How to Update ActiveX Controls

ActiveX controls give your browser additional functionality.

An ActiveX control is an additional piece of code that gives a website additional functionality, such as allowing it to play music or display video. Because these controls require access to your computer, you must specify that you specifically want to download them. Updating an ActiveX control only requires turning on the ActiveX feature in your browser and then navigating to the site that offers the control. Because ActiveX controls are specifically for the Windows platform, they are only directly supported by Internet Explorer.

Things You'll Need

• Internet Explorer

Instructions

1. Open the Internet Explorer Web browser and click the "Tools" icon at the upper-right corner of the window. Scroll to the bottom of the drop-down menu and select "Internet Options."

2. Navigate to the tab labeled "Security." Click the "Custom Level" button, which is positioned underneath the "Security Level for this Zone" heading.

3. Click the "Enable" radio button underneath the "Run ActiveX Controls and Plug Ins" heading. Click "OK" and choose "Apply."

4. Navigate the Internet Explorer Web browser to any website that requires an ActiveX control. Wait for the yellow ActiveX banner to pop up at the top of the window.

5. Right-click the banner and choose "install ActiveX control" to update the ActiveX controls needed for the website and view the extra content.

Tips & Warnings

• The "Custom Level" option lets you change other various ActiveX settings. For example, if you want all ActiveX controls to automatically download, click "Enable" under the "Allow previously unused ActiveX controls to run without prompting" radio button.

• ActiveX controls are not supported on Web browsers other than Internet Explorer, such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, due to the potential security risks involved in downloading an ActiveX control. The additional content provided by the control will not display correctly, unless the website offers an alternate way of viewing the content for other browsers.

• Only update your ActiveX controls from websites you trust, as these controls may create security loopholes in your computer that hackers or malicious software may take advantage of.

References

• Microsoft: What is an ActiveX Control?
• Java: How to activate Activex Control for Internet Explorer?
• Mozilla: ActiveX
• Google: My ActiveX Control Is Not Loading

Resources

• Microsoft: Internet Explorer 8 frequently asked questions