ActiveX

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Revision as of 02:12, 31 January 2008 by Alice Wyman (talk | contribs) (→‎See also: removed the last link)
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ActiveX is the system Internet Explorer uses in place of the NPAPI system that all other browsers use to embed other applications inside themselves. Some sites explicitly specify the use of an ActiveX control (generally, for Windows Media Player) and will not render in a browser without ActiveX support. For this reason, a third-party ActiveX plugin that adds partial ActiveX support to some Mozilla-based browsers has been created.

Installing the ActiveX plugin on Windows

An ActiveX plugin version for Firefox 2 is not currently available. You should not install a different version in Firefox 2 and you should remove the ActiveX plugin if the wrong version is already installed.

  • Install the correct version of the Mozilla ActiveX plugin from here.
    • Firefox 1.5.0.x: Install the plug-in for Firefox 1.5.
    • All other Firefox releases: Install the plug-in for your specific version of Firefox.
    • Seamonkey 1.0: Install the plug-in for Firefox 1.5.[1].
  • Restart the browser.

Warnings

  • If you use the Adblock extension, you need to disable the Obj-Tabs setting. Otherwise, the ActiveX plugin will run almost any ActiveX control regardless of how it is configured. Potential fixes are being discussed in Bug 340852 and may be included in furture Mozilla browser releases.
  • For some versions of the ActiveX plugin, the Flash plugin will not load unless it was already loaded after you install the ActiveX plugin. You will need to reload the plugins by typing about:plugins into your Location Bar upon starting Firefox.
  • If you later update your browser, the ActiveX plugin will likely remain installed and it may not be compatible with the new browser version. You should uninstall the ActiveX plugin before upgrading your browser or remove it if it is already installed, unless it is known to work with the next version.

Uninstalling the ActiveX plugin on Windows

  • Close all instances of your browser.
  • Go to the installation directory.
  • Go into the plugins folder and delete the file npmozax.dll.
  • Go back to the installation folder, and then go into the components folder, and delete the files nsIMozAxPlugin.xpt and nsAxSecurityPolicy.js.
  • Go back to the installation folder, and then go into the \defaults\pref folder and delete the file activex.js.

Linux (x86)

Recent versions of CrossOver Office ship with the Mozilla ActiveX plugin, but don't expect it to work as well as it would on Windows.

Testing the ActiveX plugin

Once you have installed WMP and ActiveX, you can test it on this site. If you can play both the audio and video players, the ActiveX plugin is installed and working.

See also