Activating ACL (Security tab) for files & folders in WinXP Pro & Home

Just thought I'd share this gem from my Security+ studies...

WinXP Pro:

By default, Windows XP uses "simple file sharing". Simple file sharing hides the ACL (Access Control List) which gives you granular security control over who can access what folders & files on your system.

With simple file sharing enabled, the Security tab will not be present.




To "unhide" ACL, open any folder and from the menu go to Tools>Options, select the View tab, and clear the "Use simple file sharing" box. Click Apply & OK.



You should now see a Security tab when you go to the File/Folder properties.

For more granular control over permissions, etc., click the Advanced button.



WinXP Home:

The "Use simple file sharing" option is not available under the View tab in XP Home, but you can boot to Safe Mode (hit F8 while booting up, for Gateways anyway...this may differ by PC), choose "Safe Mode with Networking". When you right-click on a file or folder, the Security Tab will be present (but the option to deselect "Use simple file sharing" will still be missing).

If you want to see the Security tab without having to boot to Safe-mode, go to Microsoft's site & download & extract the file SCESP4I.EXE from here: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/tools/SCM
or here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/195227/EN-US/

To install:

After you extract the files, go to the folder where you extracted them & find the file: Setup.inf . Right-click and select Install. Reboot the system & you should now see the "Security Tab" under file/folder properties.

I tried this on my own WinXP Home Netbook & it works just fine.