Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service (WdNisSvc) Defaults in Windows 10

Helps guard against intrusion attempts targeting known and newly discovered vulnerabilities in network protocols.

Default Settings

Startup type: Manual
Display name:Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service
Service name:WdNisSvc
Service type:own
Error control:normal
Object:NT AUTHORITY\LocalService
Path:%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\NisSrv.exe
Registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WdNisSvc

Default Behavior

Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service is a Win32 service. In Windows 10 it is starting only if the user, an application or another service starts it. When the Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service is started, it is running as NT AUTHORITY\LocalService in its own process of NisSrv.exe. If Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service fails to start, the failure details are being recorded into Event Log. Then Windows 10 will start up and notify the user that the WdNisSvc service has failed to start due to the error.

Dependencies

Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service cannot be started under any conditions, if the Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection System Driver service is disabled.

Restore Default Startup Configuration of Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service

Before you begin doing this, make sure that all the services on which Microsoft Defender Antivirus Network Inspection Service depends are configured by default and function properly. See the list of dependencies above.

1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.

2. Copy the command below, paste it into the command window and press ENTER:

sc config WdNisSvc start= demand

3. Close the command window and restart the computer.

The WdNisSvc service is using the NisSrv.exe file that is located in the %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 10 installation media.