Disable or Turn Off Windows XP Security Center Permanently
Windows XP has a built in security center that monitors the activities or existence of Automatic Updates, Windows Firewall and virus protection provided by third party anti virus software. When one or more security component do not been installed, or been disabled or turned off, or not working, Windows Security Center will highlight the section in yellow or red for warning and critical attention. Security Center service will also pop up a warning message with red or yellow icon that your computer might be at risk at notification area (system tray).
Security Center in Windows XP can be disabled or turned off so that the system will not monitor or check whether or not the antivirus software existed, properly installed and running, or whether the firewall and Automatic Updates been disabled or bypassed.
- Click on Start button, then select Control Panel.
- Select “Administrator Tools” (if you don’t see it, double click on “Performance and Maintenance” first).
- Double click “Services”.
- Find and double click on the service named “Security Center”. Alternatively right click on “Security Center”, and select “Properties” on right click menu.
- In the “General” tab, beside the “Startup type:”, change the setting from Automatic to “Disabled”. This will permanently disable Security Center forever, even after you reboot and restart the computer system.
- The click on “Stop” button at the bottom of the dialog window to stop Security Center immediately during current log on session.
After disable the Security Center, you won’t be any security warning (Your computer might be at risk, and etc) nag again. By turning it off, your system may be expose to virus, malware and spyware threat too if your anti virus program is not functioning unknowingly or accidentally.
To enable or turn Security Center back on, simply select “Automatic” at step 5 above. If you want to run Security Center for a while or immediately after set to “Automatic” as Startup type, click on “Start” button.
Share and contribute or get technical support and help at My Digital Life Forums.
Related Articles
- Disable Security Center Alerts in Windows XP and Vista
- Temporarily Disable IE7 Protected Mode in Vista on Ad-hoc Basis
- Ways to Turn Off and Disable Vista IE 7 Protected Mode
- Disable Compressed (Zipped) Folder Feature in Windows XP and Windows Me
- Turn Off and Disable Search Indexing Service in Windows XP
- Suppress and Skip “needs your permission to continue” Prompt with UAC On in Windows Vista
- Top 5 Worst and Useless Features and Programs in Windows Vista
- How to Disable (Remove and Uninstall) Windows Defender in Vista
- How to Enable and Turn On Hibernation Feature in Windows Vista
- Windows Live Safety Center Review Redmondmag
Entries (RSS)
February 9th, 2007 03:56
I have tried the permanent method of patching and it worked quite nicely. However, when I tried to use it on another PC but wga-fix.exe did not change the host file. I discovered hosts wa s hidden and read only. I manually made it read write and ran host fix it again became read only and hidden and did not change. I tried to change -h -s -r attribute from command line it worked but again I tried to manually edit it with notepad. But when I try to save it gives error and hosts again becomes read only and hidden and creates a backup file. I tried to discover what utilty is protecting it i could not also i am logged in as administrator. There was spyware blaster on the system which I know protects the hosts file but even after removing it it does not help. I also disabled AVG anti-virus and zone alarm but the file still is protected and cannot be changed. How do I remove this protection. I am sure the protection is in the XP itself and not some hidden program do you have an idea how I can unprotect it?
March 5th, 2007 01:06
Great fix, but why not just go into the security center properties from the control panal and just “change the way Security center notifies me” and turn off all prompts? You can set it that it does not show any prompts.
March 15th, 2007 23:53
[...] NAGGING, [...]
April 1st, 2007 05:57
Hey thanks alot. I looked all over the web to try to disable security center and no one had it but you. And your method worked EXTREMELY well. Thanks alot i wouldnt have got it with this explanation.
May 12th, 2007 21:43
Excellent fix! the one i was looking for. thanks alot for the simple & correct step by step process.
May 15th, 2007 23:29
Mas, em fazendo essa alteração de automatico para desativado, o pc não ficará exposto a todo tipo de invasão???
June 11th, 2007 15:54
I hope this works- SP2 has been screwing up my MMORPG play and it’s the Windows firewall that continues to turn it itself back on that appears to have been the culprit. Thank you for the tip.
October 21st, 2007 22:23
Thanks for your straight forward instructions, I wanted to do the opposite, and came across this in a google search. Has been the best straight forward help, i have found to date.
June 22nd, 2008 00:22
I installed Nortorn Antivirus 2008 and it fixed my issue:)
so try that guys.
July 17th, 2008 08:35
[...] is called "Security Center" Here are two links that should help you… The first one Disable or Turn Off Windows XP Security Center Permanently