NIS 2009 Auto-Protect won't begin at startup

I’m using NIS 2009, and the auto-protect refuses to begin at startup anymore.  I’ve gone into the settings and made sure that the begin at startup box was checked (it had somehow managed to become unchecked, however, checking it again has not fixed the problem.) I have run (several) full system scans, and it has detected no problems, but auto-protect still won’t begin at startup.  Are there any suggestions for how to fix this? (It will still begin when I click the icon in the Start menu, so I know it still works, once again, the problem seems to solely be with the Auto protect at Startup)