Windows7 and activeX issues...

[Yooformula]

My buddy has a newer gateway with windows 7 and a few days ago he wasnt able to start a program due to an error message about activeX controls being blocked. how can this be undone or fixed? I dont want to have to reinstall the program, are there settings to turn them off/on? TIA!

[ND4SPD]

Well, activeX is a web-based technology, so it shouldn't be affecting the start up of a program. If it's somehow a browser-based program or something like that, it's probably an unsigned activeX control. You can change the security settings for activeX controls in IE 8 by going to Tools>Internet Options and going to the "Security" tab. There you will find 4 different security levels. Select "Internet" and "Custom Level". Then scroll down to find the settings for ActiveX controls. I'd reccomend setting unsigned ActiveX controls to "Prompt". Don't set it to "enabled" otherwise you're just asking for a malware infection. Changing the setting for unsigned ActiveX controls can expose the system to infection... so just make sure you're aware of what you're accepting when you allow an unsigned control to run. If that doesn't fix it, make sure that setting gets changed back to "disabled".

Also, see if you can get a screen shot of the error message (you can use the Snipping tool to get a picture of the message) and more info on what program he's trying to run.

[Yooformula]

adjusted it all and still no go. snipped a pic.

[ND4SPD]

Ok, it does look like it has to do with the activeX security settings (presumably in Internet Explorer). Try going into the settings for the various zones and hit "Reset All Zones to Default Level". Make sure the program in question is not running when you're doing any of this. If that doesn't work, you can once again take a look at the Download/Run ActiveX controls sections in the various zones and make sure they are set to enabled/prompt. It should just be a matter of setting the correct item to enabled, though there may also be a registry item that needs to be changed (I'm looking into that right now). If all of that fails, I could try to schedule a remote support session via GoToSupport to play with more of the settings, or you could try contacting the company for technical assistance. I did check their website and couldn't find anything.

[Yooformula]

thank you! so far I did all of that and no luck so I am trying to do a system restore back about a month and 7-8 updates ago..lol