Security tab is missing in Explorer on an XP Pro system

Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home will, by default, use Simple File Sharing. This mode is always on in Windows XP Home and is automatically disabled in Windows XP Professional when a system is joined to a domain. For standalone or workgrouped XP Professional workstations, however, this feature may be enabled or disabled as desired. While Simple File Sharing is enabled, the Security tab while viewing properties of a file or folder in Windows Explorer will not be available.

To force the Security tab to appear you must disable Simple File Sharing:

  1. Open Windows Explorer.
  2. Click Tools -> Folder Options...
  3. Click the View tab.
  4. In the Advanced settings frame scroll all the way to the bottom.
  5. Un-check Use simple file sharing (Recommended).

If this does not work you can also attempt to turn this off in the registry:

  1. Open REGEDIT.
  2. Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Lsa
  3. Change the ForceGuest DWORD value to 0.
  4. Close REGEDIT.

Another possibility is that the security tab is being hidden through a policy. Make the following registry change to disable it:

  1. Open REGEDIT.
  2. Browse to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
  3. Change the NoSecurityTab DWORD value to 0.
  4. Close REGEDIT.

The security tab may also be missing if %SYSTEMROOT%\System32\rshx32.dll is missing or if the permissions on that file do not allow it to be read by the user.

If you are using Windows XP Home and are looking to enable the Security tab, please check this TechByte for more information.

Author: ASAK
Created: Dec 5 2005 (last modified Dec 13 2005)
Categories: Windows XP Professional
TechByte #108

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Comment posted by 'Anonymous' on Jun 9 2008 @ 16:40:25
I had tried all of the above fixes, but still could not see the security tab. I finally re-registered the rshx32.dll and all of a sudden, the tab was back.

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