After downloading numerous torrents I got one that had malware attached. After scanning with Malwarebytes and quarantining the problem, Microsoft Security Essentials will not work and gives the error message "The Windows Security Service can't be started." What can I do to fix this so I can use Microsoft Security again? Any input will be helpful.
Why the hell would u download from a torrent u possibly know isnt safe? Download from MDL and you're garantueed its safe.
Try start the service in services.msc and see if that works. Also go to darkviper.com (I think) and see what services that should be started by default.
sounds like something is still lurking around on your machine, possibly in the registry. just uninstall MSE and reboot. make sure Windows Defender service starts at next boot. if Defender doesn't start or you have to start it manually, check the mmc (services in administrative tools) and make sure that windows defender service is set to "automatic". if you have to set this manually, reboot again and make sure it starts on its own. then reinstall MSE, reboot and see if that fixes your issue. if these steps don't work i suggest cleaning your registry, and possibly using something like tdskiller or another free online scanner to make sure you are truly "clean" torrent files are notorious for bad infections, so be careful what you download using them; always read the comments of the torrent at the site it is located at; only download torrents from sources you know and trust. people who post such things main purpose is to infect you usually, and they have most often tweaked some trojan/malware to their liking which means that there is no definition for the custom infection when you get infected. good luck.
The uninstall method didn't work. Here are specs on my pc to hopefully help find a way to fix this issue. HP Pavilion Slimline Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 AMD Sempron 140 Processor 2.70 GHz 3.00 GB RAM 64-Bit Operating System I bought this PC brand new about 2 months ago and haven't had a problem with it until now.
Personally I find it not very wise to try to fix an install that you know had malware in the install image... I mean... what good is that? Wait... you weren't saying that you downloaded a Win 7 torrent that had malware, just that you downloaded numerous torrents and that you got infected with malware... so what is the real story? If it's an HP then it should have a restore partition you can restore from. It should give you that option when you start the computer, it'll show you different options. Maybe all you're saying is you don't want to loose all your personal data by doing a complete restore? Anyway, you're not being very clear so I'm not going to try to cover every scenario until you clarify what exactly is your situation there.
then i would say you are still infected somehow. did you follow all my instructions exactly as i typed? have you run any other scans besides malwarebytes'? are there any other antivirus/spyware programs running? have you used a good, reliable registry cleaner? i suggest eusing free registry cleaner as it produces less problems then all the others, this i suggest from a ton of experience with it and others that are crap. try installing and running spybot search and destroy. this will find any other things that malwarbytes' would have missed as it [malwarbytes'] does not get everything regardless of what others say or is posted online. the only problem is that it will not find a trojan, which is the most common type of infection for killing tasks, processes, and services. can you manually start the service in mmc? let me know, i'll help you best i can--i'm not perfect at fixing such things but i've kicked many a hundred viri/malware/spyware butts in my time though so far i've not had to do so on 7, which i've only been using a few weeks, though it seems no different from xp/vista when it comes to killing infections... if you can't get it fixed doing everything i've suggested then, run hijackthis (disable any and all protection beforehand) and send the log to me in a PM. and we will go from there. try this before that though: (1) uninstall / delete whatever file(s) caused the infection--do not try to salvage at all, just toss it, and clean the Malwarbytes' quarantine, clean all temporary files (%temp% in run window and delete everything unless you have divx installed then you need to leave folders "DDMcache, boost_interprocesses") and delete all cookies and all temporary internet files (2) clean the registry, reboot (3) uninstall MSE, reboot (4) make sure defender starts, if not check its settings and make sure "real time" protection is activated; then check the mmc "windows defender service" make sure it's set to "automatic," reboot (5) if defender working, reinstall MSE, reboot; if not working proceed to (7) (6) if MSE works correctly you are done, if not move to (7) (7) install and run spybot search and destroy, let if fix anything it finds, if it finds nothing move on (8) disable all protection and run hijackthis and PM me the log good luck