HouseCall site: Active X settings Prohibit running Active X controls

I went to the HouseCall site and clicked on Scan Now and I got a window saying "my current settings Prohibit running Active X controls on this page. As a result page may not display properly." When I clicked on OK nothing seemed to happen so I guess it did not agree with the HouseCall site.

What the hay-hoo are Active X controls?
Do I need them?
How do I turn them off?

 

Shturmovik
In order to be accessible, some sites need permission for ActiveX controls to run. (Windows Update is perhaps the most important.) The settings for ActiveX controls are in IE Tools|Internet Options|Security tab|Custom Level. I would suggest checking either the Prompt or Enable box for "Run ActiveX controls and PlugsIns" (it probably is at Disable now), click Apply|OK and then re-run HouseCall. Don't forget to change the setting back to Disable for other sites.
If you really trust the HouseCall site and run it often, put HouseCall into your Trusted Sites. Uncheck that box dealing with Secure Sites when you do.

 

WelshJim,
Thank you but my pea-brain still wonders what the Active X is good for and why it do or don't need it.

 

Does this help or hurt?

 

Newt has given you lots of detail. The key is that

If your IE Security settings do not permit ActiveX controls to run, you may not see everything on a website, and in the extreme the website will not function.

 

Thanks to both of you, I was laboring under the misconception it was some sort of parental control sort of thing , now I am just a little less informed than yesterday

 

Shturmovik--You are welcome.
I should have mentioned, that many times when you get a message concerning ActiveX, you can just click it off and you can see the webpage just fine. However, some pages will not run without ActiveX. And then you will have to change those settings or put the site into Trusted Sites.