Windows Vista - Security Center
| Windows 9x/2000/XP/Vista UNSUPPORTED |
NOTE: Windows 95/98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista are no longer supported by the Help Desk. We can only provide best effort support. If we are unable to resolve your Windows 9x/2000/XP/Vista issue, you may be able to find help in Microsoft's Knowledge Base. These products are no longer actively supported by Microsoft. No further development will take place on these products and security updates are no longer issued. It is highly recommended that you upgrade to Windows 10 or 8. |
Designed to provide both users and third-party independent software vendors (ISVs) with one, easy-to-understand summary of a PCs security status, Windows Security Center was first introduced in Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. In Windows Vista, Microsoft has continued to enhance Windows Security Center to provide even more integration with Vista security features and third-party security solutions.
Security Center in Windows XP SP2 monitored the firewall, automatic updates, and virus protection status on the computer.
In Windows Vista, Microsoft added additional monitoring and updated the window layout to make it more consistent with other control panels.
Besides continuing to monitor the firewall and automatic updates, Security Center now includes a Malware protection category which includes both anti-spyware and anti-virus software.
Also included is an "Other security settings" group which monitors Internet security settings (meaning Internet Explorer) and User Account Control.
Microsoft improved the notification features in Security Center from the very basic options available in Windows XP SP2 (see below)
to a more robust set of options under Vista.
