Active X - Yes or No

[Ray]

I have read that it's OK to run Active X and then again that it's not a good
idea. How does one control it in Outlook Express attachments?

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Ray
______________________________________________________________________________________
I loathe people who keep dogs.
They are cowards who haven't got the guts
to bite people themselves.

 

[db]

yes, i recall your firefox question.

you can ask the wizards here:

and you can research activex here:
http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&q=what+is+activex

when to ok "your" use of an activex control
is out of "our" realm of knowledge.

basically, if you have your antivirals, system backups,
etc, then you can take the chance on
using the activex control if you are
sure that the source is trustworthy.

however, i wouldn't download any active x controls
via an email since emails are simply text with
some graphics and maybe document attachments.

further i wouldn't download/use
any active x controls from a website that
lacks credentials and trustworthiness.

so how does one know if a website
is trustworthy? browsers like ie and
netscape have the ability to provide
a status of the crediability for many websites.
also I think that either google or yahoo have
initiated a similar feature for their
search engines.

it may not be perfect, but it is better
than nothing. in addition to common sense
the above are just one more tool
to protect pc's from malice.

- db
I have read that it's OK to run Active X and then again that it's not a good
idea. How does one control it in Outlook Express attachments?

--
Visit my website at:
http://community.webshots.com/album/552944637eIHxeH

Ray
______________________________________________________________________________________
I loathe people who keep dogs.
They are cowards who haven't got the guts
to bite people themselves.

 

[Daave]

I have read that it's OK to run Active X and then again that it's not
a good idea. How does one control it in Outlook Express attachments?

Internet Explorer is what runs ActiveX. Internet Explorer is also what
renders your Outlook Express e-mail messages (even if there aren't any
attachments). Here's what I do:

In Internet Explorer, In the "Internet" zone, I have it prompt me for
*signed* ActiveX controls. Other ActiveX settings are disabled:

Tools | Internet Options | Security | Internet | Custom Level:

Download signed ActiveX controls: Prompt
Download unsigned ActiveX Controls: Disable
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disable

(Your settings may or may not match the above. If not, change them.)

Then in the Restricted Sites zone, I make sure all three of the above
settings are disabled:

Tools | Internet Options | Security | Internet | Custom Level:

Download signed ActiveX controls: *Disable*
Download unsigned ActiveX Controls: Disable
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disable

Lastly, make sure that Outlook Express uses Internet Explorer's
Restricted Sites zone when rendering HTML-style e-mails:

Tools | Options | Security | Virus Protection | Select the Internet
Explorer security zone to use | Restricted sites zone

That should do you.

Other things to read:

"Best Practices for Outlook Express"
http://people.cornell.edu/pages/drb1/Windows/OutLookExpress/OutLookExpress.htm

"ActiveX control"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ActiveX_control

HTH.

 

[Daave]

Oops! made a mistake!

Then in the Restricted Sites zone, I make sure all three of the above
settings are disabled:

Tools | Internet Options | Security | Internet | Custom Level:

Actually, "Internet" should have been "Restricted sites!":

Tools | Internet Options | Security | *Restricted sites* | Custom Level:

Download signed ActiveX controls: *Disable*
Download unsigned ActiveX Controls: Disable
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disable

Sorry 'bout the confusion.