How to Fix the Trend Micro Antivirus Unauthorized Change Prevention Service Shut Down Error

How to Fix the Trend Micro Antivirus Unauthorized Change Prevention Service Shut Down Error
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Trend Micro Unauthorized Change Prevention Service

Trend Micro Antivirus and Trend Micro Maximum Security requires the “Unauthorized Change Prevention Service” to be up and running all the time. The service is responsible for behavior monitoring, device control and OfficeScan Client self-protection. If you are receiving a Trend Micro antivirus unauthorized change prevention service shut down message, you need to fix it using the possible solutions in this article.

Below is the full error message that is displayed in Windows:

Your Unauthorized Change Prevention Service has shut down. Trying restarting Trend Micro Internet Security to restore your Unauthorized Change Prevention Service. If the problem persists, please restart your computer. If you continue to receive this warning, please contact Technical Support.

Computer or Trend Micro Service Restart

The vendor recommends restarting the computer to resolve the problem but if the problem continues, you should check the startup type of the Trend Micro Unauthorized Change Prevention service:

  • Click Start > type services.msc in the run or search box.
  • Hit the OK key to open the services management console.
  • Locate and double-click Trend Micro Unauthorized Change Prevention service in the list local services.
  • In General tab > Startup type, make sure it is set to Automatic.
  • If it’s already set to Automatic but the service status is stopped, click Start button to start the service.
  • Restart the computer.

Malware Scan

If the same issue persists you should check the security status of your PC. Scan the computer using Trend Micro Housecall or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Remove detected threats in Windows and restart the computer.

Remove Conflicting Software

If you previously removed any antivirus or anti-spyware protection by other vendors, some files or drivers may still exist in the computer that conflict with Trend Micro processes and services. It’s best to run the uninstaller of the already removed security software to get rid of the remnants e.g., Norton Removal tool, Avast Uninstaller, AVG Remover or the McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool.

Note that removed security software might retain a copy of drivers in Windows, check the computer device manager to determine if there are orphaned drivers:

  • Right-click My Computer.
  • Click Properties.
  • Click the Advanced tab.
  • Click the Environment Variables tab.
  • Set the variables in the System Variables box. Close the system properties window.
  • Open the Device Manager in Windows: type devmgmt.msc in run box to display this console, or simply type Device Manager in the run box in Vista and Windows 7.
  • Click View in the menu bar and select Show hidden devices.
  • The list of installed devices or drivers in Windows will refresh.
  • Expand Non-plug and play drivers and review the list of drivers. Any item that is grayed out are remnants or orphans of software that were removed from your computer.
  • To delete orphaned drivers, right-click the item and then select uninstall.

Re-install Trend Micro Product

Trend Micro Diagnostic Toolkit

If none of the above solutions helps, you may have a corrupted or damaged installation of Trend Micro software. Uninstall the program using the Trend Micro Diagnostic Toolkit from download link below:

Run the toolkit and select the Uninstall tab. Click the Uninstall Software button to allow the toolkit to detect the installed Trend Micro product. Proceed by clicking the Uninstall button in the next window and then restart the computer. Note that you can also run the toolkit in safe mode if you have problems removing the Trend Micro software in normal mode.

Reinstall the Trend Micro software by downloading the latest installation file from the vendor’s download center website.

References

Screenshots courtesy of Trend Micro