/ Turning Off ActiveX Warnings

Turning Off ActiveX Warnings

I need my computer to stop annoying me and asking me every time whether or not I want ActiveX controls and plug-ins to run. Literally it comes up every second! Please help! Celeste Stewart

Active X Controls

Yikes, that is annoying! Your browser is a plain Jane program without ActiveX controls and plug-ins. Without these added goodies, you wouldn’t be able to view PDFs, watch videos, listen to music, participate in Web discussions, upload documents, sign into Windows Live, and more. Many come with Windows while others must be installed or added on which is why you may also hear the term “add-ons” when discussing ActiveX controls and plug-ins.

ActiveX Warnings

ActiveX and plug-ins have been exploited in the past which is why Web browsers come with specific security settings to protect against harmful ones. It sounds to me as if your browser’s security settings are set to warn you each time an ActiveX or plug-in needs to perform a certain task, which could be quite often depending on the current Web sites you are using and tasks that you need to perform.

Common ActiveX and Plug-in Settings

I’m not sure which Web browser you’re using, so we’ll work with Internet Explorer 8.0 as an example. The steps are similar for earlier versions. Open Internet Explorer and go to the Tools menu. Choose Internet Options. Click the Internet globe icon to highlight it and then click Custom Level.

Under Settings, scroll to the ActiveX and Plug-ins section. Here you will find the following options which I will number for later explanation:

Allow previously unused ActiveX controls to run without prompt
Allow scriptlets
Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls
Binary and script behaviors
Display video and animation on a webpage that does not use an external media player
Download signed ActiveX controls
Download unsigned ActiveX controls
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe for scripting
Only allow approved domains to use ActiveX without prompt
Run ActiveX controls and Plug-ins
Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting

As you can see, there are almost a dozen options for how your computer should handle ActiveX controls and plug-ins. Each of these categories has options along the lines of enable, disable, or prompt. Some, such as #1, #2, #7, and #8, should be disabled. Others such as #6 are generally safe to enable. If in doubt, select “prompt” and make your decision on a case-by-case basis.

Since your computer is warning you constantly, I suspect that #3 (Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls) is set to enable. This means that every time an ActiveX control is called up, you’ll see a little message and a prompt. Try changing this to disable, and the bulk of the messages should go away. I would also make sure that #10 is set to enable rather than prompt.