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Display Name (?):

Security Center

Short Name (?):

wscsvc

Executable (?):

svchost.exe

Library (?):

wscsvc.dll

Depends On (?):

Remote Procedure Call (RPC), Windows Management Instrumentation

Supports (?):

None.

Description (?):

Monitors system security settings and configurations.

OS (?):

NT4 Server

Startup (?):

Default	Home	Workstation	Server	Minimal	Tweaked	Automatic
Automatic	Automatic	Automatic	Automatic	Disabled	Disabled	Disabled

Explanation (?):

The security center service is new to the Windows XP service pack 2 (sp2) and provides security monitoring and reporting. The interface to this service is available in the control panel under the security center icon. The actual service checks multiple things that notify you how secure your computer is. The service checks if Automatic Updates are enabled and if they aren't then it lets you know, and it checks if you have the firewall enabled and can notify you if it is not. Plus it searches for most Antivirus programs, and it tries to communicate with them to see if their real-time scanning is functioning. If you have no virus scanner then it notifies you and gives you suggestions for which ones you might want to use, and if it can't find the real-time scanning state of your scanner then it tells you either you have an unsupported antivirus program or your virus scanner could have been disabled by an error or by a virus.

This service is by no means a required component of Windows. If you disable it then you lose the security center features, but Windows operation will continue normally. Once it is disabled then you will not receive notifications in the tasktray about security potentials and the security center control panel item will not provide you with security information. For most users I would recommend leaving this set to automatic, but if you feel sure you do not need babysitting then you can safely disable this service.