Michael Kratz

When Windows XP Service Pack 2 was released, it came along with a whole raft of ‘security’ enhancements. One of these was Security Center (I’m tempted to spell ‘center’ as ‘centre’ because I’m Australian. But, it’s called “Security Center” so that’s what I’ll call it).

Security Center was implemented to assist in encouraging general users into being conscious about the security of Windows and their computer. Security Center basically monitors whether Windows Automatic Updates and Windows Firewall are turned on; and whether an appropriate virus scanner with up-to-date virus definitions is installed and running.

This is a good thing, for the general masses. But for us technical folk, who know how to run Windows without Microsoft holding our collective hands, it’s a royal pain in the arse. Why? because it constantly nags you with those little Windows pop-ups (which don’t go away till you click on them) to “check your virus definitions” or “enable the Windows Firewall”, etc.

So… if you fall into this category where it has become a hindrance rather than a handy tool, here’s how to disable it.

1. Click on the “Start” button, then click “Run”.
2. In the dialog box, type “services.msc”, then click “OK”.
3. Microsoft Management Console (MMC) will then start. It will display a list of all the Windows background services running (or not) on your computer.
4. Scroll down till you find “Security Center”, right click on it and click “Properties”
5. In the dialog box which will appear, first click on the “STOP” button. The Security Center service will now stop, this may take a few seconds.
6. Once the Security Center service has been stopped, select “Disabled” from the “Startup type” drop-down list.
7. Then click the “OK” button.
8. Close the Services Management Console.
9. Congratulations, Security Center is now disabled and will never nag you again!

Note: if looking at these steps freaks you out, because you think it’s too complex, then it’s probably not a good idea for you to disable Security Center!

If you now open Security Center, you’ll find that it will look similar to the screen shot below.

If you wish to re-enable it, simply go back into the Services Management Console and set “Security Center” to “Automatic” instead of “Disabled”.