Last December I installed and purchased Prevx 2.0 but for reasons now forgotten I decided that I didn't want the program and attempted to uninstall it. The process failed part way through and the removal tool didn't help either. I removed the remaining files manually together with any registry entries that I could find and reinstalled my previous antivirus program.

It told me that another antivirus program was installed. On checking Windows XP Security Center, it told me that Prevx 2.0 was turned off. I switched the Virus Protection setting to "Not Monitored" and proceeded with my antivirus installation. A couple of weeks ago I found some protected registry entries, that when deleted, allowed the Security Center to report normally and I assumed that the detection of Prevx 2.0 had finally been eliminated and the problem was solved.

Like many others I installed XP SP3 recently and all went well, I had feared that there may be a problem with the Security Center. A few hours ago I changed some of the settings of my antivirus program which needed a partial reinstallation for the changes to be made and it informed me that multiple antivirus programs were installed. I checked the Security Center and Windows is again telling me that Prevx 2.0 is turned off.

So now the current problem - how do I remove every last trace of Prevx 2.0? What setting is telling Windows that Prevx 2.0 is installed when clearly it isn't? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.....

Following on from what I wrote earlier, I found some websites that suggested I delete the Repository folder after stopping the relevant Services. I had forgotten that I had done this in the past without any success. The folder wouldn't fully delete as Windows advised me of a sharing violation but after a reboot the Security Center is no longer telling me the Prevx 2.0 is turned off.

Is it possible that the installation of my antivirus program checked the contents of the Repository folder and reinstated any references to Prevx 2.0? And now that those references are gone I shall have no further trouble? Or is Prevx 2.0 lurking somewhere and will reveal itself some time in the future?

PaulW2, I've done this dance as well. I assume that the protected Registry entries were something like HKLM\System\ControlSet\Enum\Root\Legacy and that you removed the leftover PrevX Legacy Drivers.

If you did this before deleting the Repository file then I cannot see from where the Security Centre\Repository is reading that PrevX is\was an available security product to be monitored.

My best guess is that either all the Legacy drivers were not removed or more likely that some of the data remained in the Repository as I note that you say the folder would not fully delete.

I have found that if you delete the programs Registry entries and fully remove the repository such that Windows rebuilds it (which it does partly by reading the Registry) then the Security Centre will not report that a product is present when it is not.

Many AV\Malware\Firewall Installers do check for prior installations of other products but their major focus is on the presence of Legacy Drivers as these cause conflicts if they still load. Best suggestion I can make is to check again that the Registry entries for any earlier PrevX Legacy drivers are definitely gone. I hope this is of some help. [/u]

Many of the security programs don't seem to fully purge their entires as far as Windows Security Centre is concerned.
I had a very long list of supposedly available AV software when I ran a series of trials of various products. In addition Windows kept telling me that its firewall was up and running when it had been disabled for quite some time.
For you the good news is that Windows at least views the phantom installed program as being switched off AND that you were able to install another program. I an't easy when its the other way around!