How to check antivirus status in Windows XP By Drew Mathers | August 27, 2015 1 1. Click: Start 2 2. Click: Control Panel 3a 3a. Click: Security Center (if Control Panel is set to Category View) 3b 3b. Double-click: Security Center (if Control Panel is set to Classic View) 4 4. Verify that Virus Protection shows as ON. (Click to continue) 5 5. If Virus Protection shows NOT FOUND, you can install antivirus software. Posted in Beginner