How to repair or reinstall security essentials

Dear Lachlan hotmail Riddel,

Thank you for contacting the Q&A Forum, and please accept my sincere apologies for the delayed response. The delay was due to an exceptionally heavy workload and a very demanding schedule, which unfortunately affected my ability to reply as promptly as I would have liked. I truly appreciate your patience and understanding.

I completely understand the challenges you’re facing with Microsoft Security Essentials on your Windows 7 system. As you may know, Windows 7 has been out of official support for quite some time, which significantly limits the resources and solutions available. As a forum moderator, I do my best to assist based on research and documentation, but in this case, there may be constraints on what I can provide directly.

For your specific issue, one possible workaround is to set Internet Explorer back as the default browser and check if that resolves the scan hang. Additionally, you may find this Microsoft documentation helpful: How to Register as the Default Internet Client

I also recommend exploring other forums or communities that specialize in legacy systems, as they may offer more targeted guidance.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.