This is a bugger of a problem that isn’t harmful, but just darn annoying. This recently happened to me while I was shifting around some software on my laptop. Fortunately, the solution is quick and easy.
Once logged into your machine, go to Start->Run and type “services.msc” (without the quotes). Once services launches, scroll down until you find ‘Security Center’ in the name column. Right click and choose ‘Restart’. The service will take a couple of seconds to stop and then it will restart. Once the service starts again, the little annoying bubble in your taskbar along with the red shield should be gone.
If it comes back when you reboot, you can easily disable it by going to the same place, right click and choose ‘Properties’. Go to the ‘General’ tab and choose ‘Manual’ for Startup type.
Until next time …
-D