IE6 ActiveX Control Problem

[Guest]

I'm using Win XP Pro and IE 6, both fully patched.

I've installed a 3rd party activeX plug-in for IE, Express View from Lizard
Tech. I've used this plug-in in the past with no problems. Recently, I
installed a newer version of the plug-in and the problems began.

Symptom:

I access a subscription website where Mr SID images are displayed, embedded
in a web page. I can't see the embedded images, however, I can save a Mr SID
image and open it from inside the browser with no problem. So, the browser
plug-in works when opening an external file, but does not work in displaying
an image embedded in a webpage.

When I try to view an embedded Mr. SID image, although the Express View
activeX Control does not display the image as expected and does not function
properly, I can right click on the image area and access About Express View.
In the Express View logo window an error code is displayed - 0x80070002.

When I open an external SID image successfully in IE6 and check About
Express View, no error code is displayed.

When IE6 is initially opened, Add-on Manager does not show the ExpressView
plug-in, but as soon as I access the webpage which uses EV, it shows in
Add-on Manager and is enabled. I assume this behavior is as expected.

So far, Lizard Tech has not been able to suggest a solution. All dlls are in
proper locations and have correct date stamps. No obsolete versions of the
dlls are on my HD.

Jim

 

[Galen]

In Jim <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

I'm using Win XP Pro and IE 6, both fully patched.

I've installed a 3rd party activeX plug-in for IE, Express View from
Lizard Tech. I've used this plug-in in the past with no problems.
Recently, I installed a newer version of the plug-in and the problems
began.

Symptom:

I access a subscription website where Mr SID images are displayed,
embedded in a web page. I can't see the embedded images, however, I
can save a Mr SID image and open it from inside the browser with no
problem. So, the browser plug-in works when opening an external file,
but does not work in displaying an image embedded in a webpage.

When I try to view an embedded Mr. SID image, although the Express
View activeX Control does not display the image as expected and does
not function properly, I can right click on the image area and access
About Express View. In the Express View logo window an error code is
displayed - 0x80070002.

When I open an external SID image successfully in IE6 and check About
Express View, no error code is displayed.

When IE6 is initially opened, Add-on Manager does not show the
ExpressView plug-in, but as soon as I access the webpage which uses
EV, it shows in Add-on Manager and is enabled. I assume this behavior
is as expected.

So far, Lizard Tech has not been able to suggest a solution. All dlls
are in proper locations and have correct date stamps. No obsolete
versions of the dlls are on my HD.

Jim

It sounds to me like the author of the plug-in is at fault and that the best
work-around is to revert to an older version that worked. The behavior
listed (near the bottom) is exactly what should be displayed - changing the
drop down selection will enable you to see all plug-ins by the way - and is
quite normal.

Just to be sure, did this show up at a certain time? Near updating? After
installing security software? Anything like that? Does this work on another
PC with the same basic configuration in OS and browser versions?

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of
existence." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[Guest]

Galen,

Thanks for the reply.

This vesrion of the plug-in has been available since May 05. The author and
the webmaster at the website I'm using both say many other users are
successfully using the plug-in. Also, the plug-in does work exactly as it is
supposed to when I open an external SID file from the browser. IE6 does
recognize when the plug-in is required and it knows where to get and load it.

It seems to me that the plug-in is working and the problem I'm seeing is
specific to my PC and configuration. My thought is that something in my
configuration is blocking the plug-in from functioning correctly when called
in an ASP.

Have there been any recent changes? Yes, several, but I've tried closing my
firewall, anti-virus and various anti-spyware apps to remove them from the
equation. SP2 was installed long ago, but WinXP updates have been installed
as they were made available.

In more detail, when the plug-in is invoked from an ASP, the expected window
opens in the displayed webpage, then quickly changes to grayed out. Something
is blocking it, or some expected state of a WinXP or IE6 component is not
present.

Reverting to the previous version of the plug-in is a good idea. I'll see if
I can get one and try it. I downloaded the new one and overwrote my old copy.

I wish I knew how to step through the code in hopes of spotting the exact
problem and getting a meaningful error message.

 

[Galen]

In Jim <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Galen,

Thanks for the reply.

This vesrion of the plug-in has been available since May 05. The
author and the webmaster at the website I'm using both say many other
users are successfully using the plug-in. Also, the plug-in does work
exactly as it is supposed to when I open an external SID file from
the browser. IE6 does recognize when the plug-in is required and it
knows where to get and load it.

It seems to me that the plug-in is working and the problem I'm seeing
is specific to my PC and configuration. My thought is that something
in my configuration is blocking the plug-in from functioning
correctly when called in an ASP.

Have there been any recent changes? Yes, several, but I've tried
closing my firewall, anti-virus and various anti-spyware apps to
remove them from the equation. SP2 was installed long ago, but WinXP
updates have been installed as they were made available.

In more detail, when the plug-in is invoked from an ASP, the expected
window opens in the displayed webpage, then quickly changes to grayed
out. Something is blocking it, or some expected state of a WinXP or
IE6 component is not present.

Reverting to the previous version of the plug-in is a good idea. I'll
see if I can get one and try it. I downloaded the new one and
overwrote my old copy.

I wish I knew how to step through the code in hopes of spotting the
exact problem and getting a meaningful error message.

Tonight is Monday Night Football but if you'll set me up with a link I'll be
happy to look at it. I keep cloned and ready images to play around with all
the time. I can't promise that I'll know anything about it or even be able
to resolve your problem for you but I can offer to bang around at it until
something falls loose perhaps?

Just as a curiousity... Have you tried removing the plug-in and
re-installing it? I guess that's an idea that you might want to try believe
it or not. I don't *think* there's been any updates in that time frame
listed (and you mentioned taking the remainder of your security software out
of the picture which is a good step to take) that would cause a problem with
a plug-in that's doing what you are describing? Maybe something in MS05-054?

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS05-054.mspx

There's a COM Object vulnerability that had been patched? However it'd be
unlikely (or a missed area of vulnerability) that it would work for an
external call and doesn't make much sense that it'd have anything to do with
it. Err... You can read through that there if you want but I suspect that
that's not the problem.

Do you have a near-estimate of when this problem started happening? That
might give us a starting point.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

"My life is spent in one long effort to escape from the commonplaces of
existence." - Sherlock Holmes