Originally Posted by madshark

nope never used a registry cleaner and no interference from a virus guard been running nod 32 for 2 years never had a problem.

nod did detect a virus a couple of days and cleaned it out. perhaps it could have been that..
but do you really think i need to reinstall windows ? i mean is the security centre that essential ?

Are you running smart security or just the antivirus? Using UAC? Have you updated NOD32 to version 4.0?
Download and upgrade: http://www.eset.com/download/registered_software.php

Click on 'run' (it's in accessories), type services.msc in the box,
then OK.

In the list of service's check to see that 'Security
Center' and 'Security Accounts' are both set to start Automatically. You
can do that by right clicking on the line and choosing properties.
Reboot/restart your computer and check to see if it's now working
properly.
http://forum.soft32.com/windows/Cent...ict349200.html

Another thing to try (if the above didnt solve the Isssue- be sure to check the Security Accounts), Check for Corrupted User Account:
Create another User Admin Account, or activate the Hidden Administrator Account- see if Security Center problem still occurs when logged into these accounts.

NOD32 has spyware protection, and I also run Windows Defender with my NOD32 3.0 (now 4.0) installation. I am not seeing any of the issues you or the other OP are having, which leads me to believe that there is a conflict and/or corruption due to programs that were installed, or must likely, through User error.

If you are running other antispyware/antimalware programs, remove them. NOD32 and Defender run well together without Vista conflicts. You can try removing any installed programs, updating NOD32, and see if the problem resolves itself. Do not disable UAC on your system!

Originally Posted by madshark

im actually running an old version of nod find it a bit less resource hungry than the newer versions. Ive never had this problem before and i dont have any other spyware scanners on the pc.

it worked fine until last week. I checked the services and the Security Accounts is running on automatic start up and no issues there. Its just the security centre. If i start it up manually it works. just wont get set to auto start up.

Be aware that the earlier Versions are lacking in Malware detection/cleaning abilities- these were features added in the 3.0 and 4.0 Versions.
2.7? The newer versions add more protection levels, the ability to remove detected viruses/malware automatically, and more in depth scanning as well as malware protection, and self defense to prevent corruption/infection of NOD32 itself- so it may be that you have malware that the earlier modules are not designed or able to detect.

It is really your choice If you want to run an outdated program, but the resource footprint of the newer versions isnt much different than the older versions, and If your paying for the program It seems like a bad idea to run a program lacking in protection when this was the reason for the newer releases. In the end though, it is your system. If your system cannot handle the slightly increased resource footprint then perhaps you shouldnt be running ultimate- try Basic and/or install more RAM.

If this is recent issue, then try a system restore to a point before the problem occured.