ActiveX - what is it? How do I install an ActiveX control?

Today, if not everyone, then certainly the vast majority of users of modern computer systems knows, or at least have heard, the notion of ActiveX. What it is and what these technologies are used for, we'll try to figure it out. Let's look at the most basic aspects, especially without going into technical issues.

ActiveX: what is it? The simplest concepts

In order not to load an untrained user with unnecessary technical terms, consider the ActiveX technologies so that it is clear to everyone. In fact, ActiveX elements are small programs, from which a programmer or a site builder can make a lot of interesting designs from blocks.

Initially, it was thought that such elements (also called add-ons) were used exclusively to add certain additional features to the World Wide Web, and were supported only by the "native" Windows browser called Internet Explorer (using programs in different languages in the same browser, regardless of the development environment).

This is partly true. However, now very many other control elements can also be attributed to ActiveX technologies. What is it? The simplest example is the addition in the form of a Flash player from the Macromedia corporation, which was at the source of its creation.

Today, this is the most common plug-in Adobe ActiveX Player, more precisely Adobe Flash Player, which is able to integrate into almost every browser known today. In addition to Adobe, which took the baton from Macromedia, there are still many developers of similar plug-ins, but their products, compared to this unique player, can not be compared, and therefore is simply unclaimed.

However, it is very difficult to name such elements in the usual sense, because it's simply impossible to launch them in a classic way (double click). Their embedded codes are executed just in the Internet browser environments.

The main area of use of ActiveX controls (Windows 7, 8, etc.)

To be clearer, let's look at several key aspects of the application of such technologies. For example, they allow, as mentioned earlier, to integrate audio or video players into the site. In other words, you can listen to music or watch a clip directly on the site.

Note, as a rule, the program itself with a shell on the resource is not shown. Instead, either the audio is redirected to the audio system of the computer system, or a special window is opened for viewing the video. It turns out that the element itself (the add-in) works as if in the background, hidden from the eyes of the user or the visitor of the site.

The same goes for online games. Here one of the key roles is played by the framework "Framework" (4th or any other version). Here it is necessary to say that the .NET Framework is a unique development of Microsoft Corporation. However, Adobe ActiveX technologies in this case, as it were, supplement the basic platform and are responsible for the discovery or playback of multimedia elements. This bundle allows you to use various elements that were originally written in different programming languages (C ++, Delphi, Visual Basic, etc.).

In addition, the presence of the same element "Framework 4" (or higher - 4.5) is a prerequisite for the operation of many constructive or control elements of sites, even in offline mode.

The difference between Java applets and ActiveX controls

Many mistakenly attribute Java applets to ActiveX controls. Yes, indeed, they are very similar, but here there is one main difference.

The fact is that the constructions created with the help of Java language work on any platforms and in any operating systems, while ActiveX has a narrow focus exclusively on Microsoft software products.

Caution! The viruses!

Unfortunately, now on the network you can meet a lot of viruses, masquerading as elements such as Adobe Flash ActiveX. In this regard (since each element is loaded directly into the browser, and therefore, on the computer), it is recommended that some security measures be taken into account.

The fact is that most users never really read the messages about the offer to download and use an item and just agree by clicking the "OK" button. This is fraught with consequences.

Separately it is necessary to say that in most cases even full-time antiviruses or Internet advocates are not always able to recognize such threats. So the installation of the same plug-ins in the form of Flash ActiveX should be done from official sources, roughly speaking, from the developer's site, which guarantees complete security in the use of a particular add-on.

Enable or disable ActiveX in Internet Explorer

Now a few words about how to properly configure the use of such add-ins in the Internet Explorer browser.

First, you need to bring up the browser properties menu from the Control Panel or the service section in the browser itself, and then go to the security settings. From the bottom there is a security level button "Other". Clicking on it, we get to the ActiveX settings menu.

To God forbid not to pick up any infection from the Internet, you need to disable the downloading of unsigned ones and use of items marked unsafe. Ideally, you should use the mode of loading elements at the level of "Offer".

General security settings

Do not forget about another means of protection. This is a firewall, called a firewall. As expected, here, too, have their own security settings by default, but let's say that online gaming fans can make some executable plug-ins into the so-called list of exceptions. Again, only under the condition of complete and absolute confidence in their safety, as well as the absence of viruses on the sites from which they are downloaded.

And to disable the firewall, as recommended by some developers for the correct operation of an online application or game, it is not recommended at all. And then, after all, many complain, they say, there is a conflict between the application and the firewall. A turn off, and the consequences can not be avoided. In this case, no proactive protection from the antivirus will help.

Using ActiveX technologies in other browsers

The time when such additions were calculated only on Internet Explorer, go away irrevocably. Judge for yourself, because today Adobe ActiveX technology as a Flash player is used in almost all browsers and even, so to speak, is their integral part.

Without this, it is impossible to imagine using the capabilities of any Internet resource in full, whether it be music, video, 3D graphics, games, online programs, etc.

However, if you understand, by and large from all the elements known today and downloadable ActiveX plug-ins, the most expedient seems to be the use of only a Flash player, since almost all other additions and elements are, to put it mildly, either simply unnecessary or cause big doubts about them Security. After all, if you give permission to install a questionable element in the browser, you can only achieve that a security hole will immediately appear, and it will be used by viruses, trojans, worms, malicious codes or spyware.

And what is most sad, in most browsers there are no even ActiveX control settings, and the used Windows parameters to third-party browsers have absolutely nothing to do with it. In other words, they do not apply to browsers.

Conclusion

Here we are in brief and considered the topic "ActiveX: what is this?". I would like to hope that the above material explained the principle of the functioning and use of such superstructures at least a little. Apparently, it is now easy to guess how much with these technologies you need to be cautious, but it's not even an hour, and the consequences for the entire computer system can be the most deplorable. In the case of Internet Explorer, it is better to use the above-average security modes (and even the maximum), but in browsers from other developers will have to think a hundred times before agreeing to install and use the elements offered by the site. It's not just a potential threat, but the fact that installing completely unnecessary plug-ins and controls usually affects the speed of the browser itself, and not for the better.