Security Center - Windows 10 Service
The WSCSVC (Windows Security Center) service monitors and reports security health settings on the computer. The health settings include firewall (on/off), antivirus (on/off/out of date), antispyware (on/off/out of date), Windows Update (automatically/manually download and install updates), User Account Control (on/off), and Internet settings (recommended/not recommended). The service provides COM APIs for independent software vendors to register and record the state of their products to the Security Center service. The Security and Maintenance UI uses the service to provide systray alerts and a graphical view of the security health states in the Security and Maintenance control panel. Network Access Protection (NAP) uses the service to report the security health states of clients to the NAP Network Policy Server to make network quarantine decisions. The service also has a public API that allows external consumers to programmatically retrieve the aggregated security health state of the system.
This service also exists in Windows 11, 8, Vista and XP.
Startup Type
| Windows 10 version | Home | Pro | Education | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1507 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 1511 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 1607 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 1703 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 1709 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 1803 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 1809 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 1903 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 1909 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 2004 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 20H2 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 21H1 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 21H2 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| 22H2 | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
Default Properties
| Display name: | Security Center |
| Service name: | wscsvc |
| Type: | share |
| Path: | %WinDir%\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNetworkRestricted -p |
| File: | %WinDir%\System32\wscsvc.dll |
| Error control: | normal |
| Object: | NT AUTHORITY\LocalService |
| Privileges: |
|
Default Behavior
The Security Center service is running as NT AUTHORITY\LocalService in a shared process of svchost.exe. Other services might run in the same process. If Security Center fails to start, the error is logged. Windows 10 startup proceeds, but a message box is displayed informing you that the wscsvc service has failed to start.
Dependencies
Security Center is unable to start, if at least one of the following services is stopped or disabled:
Restore Default Startup Type of Security Center
Automated Restore
1. Select your Windows 10 edition and release, and then click on the Download button below.
2. Save the RestoreSecurityCenterWindows10.bat file to any folder on your hard drive.
3. Right-click the downloaded batch file and select Run as administrator.
4. Restart the computer to save changes.
Note. Make sure that the wscsvc.dll file exists in the %WinDir%\System32 folder. If this file is missing you can try to restore it from your Windows 10 installation media.