Fix: Could Not Load Security & Privacy Preference Pane – Mac OS X

Did you attempt to open Security & Privacy in Mac OS X System Preferences but get an error that the preference pane could not load?

Preferences Error

Could not load Security & Privacy preference pane.

1. Review recently installed software. A piece of software you installed may be overriding the Security & Privacy preference pane. For example, Murus application will cause this error to occur happen.

2. Did you convert your disk drive using Mac OS X Disk Utility? Some report converting a Mac OS X volume from HFS+ to CoreStorage. Revert this change and see if it fixes the preference pane.

3. If you cloned a Mac OS X drive, you may have corrupt preference files. Follow these steps below.

            *Show hidden files on your Mac following this guide.

            *Open your Applications folder and delete any of the following files that begin with “.0”

4. Ensure Applications -> System Preferences is not set to 32-bit mode. (Right-Click -> Get Info on System Preferences)

5. Ensure you are not launching multiple System Preferences apps. Open Activity Monitor (Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor) go to View and select All Processes. Next, sort by name. Check for System Preferences processes. If you see more than one process, click the “i" in top left and select the Open Files and Ports tab to reveal the location. Remove the duplicate System Preferences app by opening the specified path (copy the path and from Finder Go -> Go To Folder…). You may need to quit the process first.

6. All else, reboot your Mac and run Software Updates from the App Store to ensure you are running the latest combo updates.