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ActiveX content does not load automatically in Microsoft Internet Explorer (Windows)

Issue


When you view a web page, Microsoft Internet Explorer for Windows displays a box around ActiveX content and a tooltip that reads "Click to activate and use this control." ActiveX content may or may not play as expected.

Solution


Do one or more of the following solutions:

Solution 1

If you are visiting a website that contains this content, click the content to activate it.

Solution 2

If you are developing a website, remove the user activation requirement for active content.

You can update your site to remove the user activation requirement for active content in Internet Explorer. Adobe has provided a developer center article to help developers with this change in Internet Explorer functionality.

Additional Information


Microsoft has released an update to Internet Explorer that changes how it handles active content viewed in certain Adobe products, including Macromedia Flash Player, Authorware Player, Shockwave Player, SVG Viewer, Help Center and Adobe Reader, as well as Sun Java, Apple QuickTime, RealNetworks, RealPlayer and other ActiveX controls. Active content that is embedded in HTML pages in certain ways may not be able to receive user input (for example, keyboard or mouse events) until the user clicks to either activate or continue loading the control.

The following Adobe authoring applications are potentially affected by this Internet Explorer update:

  • Acrobat
  • Acrobat 3D
  • Authorware
  • Breeze
  • Adobe Captivate
  • Capture
  • ColdFusion
  • Contribute
  • Director
  • Dreamweaver
  • Flash
  • Flex
  • Freehand
  • GoLive
  • Illustrator
  • Version Cue

For more information on this change, please see the Adobe Active Content FAQ and Microsoft's Knowledge Base article about the Internet Explorer Active X Update.

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Document Details

ID:e239aafd
OS:Windows (All)
Browser:Internet Explorer

Products Affected:

acrobat3d
acrobat
acrobatcapture
acrobatconnect
authorware
captivate
coldfusion
contribute
director
dreamweaver
flash
flex
freehand
illustrator
versioncue