TechNote

Flash and Windows XP Service Pack 2

With the release of Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (XP SP2), there are some changes to the operating system and to Microsoft Internet Explorer that may affect Macromedia Flash developers and visitors to their websites. This TechNote identifies those issues, describes the functionality addressed by the Flash MX 2004 Windows XP Service Pack 2 Hotfix, and references other more in-depth documents on the Macromedia support site.

What the Flash MX 2004 Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 Hotfix will address
Security message when previewing files locally with JavaScript or Flash content
List of HTML files the Flash MX 2004 XP SP2 Hotfix will update
List of HTML files affected by XP SP2, but not fixed
Other MX 2004 issues
Pop-up windows are blocked
Flash Player disabled
Additional information

What the Flash MX 2004 Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 Hotfix will address

The Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Hotfix addresses a problem introduced by XP SP2.

Machines with Service Pack 2 will block any html file with active content, such as activeX control and/or Javascript, when the file is accessed locally. Publish preview, print registration, Flash Player detection feature, and viewing samples features of Flash are affected. Without the Hotfix, users of XP SP2 will get a security warning. The Flash Player detection feature will not function at all.

The workaround, provided by Microsoft, is to insert a one line fix to the .html file. This line overrides the local machine lockdown by setting the file to the internet zone instead of the local machine zone. The line Microsoft calls Mark of the Web is simply:

Security message when previewing files locally with JavaScript or Flash content

When previewing files locally on your hard drive that contain active content (for example, JavaScript or Flash), the following security message appears in Internet Explorer's yellow Information Bar:

To help protect your security, Internet Explorer has restricted this file from showing active content that could access your computer. Click here for options ..."

Note: This security message only occurs if you are viewing files directly from your hard drive. For example,C:\myFiles\myFile.htm. This message does not occur if you use the http:// protocol to view your pages from either a local web server (http://localhost/myFile.htm) or remote web server (http://www.macromedia.com/myFile.htm).

There are two different methods to prevent this security message:

Flash developers creating web pages can add Mark of the Web code to their files to prevent this warning message as discussed in SWF files prompt a message when played back locally (TechNote 19480).
For Flash developers testing files locally, an alternative to adding Mark of the Web code to your pages is to enable active content locally using the steps below. Visitors to your website do not need to make this change to their Internet Explorer, because they will be viewing your web pages via the http:// protocol.
1. In Internet Explorer on your local workstation, choose Tools> Internet Options.
2. Choose the Advanced tab, then scroll to the Security section.
3. Enable "Allow active content to run in files on my computer".
4. Choose OK.

List of HTML files the Flash MX 2004 XP SP2 Hotfix will update

This Hot Fix for Flash MX 2004 will update the following Flash .html files to include Mark of the Web:

In the \Program Files\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\ folder within the directory where Flash MX 2004 is installed:
<language>\first run\detection\detectiontemplate.html
<language>\first run\html\anchors.html
<language>\first run\html\default.html
<language>\first run\html\flash_with_aicc_tracking.html
<language>\first run\html\flashhttps.html
<language>\first run\html\fscommand.html
<language>\first run\html\pocketpc2003.html
<language>\first run\html\quicktime.html
mlm\register.htm
samples\accessibleapplications\accessibleapplications.html
samples\advancedvideo\advancedvideo.html
samples\behaviorsscrapbook\behaviorsscrapbook.html
samples\customizingcontextmenu\customizingcontextmenu.html
samples\devicefontmasking\devicefontmasking.html
samples\multilingualcontent\multilingualcontent.html
samples\newsreader\devnetnews.html
samples\populationviewer\populationviewer.html
samples\scriptablemaskspart2\scriptablemaskspart2.html
samples\textenhancements\textenhancements.html
samples\tracebitmappanel\tracebitmap.html

In the "\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\<language>\configuration\helppanel\samples\" folder:

accessibleapplications\accessibleapplications.html
advancedvideo\advancedvideo.html
behaviorsscrapbook\behaviorsscrapbook.html
customizingcontextmenu\customizingcontextmenu.html
devicefontmasking\devicefontmasking.html
multilingualcontent\multilingualcontent.html
newsreader\devnetnews.html
populationviewer\populationviewer.html
scriptablemaskspart2\scriptablemaskspart2.html
textenhancements\textenhancements.html
tracebitmappanel\tracebitmap.html

List of HTML files affected by XP SP2, but not fixed

C:\ Documents and Settings\ All Users\ Application Data\ Macromedia\ Flash MX 2004\ <language>\ Configuration\ HelpPanel\ Help\ UsingFlash\ HelpPane\ Help\ UsingFlash\ HelpSampleOverview.htm

When clicking on the View Samples link on the Start Page, the HelpSampleOverview file will give you a security warning. Allow the browser to view the blocked content. Once you give the browser permission, the security warning will not be shown for the rest of the help files. This file cannot be fixed with the Mark of the Web. This file uses javascript for the layout of the page (pages.js in _sharedassets folder). With Mark of the Web, javascript is unblocked. However, the local links in the file do not work because the file is treated as an Internet Zone file and not a Local Zone file.

\Program Files\ Macromedia\ Flash MX 2004\ <language>\ First Run\ HTML\ Flash_with_SCORM_Tracking.html

Files published with this Publish Setting will bring up the security warning when previewing in browser locally. This file cannot be fixed with the Mark of the Web. Adding theMark of the Web fixes the preview in browser issue, but prevents it from being SCORM-compliant..
- If you normally publish with the Publish Settings set to Flash with Scorm Tracking, but without Flash Detection, continue to test for compliancy pointing to the <myQuizFile>.html file as you normally would.
- However, if you publish using Flash Detection, as the Quiz templates do by default, browse to the<myQuizFile>_content.html file instead of the<myQuizFile>.html file to test for compliancy. The<myQuizFile>.html file is created with Flash Player detection turned on which causes the SCORM suite to fail.

Other MX 2004 issues

Firewall blocks Remote Debugging. Users can select unblock to use remote debugging and users will not get this alert anymore. If users do not select unblock and continue blocking it, and Enable Remote Debugging is checked in the debugger panel option menu, everytime Flash is launched, this security alert appears.

With XP SP2 installed, selecting Enable Remote Debugging from the debugger panel option menu triggers this Windows Security Alert:

Select Unblock to use remote debugging. You will not get this alert again after unblocking.
If you select Keep Blocking or select Ask Me Later, you wont be able to use remote debugging. If Ask Me Later is selected and the Enable Remote Debugging option in the debugger is still checked, the next time you launch Flash, you would get this Windows Security Alert again.
You can also unblock Flash MX 2004 by adding it to the exceptions list in the Control Panel > Security Center > Windows Firewall, exceptions tab.

Pop-up windows are blocked

When viewing files that use pop-up windows, Internet Explorer may block this content automatically, depending on each user's security settings, and display the following message in the yellow Information Bar:

Pop-up blocked. To see this pop-up or additional options click here ...

For details on this warning message, refer to Flash Player content does not appear after a Windows Update (TechNote 19482).

Flash Player disabled

When browsing to a page that contains a Macromedia Flash Player movie, Internet Explorer may block this content automatically, depending on each user's security settings. If the Flash ActiveX control has been disabled, you will see the "Add-on Disabled" icon in the right corner of the Internet Explorer status bar (looks like a gear with an exclamation point in front of it). For details on managing add-ons in Internet Explorer, refer to Flash Player content does not appear after a Windows Update (TechNote 19482).