Windows Security Center not starting? Here’s how to fix it

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Windows Security Center is an integral part of your operating system’s security ecosystem. It helps you monitor the health status of Windows critical security components, such as Microsoft Defender. For this reason, it can be worrying to suddenly get the following error message: “The Windows Security Center service cannot be started.”

The longer Windows Security Center is inactive, the more at risk your computer is. Luckily, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can take to fix the problem. Here are five of them.


1. Check for Malware Infection

Before you take any other troubleshooting steps, you might want to make sure Windows Security Center isn’t disabled due to malware. Try to update your anti-malware program and run a full system scan to locate and remove these unwanted programs from your Windows PC.

Related: Steps to take when you discover malware on your computer

2. Make sure the Windows Security Center configuration is correct

For Windows Security Center to start properly, you must ensure that the configurations of the services it depends on are not messy. Open Windows Services Manager by pressing Win + Rby typing “services.msc” in the dialog box and pressing Enter. Locate Windows Management Instrumentation and double click on it.

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Windows management instrumentation in Windows Services Manager

In the General tab, make sure Service status indicates that the service is running and that its Start type is Automatique.


window management instrument properties

Do the same for the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) a service.

Now restart your computer and see if Windows Security Center is working normally. If this solves the problem, the error message telling you that Windows Security Center cannot start will no longer appear.

Another way is to check if Windows Service Center is running in Windows Service Manager. Just relaunch it, scroll down the list of services until you see Security Center, and double-click it. Then make sure that Service status says “is running” and Start type is Automatic (delayed start) in the General tongue.


security center properties in windows service manager

3. Perform WMI Repository Repair

A corrupt WMI repository can prevent Windows Security Center from starting, and repairing it can fix the problem in most cases. Type “cmd” in the To look for bar of the Taskbar, right click on the Command Prompt app in the search results, then click Execute as administrator. Then type “winmgmt /verifyrepository” and press Enter.


check wmi repository status via command prompt

If the repository is correct, you will receive a message saying “The WMI repository is consistent”. But if not, you can fix it by typing “winmgmt/salvage repository” in command prompt and pressing Enter.

When Windows has finished repairing the WMI repository, the command prompt displays the message: “The WMI repository has been recovered”. Restart your computer and check if everything is ok with Windows Security Center.

4. Fix Windows Security Center issues with System File Checker

If Windows Security Center won’t start because of a corrupted system file, a utility called System File Checker can help. It will scan your system for corrupt files and repair anything it finds. Open command prompt as administrator, type “sfc /scannow” and press Enter to start the analysis.


run file system checker via command prompt

Once Windows has finished scanning, restart your PC and see if that fixed the problem.

Related: Windows Command Prompt (CMD) Commands You Need to Know

5. Perform Windows Repair

It might be time to perform a deep repair of the entire operating system when all else fails. There are a few free tools you can use to repair Windows 10 and repair Windows 11. Be sure to create a system restore point before repairing Windows so that you can undo the changes if something goes wrong.

Now Windows Security Center will start

Seeing an error warning you that Windows Security Center won’t start means your computer’s security is compromised. The steps outlined above should end the error message: “The Windows Security Center service cannot be started.” This will mean that the service is working properly and in doing so will make your computer much less vulnerable.


Windows 10 laptop on the desk
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