ActiveX is an important part of your computer as long as it is working well. You may not notice ActiveX at all until one day, you are browsing on the Internet, and you are stopped short with an error message saying that you can’t run ActiveX controls on the page.
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How to Fix ActiveX Controls?
ActiveX is a plug-in extension for Microsoft technology that pulls information from the registry and basically translates that information to the program that is trying to run. When it can’t accurately read that information, you will get errors. Many things can cause you to get an ActiveX error, but there are also some easy ways to overcome these errors without too much effort.
Reset
You may get an ActiveX error from a misconfigured system file. Often, resetting the system file will resolve this error.
- Go to Start and then choose Run.
- Type in: regsvr32 msxml3.dll
- Choose OK and then OK again at the prompt.
- Close all open windows and restart the system.
Restrict ActiveX
Sometimes malware or spyware will cause ActiveX errors. You can prevent this by preventing ActiveX from running automatically so that a suspicious file won’t cause errors on your system.
- Open Internet Explorer and choose Tools.
- Go to Internet Options.
- Click on the Security tab and then choose Custom Level.
- Find the ActiveX section. You want to have “Prompt” marked for all of the options except “Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins” and “Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting”.
- For these two options, choose “Enable”.
- Now you will be prompted before an ActiveX file is installed and may be able to stop malware applications.
Uninstalled Software
ActiveX errors are often found when software is uninstalled. In early Microsoft systems, some third-party applications would remove critical DLL files when they were uninstalled. These DLL files affect other programs and applications on the computer. If you know the program that caused the error, you can reinstall it and see if that solves your ActiveX problem. If you get a specific error message related to the ActiveX problem, looking into the Microsoft Knowledge Base on the Microsoft website for that specific problem will often give you good solutions.
Registry Problems
Many times, ActiveX errors are the result of invalid registry entries and keys that have been caused by some kind of malware. The registry stores information for the operating system – everything you do on the computer causes the computer to access information in the registry. Installing new hardware or programs causes the new information to be added to the registry. While you can fix registry errors manually, it is not recommended. One small mistake in the registry can cause catastrophic problems with your system, so this is best left to the professionals. There are many registry cleaners on the market that can solve your registry errors and improve overall computer performance.
One of these solutions should get ActiveX running properly again and have you back on your favorite sites in no time.
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