Windows Security Center does not recognize Avast installed

[Union_Thug]

Avast5 most recent
XP Home SP3
Dell 2200 Inspiron laptop
1.25 gig

I recently (yesterday) happened to look at event viewer and noticed several error messages in the application tab which only started 9 days ago (5/20), which is odd since I've been using Avast for more than a year now  Messages read as follows: 

Event Type:   Error
Event Source:   SecurityCenter
Event Category:   None
Event ID:   1804

Description:
The Windows Security Center Service was unable to load instances of AntiVirusProduct from WMI.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Of course when I went to the link provided by Micro$haft it invariably results in confusion & frustration:

Details
ID: 1804                                             
Source: SecurityCenter                                             
   
We're sorry
There is no additional information about this issue in the Error and Event Log Messages or Knowledge Base databases at this time. You can use the links in the Support area to determine whether any additional information might be available elsewhere.

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A couple of hours spent researching this led me to the following links and possible fixes, none of which worked.

http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=23457
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1063919084
http://www.varioustopics.com/network/323963-wmi-corrupted-and-the-suggested-fix-not-working.html
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1046807120

I recently (about two weeks ago) deleted a few start-ups I had disabled by using CCleaner's startup manager tab which coincides with the error messages in event viewer and the system is running without any noticeable problems and I am fairly confident is malware free. Since I have M$'s Security Center configured to only notify me of any problems w/ firewall and updates I was unaware of this until yesterday.

I guess my question is: Is this anything to be concerned with?

[Lisandro]

Maybe uninstall/install again (booting in between) will do the job...

[bob3160]

Maybe uninstall/install again (booting in between) will do the job...

The following tutorial might help:
http://mysharedfiles.no-ip.org/TipsTricksFreeware/How2InstallAvast.html

[Union_Thug]

Maybe uninstall/install again (booting in between) will do the job...

@Tech: Thank you for your reply and suggestion. I did as you suggested, uninstalled & re-installed (successfully), re-booted several times and checked event viewer after each re-boot--no joy, error still present.   I then de-fragged the drive (with Piriform's Defraggler) & ran cleanmgr, again error still persisted. I noticed that the pagefile was fragmented into 2 fragments (1,301,xxx)--I recently (5/27) upgraded RAM from 512mb to 1.25GB and I assume that is the reason for the fragments. I downloaded and ran PageDefrag from Sysinternals which successfully de-fragmented the pagefile, again checked event viewer and the same error was detected.

The following tutorial might help:
http://mysharedfiles.no-ip.org/TipsTricksFreeware/How2InstallAvast.html

@bob3160: Thank you for the helpful suggestion and tutorial link. I did all the steps and the problem still persisted. At this point I'm torn between just letting this go as one of those mysterious Micro$oft WinDOZE "glitches" and trying to find the cause of this problem and correcting it for no reason other than curiousity, as there are no noticeable performance problems or symptoms of any malware present in the system as a result of this.

As an aside note, the error message cannot be a result of my memory upgrade, as the messages started on 5/20 and I upgraded RAM on 5/27.

Any further suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

[Lisandro]

Union_Thug, I see no correlation between the Windows Security Center and defragmentation.
I suggest an installation from the scratch:

1. Download the latest version of avast! Uninstall Utility and save it.
2. Download the latest avast! version and save it.
3. Uninstall avast from Control Panel (if possible). If, for any reason, you can't run it, try booting in Safe Mode and doing it from there. Anyway, boot after that.
4. Run the avast! Uninstall Utility saved on 1. If, for any reason, you can't run it, try booting in Safe Mode and doing it from there. Anyway, boot after you've run it.
5. Install avast! using the setup saved on 2. Boot.
6. Register your free copy or add the license key for Pro.
7. Check and post the results.

[bob3160]

Tech,
The link I sent him gave him exactly those instructions.  

[Union_Thug]

Union_Thug, I see no correlation between the Windows Security Center and defragmentation.
I suggest an installation from the scratch:
......

