What Causes Windows Vista Error 0XC004D401?

You may encounter the following error message while working on your Windows Vista computer:

Windows Vista Error 0XC004D401: The security processor reported a system file mismatch error.

Windows Vista Error 0x80080250: Unrecognized error.

The following error message may also display when you use your Windows Vista computer.

"An unauthorized change was made to your license." To keep your system stable, you must go online and validate that your software is genuine:- Validate Online - Close

Causes of the Error Messages

These error codes and error messages are usually generated when an antivirus software or a Rights Management (DRM) software installed on your computer is not compatible with Windows Vista . The most common causes of these error messages are:

  • Your Vista computer has encountered an hard disk error.
  • An incompatible program is installed on your Vista computer. Some of the programs known to cause these errors are:
    • All versions of Blumentals Software iNET Protector.
    • All PC Tools Spyware Doctor versions released before version 4.0.
    • All PC Tools Firewall Plus version released before version 3.0.0.52.
    • All Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security versions released before version 14.56.
    • All Trend Micro OfficeScan versions released before version 8.0.
    • All TuneUp Utilities versions released before 2007.

Troubleshooting Steps

To troubleshoot the problem and resolve the error messages, you need to perform the following steps:

Step 1: Uninstall any program that is incompatible with Windows Vista from your system.

  1. Restart your Vista computer.
  2. Press F8 before Windows Vista starts loading to display the Advanced Boot Options screen
  3. Use the arrow keys to scroll down and select the Safe mode option, and then press Enter.
  4. After Windows Vista loads in Safe mode, click Start menu, and then type appwiz.cpl in the Start Search box.
  5. In the Programs list, select appwiz.cpl.
  6. Scroll down the list to identify all incompatible programs installed on your Vista computer.
  7. Select each program one by one and uninstall them from the computer.
  8. After you are done, restart your computer in normal mode.
  9. If the errors still occur, perform the tasks listed in Step 3.

Step 2: Validate your Windows Vista

  1. Open the following Microsoft Website.

    2. http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/

  2. Click the Validate Windows button to validate your Vista operating system.

Step 3: Perform System Restore to Revert your System Settings to the Time Before the Errors Started Generating

  1. Open Start menu, select All Programs, select System Tools, and then select System Restore.
  2. Use the System Restore Wizard to select a restore point that was created before the errors started occurring on your Vista computer.
  3. Revert your system configuration to this restore point.

If you are still unable to resolve the problem, you may refer to Microsoft forums for a possible solution. You may also clean boot the Windows Vista computer to identify the conflicting program and then disable it to resolve the error.

If you are unable to completely remove a conflicting program from your computer, you may use a third-party program uninstall software, such as the Perfect Uninstaller to ensure complete removal of these stubborn programs.