. I consider myself an experienced pc user always able to solve my own problems, but this has me stumped.

 

Honestly I don't have enought info to do any more. And I haven't seen it happen like that exactly before. I'm going to sleep soon, I'll see what I can google up tomorrow.

 

I run Registry Mechanic weekly, also Ad-aware and Norton AV. Have no spy ware and no virus. Why should I run this program you suggested?

 

Dial a fix has nothing to do with spyware or virus, its specifically aimed at reparing problems with security policies and such.

What have you got to lose? Last time I checked majorgeeks doesnt host programs that would damage your system.

 

OK, I'll get back to this later this weekend. Thanks for the help so far.

 

I installed and ran Dial-A Fix, but could only find a tool to Reinstall Windows Firewall, not Repair Windows Firewall. If I run the Reinstall Windows Firewall do I need to turn off any programs or services while running it. I don't want to end up with more problems than I currently have.

 

well I'd say just dont have programs running thats using the internet/network. just lose email/internet and run it.

 

Let me get this straight: turn off email and internet (also antivirus?) and run Reinstall Windows Firewall?