7. Check and post the results.

I already did those steps as indicated by the reply in my previous post:

"@Tech: Thank you for your reply and suggestion. I did as you suggested, uninstalled & re-installed (successfully), re-booted several times and checked event viewer after each re-boot--no joy, error still present....."

I agree that defragging the drive seems irrelevant to this problem, but at this point I'm out of ideas as to what to do next, the drive needed defragging anyway (I regularly defrag the drive every other weekend) and mentioned it for informational purposes.

Thank you again, if you have any other ideas or suggestions they are most welcome.

[Union_Thug]

Tech,
The link I sent him gave him exactly those instructions.  

LOL! How many times does he want me to uninstall/re-install?  

[Lisandro]

I see two ways:
1. Uninstalling/installing the antivirus again. And booting twice.
2. Deleting the Windows Security Center repository and booting.
I haven't found a third solution...

[Union_Thug]

I see two ways:
1. Uninstalling/installing the antivirus again. And booting twice.
2. Deleting the Windows Security Center repository and booting.
I haven't found a third solution...

I have tried deleting the Repository manually 4 times--twice by stopping the WMI service, deleting the repository folder and booting;  twice by pausing WMI and  deleting repository (with the WMI  "service" window still open) then booting. I have also tried the .bat fix file (twice) you posted on this thread from 2006: http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=23457  No joy.

Reinstalling a perfectly good install of Avast more than the one time I've done so far seems redundant at this point, but I will do it one more time and see if this clears the error in Security Center.

This looks like it will do the trick, however as a tool for IT pros and developers, and as I am only an average (at best) user it is far too advanced for my limited knowledge and understanding:

The WMI Diagnosis Utility -- Version 2.0

A new utility to help system administrators diagnose and repair problems with the WMI service.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d7ba3cd6-18d1-4d05-b11e-4c64192ae97d&displaylang=en

Overview
WMIDiag.vbs is a VBScript script designed to help you ascertain the current state of the WMI service on a computer. The download package includes the utility itself, a ReadMe file that discusses how the tool works (and how to best use it), and sample spreadsheets that provide information about the default WMI configuration on various versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

System Requirements

    * Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000; Windows 98; Windows NT; Windows Server 2003; Windows XP

Microsoft Windows 98 or later. Windows Script Host version 5.6 must be installed. This version of WSH comes preinstalled in Windows XP and later versions of Windows, and can be downloaded for and installed on Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows ME, and Window 2000.

Also see this: Resolve WMI Problems Quickly with WMIDiag
http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/windows-management-instrumentation-wmi/resolve-wmi-problems-quickly-with-wmidiag.aspx

I'm going to download the tool and  RTFM  when I have a few hours to spare, if any readers have experience running this tool I would be very happy to hear from them.

Thank you again for your reply.

 

[Lisandro]

Pity that this tool seems not be compatible with Vista and Windows 7...

[Union_Thug]

Pity that this tool seems not be compatible with Vista and Windows 7...

It also seems a pity that this powerful tool is way too difficult to use and understand for an average user such as myself, as I stated before this tool is designed for IT pros and developers. I'll take a pass on trying to diagnose and use it unless I can convince a friend of mine, a former programmer for a large multi-national, to take a look at my logs.

I'm attaching a log of the errors detected in WBEM if anyone cares to take a look at and/or interpret and diagnose them. I would appreciate any advice/suggestions. Thank you again.

[Tarq57]

It may seem a bit obvious, but have you disabled any of the services in XP?

[Union_Thug]

It may seem a bit obvious, but have you disabled any of the services in XP?

Yes. I use the suggested settings by Black Viper & The ElderGeek
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

I've also reset  to default as described here:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sys_srv_default_settings.mspx?mfr=true

[Tarq57]

BV has a few suggested settings, depending on the desired function. (As you appear to be aware.)
Did you use "safe", "tweaked" or "bare bones"?

Not sure of the last part of your post. It implies you returned the services config (including any previously disabled services) to default?