Toggle for ActiveX controls

JoeHobart--Thanks. I could not have said it better. Something is wrong with the way Information Bar handles ActiveX now. Or at least I do not know the settings to allow the Information Bar to perform as it should (per the MSKB article). I really am not after an instantaneous fix, but MS should be aware of this issue. I was using another PC (totally unrelated to my house) this PM and confirmed that that PC exhibits the same unhelpful (non-functional) Information Bar when ActiveX is blocked.

Zander--Do you see the problem now? (Certainly not the end of the earth--just annoying.) If I understand that MSKB article, it is precisely when I have Disabled "Run ActiveX controls and plugins" that I expect the Information Bar to appear and, by clicking on the Bar, to offer me the option to allow Active X controls to run for that site . (Have you looked at the MSKB article?)

 

Have a gut feeling this behavior may be caused by a post SP2 update. I say this because although I don't disable the running of ActiveX, I had toggled that before applying some recent updates, and the result was as stated in the MSKB Article. I have since applied all updates and the behavior is as WJ has described. I'll try rolling back and let you know the results.

 

Well, I had looked at it before but have to confess that I just sort of glanced it over. I had a second look now and I guess it would appear that you should get other options in the information bar. Don't know what to say about it though. You, me, Joe, Pete and now Dave all seem to have have the same useless help only thing appear in the information bar.

I, like Dave, don't disable the run activex controls setting so I don't know if mines always been that way or not. Don't know what to tell you. It could be due to recent updates as Dave said, or, it may be that it never has worked like it's supposed to. Can you spell bug?

 

Just got through uninstalling all post SP2 updates and I still got the same 'Information Bar Help' menu option. Really puzzled now, as I know at one point, on some SP2 system, I got the advertised options. I replied to the MSKB article, with a link to this thread, that the information in the article concerning this option is wrong. We'll see what develops from it.

 

very busy this week. sorry. ill check into this. i think that kb is outdated though.

 

Thanks to all for pitching in.

noahdfear--Never occurred to me to post to MS from the MSKB. Good idea.

BenMcDonald[MS]--As mentioned, I do not expect an instant fix, but will appreciate help from you or your contacts as time permits.

 

Well, the install part works..

 

Yeah, the install part's always worked for me. I can't really say much for sure about the running activex controls part though. As I said, I don't disable that setting so I never really new about it until I read this thread and tried it. It makes a bit of sense that you wouldn't get the option to run them though, since after all, they've been disabled. I find it odd though, that when you set it to prompt you get the old style small window prompt. I would think they would have used the information bar to do the prompting instead of that annoying window right smack dab on top and in the middle of everything.

 

Zander--

Again, I must disagree. The only reason to get the Information Bar about ActiveX controls not being permitted to run (as opposed to install) is precisely because you have set "Run ActiveX controls and plugins" in Security tab|Custom Level at Disable. If you set at Prompt you get an entirely different message (not an Information Bar) as I showed earlier. And if set at Enable, you get no message at all on the subject.
I gather noahdfear has gotten no response from MS. I also have sent them a message about a week ago and no response--yet.

 

I agree that it's odd the bar pops up with just the help thing. It's really totally useless that way. If the article you posted is right it would seem that there should be more options but why would you want it to pop up anyway when you've disabled them? My point is, if I were to disable the running of activex controls, I wouldn't need that thing in my face all the time telling me so. My attitude would be I already know they're disabled (after all, I'm the one that disabled them) so don't bother telling me. As I said previously:

That little window is really annoying. It seems to me that when it's set to prompt that that's when they should use the bar to give you the option to run the activex controls (IMHO). That's the way it would work if it were up to me.

 

Zander--Have not tried it lately, but I remember getting the Prompt Window much more frequently, for some reason, than I get the Information Bar. Since on most pages I am perfectly happy to keep ActiveX blocked, I have learned to just ignore the Information Bar. You cannot ignore the Prompt Window.
However, there are pages when allowing ActiveX to run is necessary to see the page or use some function on the page. That is when I would to like to be able to have the Information Bar option that the MSKB article says should be presented. Some of these pages I have put into Trusted Sites (like Windows Updates), but there are others that I come across by chance and would like the toggle option, on the spot, rather than having to go into Internet Options, etc. Of course there are many times when I get the IB message that I decide I will not allow ActiveX and just skip viewing the page.

 

I understand what you're getting at. I wouldn't like it the way it is now either if I had them disabled. I don't worry about them running though. My internet surfing is pretty tame and besides, no activex control can run if you haven't installed it. If you set the install activex controls thing to prompt, you shouldn't really ever end up with something that will bite you (it can't if you don't install it). Usually when the site wants to run activex controls all it amounts to is a flash animation of some type. I suppose though, that somebody could maybe find a hole in that and use it to do some type of dirty work. I don't worry about it though.

