Once in a while (maybe once or twice a month) when I start up my computer, I get a warning that I should turn on my firewall. And when I check, my firewall is still turned on as it always has been. So why do I get these false warnings?
I have Windows XP and the firewall settings are the standard ones.
Sometimes it takes a minute for the firewall to get started up and register itself with the system. By the time you get control and check, it’s done. Or you’ve got teh virus.
I do routine automatic virus checks. Should I be running an more intensive scan? And if so, any recommendations?
No, I think you’re fine. My Xp does the same thing. Now if it stays off that’s different but a slight delay isn’t a cause for concern.
This is due to a known race condition on older, slower machines.
This might help:
Click Start, Run… and type services.msc and hit enter.
Find the entry Microsoft Antimalware Service, right click and select Properties.
Select the Recovery tab. Make sure that First failure, Second Failure and Subsequent Failures are all turned to “Restart the Service”. Click OK and restart the computer.