Windows Defender won't turn on?
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A few days ago I had some scary problems with my computer that has Vista on it. I don't think it was related to Vista but my computer locked up and I was unable to boot up. F2 (BIOS) and F12 (boot options) didn't work either, so booting from a CD wasn't an option. Once I unplugged my two USB external drives, I was finally able to access Safe Mode options screen and could get into Windows via Safe Mode. After going around in circles for a few hours doing diagnostics, trying "repair" options, trying to reinstall Vista - with nothing panning out, it suddenly booted up properly. I'm not sure if I like that though because I didn't really solve the problem. Now that's not about Windows Defender, but I'm getting to that part... That night we totally powered down and unplugged all of the computers (we had an epic thunder and lightning storm in the middle of the night) and the next morning when I booted up, I noticed that Windows Defender was off. I opened up the security center and clicked "Turn on Now". It went through it's update check, reported no updates and continued to say that it was not turned on. I tried this a few times but the status did not change. After some digging, I was led to this post (not sure who's site it is) where a comment suggested rebuilding the WMI repository:
I first took a quick look at what the winmgmt command line tool was all about and then tried the solution suggested above. It worked. So I just wonder if the lockup problem I had the previous was related to the WMI Repository. A mystery that I will probably just leave unsolved. |
Comments (9)
Thanks for the Fix, worked great and Windows Defender completed after the second attempt at winmgmt /salvagerepository.
Posted by Cass | July 16, 2007 7:59 PM
Encountered this problem when I accidentaly shut off the switch at the power socket whilst PC was still shutting down.
This fix worked a treat. Many thanks.
Posted by John | August 19, 2007 5:45 PM
you rock julia i got windows vista when it first came out and after the first day windows defender did not want to turn on. I am curious why this worked , if anyone has an answer it would be great to hear about it Thanks a lot just got it to be on after a year, awesome
Posted by Jamal | September 9, 2007 11:06 PM
Hi,
When i faced the same problem, i tried both "winmgmt /verifyrepository" and "winmgmt /salvagerepository". My vista says, the "WMI repository is consistent". But couldn't turn on Windows Defender.
Also, could you please explain what could be the reason for windows defender auto off?
Posted by Anushya | November 19, 2007 2:54 AM
Many thanks for your help.
Had Security Centre advise that my system was unprotected for the past week. No idea why it couldn't see AVG Firwall/Antivirus.
Ran the
"winmgmt /verifyrepository" and
"winmgmt /salvagerepository"
had to run it 3 times as you mentioned but after reboot all was as it should be.
Many thanks for the help :o)
Posted by MrParis | January 4, 2008 5:49 AM
Thanks for fix worked great for me (vista ultimate)running avg,free.security centre showing no malware protection,couldnt turn w/defender on. ran this fix 3 times problem solved.
THANKS.!!!!
Posted by zzeezzy | March 14, 2008 6:17 PM
Great fix - worked perfectly - no idea what I was doing or why but Vista and laptop working perfectly.
Posted by Phil | April 18, 2008 4:10 PM
hi
i tried the command but i got "WMI repository is consistent"
what should i do in this case??
thnx for ur help:D
Posted by mina | May 5, 2008 2:55 PM
Mina,
I"m sorry but I have no idea.
I only solved the problem initially by luck!
I would try asking a question on the Windows Vista Security forum in the TEchNet forums.
Here is the URL:
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=718&SiteID=17
Report back when you get your solution, so that this comment thread can be even more helpful to the next person with these problems!
Posted by Julia Lerman | May 7, 2008 8:30 AM