I've been allowing activex controls to run for years and have yet to have a problem. There's been plenty of times I was offered to download and install some type of activex control but I rarely allow it. Only have the what I deem to be the necessities and that's it. Some day it might get me but that's a chance I'm willing to take.

 

Zander--

You probably are quite correct.
Prior to this discussion, I always thought there were some ActiveX controls that come with an individual website's coding (which require no installation and usually leave no trace when you exit the site) and others that require a separate download and installation. (The latter is like Joe Hobart was talking about, and usually get downloaded into the C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files folder. I suspect they are affected by the "Download signed ActiveX controls" setting which I have set to Prompt. )
However, on reading the Information Bar message more carefully, probably the scenario for getting the Information Bar message about "Your security settings do not allow Websites to use ActiveX controls installed on your computer..." (which was the topic in my first post) is as follows:
I have earlier downloaded the actual ActiveX control which sits in the Downloaded Program File and now when I access a page that has the coding to run that control, running is blocked by my Security tab setting. And so I get the message. So the webpage does not have the actual control, just the code to request that the control be run.
Now if this is indeed what is occurring, and no additional ActiveX controls are being downloaded to my PC by a website (unless I get a message to that effect), perhaps I have raised a tempest where there is none. I am quite comfortable with the Active X Controls already on my PC, having explored their source and properties. So maybe I do not need to block the running of those controls, and should be concentrating on whether or not to download any new ones when I get that message.
Thanks for helping me understand.

 

Bump.
Just in case any one wants to comment on my last post.
(Or tell me how to get the Information Bar to work, if that is still desireable.)

 

So the webpage does not have the actual control, just the code to request that the control be run.
Now if this is indeed what is occurring, and no additional ActiveX controls are being downloaded to my PC by a website (unless I get a message to that effect), perhaps I have raised a tempest where there is none.
I am quite comfortable with the Active X Controls already on my PC, having explored their source and properties.

welshjim, That was the point i was trying to make in #9 up there. Your ask, regarding selective execution, is a valid one, but based on this message, your true intent is to block new ActiveX controls from being installed, not running the ones you've already downloaded.

 

JoeHobart--Thanks for the response. At the time I did not understand that when requested if I wanted to run ActiveX controls, that the IB was referring to ActiveX controls I had already downloaded. Though toggling would still be nice for a page that I am visiting for the first time, I guess it is not so important anymore.

 

"Your Security settings do not allow websites to use ActiveX controls installed on yo

I am veiwing website USA network. I receive the following message "Your Security settings do not allow websites to use ActiveX controls installed on your computer "

I have made security changes on IE6 to accomodate and still receive same message. I am so lost, that if this has already been addressed in this thread I don't get it.

 

Electra--Where is this message? In a line at the top of the page, or in a box in the middle of the page?
What version of Windows are you using?
Since we do not know what changes you made that did not work, this may be repetitive,
1) The most common setting responsible for that message is IE Tools|Internet Options|Security tab|Custom Level| "Run Active X controls and plugins ". To avoid the message, this should be set at either Enable or Prompt. (Prompt is safer, but you will get lots of message boxes, which may be a nuisance.)
2) Put the site into Trusted Sites, assuming you do trust it. Make sure the box "Require Server verification..." is unchecked.
BUT, do you feel you are really not seeing something important to you on that site? If the site looks OK, just leave your settings as they are and, unless the message is in a box in the middle, just ignore the message.

 

The message appears in a pop up box in the upper left hand corner of the screen. It appears when I request a schedule and I can see that it's the schedule I want, although I am unable to read it in the brief time it appears. I am using Windows XP SE. I checked the internet options and I had already made the changes you have suggested. I then added the site to Trusted Sites, it didn't fix. I rebooted to be sure and unfortunately it still doesn't work.
Just when I think I am somewhat comfortable with my computer. I find I know just enough to get myself into trouble.

 

electra--

If I go here (and I have "Run activeX controls and plugins" set to Disable)
http://www.usanetwork.com ,
about half the page is blank (boxes with RedX's) and I get the Information Bar at the top of the screen telling me that my ActiveX settings do not permit me to see some of the page's content.
I do not know if I am missing anything important, but I can still click the Schedule link and be directed here
http://www.usanetwork.com/schedules/sched.php/
I again get the Information Bar at the top of the screen, but I can see the schedule just fine. Perhaps you are going to the wrong page?