Vista Anti-Virus Help!

So this morning I fired up my laptop to do some things, and in the bottom corner of my tool bar I see the dreaded red shield. When I clicked on the shield, vista clamed that I did not have a firewall or anti-virus program running. This is totally false because I have Mcafee (McAfee VirusScan Plus to be exact). So I do a quick up date of McAfee, and still no change. I restarted my computer and still no change. I currently have it scanning my computer (I'm actually away from it at the moment at work) hoping maybe that will change things. The only thing I've done differently in the last week or so is download some vista updates. If anyone has any help it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Ps: Comp is in the sig, I’m running Vista 32 Home Premium

 

I use to have McAfee Internet Security, and it dropped the ball on more than one occasion, Why pay for rubbish when you can get better for free!

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

or

http://www.free-av.com/

 

If this were my situation, I would download a trial version of Kaspersky or NOD, disconnect from the Internet, uninstall McAfee, and then install, update and run either of the other apps to see if all was well. If things turned out ok (and I suspect they probably will), I'd either pay for Kaspersky or NOD, or download and install one of the freebies recommended above.

IMO, you can do better than McAffee.

 

Hi, you are not the first experiencing problems with Vista Security Center warnings.
Below, the instructions from NBR member Coolguy on how to flush the current repository/info that VSC uses.

1. Stop the "Windows Management Instrumentation" service. (type 'services' in search and click enter to go to services).
2. Locate the folder "repository" in c:\windows\system32\wbem. Delete only the repository folder.
3. Now start the "WMI" service back.
4. Wait for atleast 15-20 mins for the system to rebuild the information.
5. Now reboot and open the security center. If it's not turned ON, turn ON and you will have the right info there.

PS. Like bmwrob already mentioned, there are stronger security suites (with a smaller footprint) on the market.
If you have solved your Vista Security Center Issue, it's worth checking out those suites.

Cheers.

 

Oh yea im very aware how much McAfee sucks, but I paid for the license up until like 2009 I think so unluckily for me I don’t want to waste my $. Do you think that this may be a serious problem or McAfee just being stupid as usual? Also does avast come w/ a fire wall?

Thanks

 

I'd first try the solution in my previous post before trying anything else.
Have you downloaded/installed anything recently which lead to 'weird' issues besides the Security Center warning?
You can check whether your firewall is still up with online firewall checks, see the links/sticky in my signature.
Use a trial version of another security suite or maybe the free Avira antivirus to check for malware on your notebook.

Nope, it doesn't.
It has integrated anti-spyware and anti-rootkit protection but you will need a separate firewall.
Cheers.

 

Great thanks for the help, I’ll try all of the suggestions when I get home. The only thing I've done recently is reinstalled vista from the recovery disk, but I did that about a month ago.
Baserk, btw Great Free Anti-Virus post, and thanks for the suggestions, hopefully they work.
Oh also sorry if this is a stupid question, but in regards to the directions, should I delete the entire repository folder, and (I'm experimenting w. this at work and they are using XP) for the WMI should I just disable the service entitled Windows Management Instrumentation, the one entitled Windows Management Instrumentation driver extensions, or both?
Again sorry if these questions are stupid; I’m just a little bit paranoid about my computer falling apart.
Thanks again for the help

 

Avast does not come with a firewall, but i use a free one called "Comodo Firewall Pro" and it works great!

http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

 

I've experienced your problem, and I only have to disable Windows Management Instrumentation, IIRC.

 

I have had to reset WBEM many times and with different AVs and firewalls (but not one since SP1 install which leads me to believe it was a Vista problem). I use a different method to reset though it does the same thing:

Click on Start>>All Programs>>Accessories
Right click on Command Prompt and select “Run as Administrator”
When the command window pops up you should be in your \Windows\System32 directory
Type in the following commands:

cd wbem
net stop winmgmt
rmdir /s /q repository
net start winmgmt

Close the command window and start Security Center.
It will inform you that the SecCenter service is disabled so enable it.
After a period of time in which the Repository is rebuilt it should only report the presently installed security software.

 

I second the Kaspersky and NOD32 endorsement.

Do not disconnect from the internet or install any other antivirus until you completely remove McAfee. Go to their website and see if they have a removal tool. This will completely rid your computer of all traces of their program. Then, install the new software.

 

I was able to fix the issue by just reinstalling McAfee. Every time I tried to delete the repository folder it told me that it was in use by another program. Whatever. Thanks everyone for the help though.

 

Did you stop the WMI service before deleting the repository folder? Please read the posted instructions in detail.