How to Stop an ActiveX Dialogue Warning

ActiveX allows any developer to embed controls in a web page viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer, making it possible for an author to install a range of interactive functionality including viruses and spyware. Because of this threat, Internet Explorer displays a warning message each time a control attempts to install. Though it is considered a best practice to keep this warning in place, users wishing to remove the prompt may do so by changing Internet Explorer's default security settings.

Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Internet Explorer. Click the "Start" button at the lower left-hand corner of your screen, then select "Programs." Find the icon labeled "Internet Explorer" and click it.

2. Open the security settings panel. Click the menu item near the top of the browser window labeled "Tools," then click the "Internet Options" menu item. Click the tab labeled "Security" near the top of the resulting dialog box.

3. Change your ActiveX settings. Internet Explorer's standard security settings turn ActiveX warnings on by default. To change this behavior, locate the section labeled "Security level for this zone," then click the "Custom Level" button. Scroll down the list on the following screen until you find the heading labeled "ActiveX controls and plug-ins." Next, locate the sub-section titled "Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls." Click the button next to the word "Disable." Click "OK." Click "OK" on the next dialog box as well.

4. Restart Internet Explorer. Close all open browser windows. Your changes will take effect the next time you launch Internet Explorer.

References

• Internet Inspiration: Enable or disable ActiveX controls