Marshall Adult Education
HOME |
MISSION |
SCOPE AND SEQUENCE |
STAFF
INFORMATION
|SITE SCHEDULES |
TECHNOLOGY
WORKFORCE |
BUSINESS CONNECTION |
DIRECTORY
|
GRANTS |
RESOURCES |
STUDENT LESSONS
|
|
|
Tech Tip:
Active X Fix
If you
are using Windows XP, Service Pack 2, and you have downloaded
and installed the security update from the Microsoft’s Windows
Update website in April (it is Security Update KB912812), then you may have
notice that you are receiving a message that says, “Click to run and
Active X control on this page.” You will get this message when you are
using Internet Explorer and when you visit a website that uses
Active X components. Active X is a Microsoft technology that
enables developers to create interactive content for the World
Wide Web.
How do I know if I need the Active X fix?
Well, you have to find a webpage that uses an Active X
component, like sound or animations. Instead of looking for one, just go to the
ABE’s Reading Skills for Today’s Adults homepage.
http://www.marshalladulteducation.org/reading_skills_home.htm
Hmm – what a sneaky way to get you to checkout what we are doing on our Reading Skills web pages!
OK – follow these steps:
- Click either on the Group 1 or the Group 2 link in the Read The Stories section (at the top).
- Click on any story to read.
- A pop-up window appears with the story’s Pre-Reading exercises.
- Click on link at the bottom, “CLICK HERE to read the story.” (Read the story if you want).
- Now click on the link at the bottom, “CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE.”
- Aha – here is where you will get the message in a pop-up window “Click to run an Active X control on this page.”
If you don’t get this message, it means you don’t need to fix anything. It means you are not using Windows XP, Service Pack 2, or you are but you have not downloaded and installed the April Security Update KN912812. If you do get this message, you do need the Active X Fix.
By the way, this page, the “First Reading” page, uses sound. When you click on the Play button, the sound is activated and the story is read to you. This is an interactive Active X component that will be trigger the message.
The Fix
Microsoft in its infinite wisdom, decided to put a “fix” on their website to correct the problem of getting these annoying pop-ups every time you visit a web page with an Active X component. That’s nice of them, since they’re the ones that caused it to happen in the first place.
So, go to their website…
…and download the Compatibility Patch for Internet Explorer for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (KB917425) (they even gave it a fancy name).
- Click on the Download button.
- Click on Save (you can click on Run, but I like to Save the downloads and then run them from my hard drive).
- When you get to the Save As dialog box, click on Desktop because you want to save the download on your desktop..
- After the download is complete, quit Internet Explorer, and quit any other applications you may have open.
- Go to your desktop and double click on the WindowsXP-KB917425-x86-ENU.exe file you just downloaded.
- Install the fix and then restart your computer.
That’s it – you just did the Active X fix! Now go back to the Reading Skills story pages and see if the message is gone. (It will be.)
One last thing – how do you know if you are running Windows XP, Service Pack 2? (For that matter, how do you know what operating system your are running?)
Well,
there is a very easy way to figure this out. Just right-click on My Computer
(on the desktop) and click on Properties. There you will see exactly which
Operating System you are using - as well as other useful information.