How to Fix ActiveX Errors

Posted on Dec, 17, 2008
by Jason Biddle, MSCE Certified Tech

The majority of computer users will not experience ActiveX errors very often. They’re certainly nowhere near as common as exe, dll or any other Internet Explorer or Windows errors. Even so, users should be aware of ActiveX errors and the part they play in security issues which may be encountered.

What is ActiveX?

Active X was developed and trademarked by Microsoft and is a feature whereby a code is installed on to your PC by certain websites so features can be accessed or viewed.

This small piece of programming downloads automatically and goes by the name of an ActiveX control. Once downloaded, it becomes a component of your Operating System. This is the primary reason why Active X controls give cause for concern.

History of ActiveX

ActiveX controls are not a new development. They have been around a long time in the more devious side of the Internet, whereby they have been used to download spyware, adware and other types of malware on to your computer.

Active X was trademarked by the Microsoft Corporation in 1996; however it first appeared in 1990 when it came under the name Object Linking and Embedding or OLE. ActiveX is used today by web designers to enable multimedia features to be embedded into websites.

What Program does ActiveX Affect?

A typical example of when an ActiveX control installs itself is when you want to read a PDF file which is part of a webpage. As Internet Explorer cannot open PDFs, it needs to use an ActiveX control supplied by Adobe, the makers of PDF files. Flash graphics which can be found on many websites also use Active X controls.

It’s possible to still encounter ActiveX controls even if you aren’t a regular Internet user. For example the spellchecker feature of Microsoft Word can be accessed in Outlook because ActiveX controls allow the programs to communicate with each other. Other programs which allow similar ActiveX interaction may also use the Microsoft Word spellchecker function.

Why ActiveX Causes Your PC Problems

A downside of Active X is that it is also used by unscrupulous designers to install spyware and adware on your PC, and even to allow other malware to download itself on to your Operating System.

ActiveX errors can be a problem to deal with as the error message generated on screen may not indicate that it is in fact an ActiveX control causing the issue. Sometimes this is only discovered by a process of elimination.

ActiveX Errors Try to Hide!

The message you receive may indicate the error as belonging to something else such as Internet Explorer, making you believe there is a problem with your browser. This can be annoying as the same message can be generated when it is actually an Active X issue at fault.

The same thing can occur with spyware and adware. The ActiveX controls embedded in your computer may generate a Windows error message identifying a completely different problem.