If you have Windows Vista, you also have the Windows Account Control feature and Windows Security Center. Both of these features tend to nag users a tad. For example the Windows Account Control prompts you for permission to proceed on the slight chance that a command entered was initiated by an unknown process rather than you while the Windows Security Center notifies you when security features are not implemented to its recommended levels.
I suspect what your computer is telling you is that either your existing anti-virus protection has been disabled, expired, or non-existent. Let’s take a look. If the “no protection” message is currently displayed in your Taskbar’s notification area, you can simply click on it to open the Security Center. If not, you can access the Security Center via the Control Panel. Go to Start > Control Panel > Security Center. Likewise, you can go to Start and type Security Center into the Search bar and then click the icon that matches.
You’ll see a main color-coded display of the Vista security essentials including: Firewall, Automatic Updating, Malware Protection, and Other Settings. The coloring coding gives you an at-a-glance snapshot of what needs attention. Like a stop light, green means the settings are good to go while red means you need to stop and pay attention.
Each category shows up as a bar with an On/Off light as well as a drop down arrow for more options. For now, you can ignore the categories that are green (on); later, feel free to explore the drop down arrow to see the additional information. Click the down arrow next to all categories that are red. In this case, Malware Protection is most likely the one generating the “no protection” message though the firewall may also be contributing.
Under Malware Protection, you should see information about the current status of your security software. For example, if you had a trial version of McAfee Anti-Virus that has since expired, the Security Center will tell you that the product has expired. Similarly, if your antivirus program has been turned off, Security Center will tell you so. Most of the time, Security Center provides you with buttons that you can click to turn on the proper settings or solve the problem.
Malware Protection covers both antivirus and spyware settings. Windows Vista comes with Windows Defender built in. You should see Windows Defender in the list and its current status.
Depending on your situation, you may need to simply turn on existing security applications or update them. However, if your anti-virus license has expired or you have no protection installed at all, you will need to purchase a good antivirus application.
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