How to stop Internet Explorer from blocking ActiveX controls on local files

Question

Often, when I open HTML files on my C drive with Internet Explorer, I get a message saying that IE has blocked some ActiveX controls in the page. I then have to click a button to see the page. How can I cancel this "feature"?

I tried to go to Internet Properties -> Security -> Local Intranet and change the security settings to "low", but it didn't help.

Answer 1

Seems like IE is ignoring you! So, I guess we can try and force it.

In Internet Options, on the intranet tab, click Custom level

Over half way down this list, there is an option called Launching applictions and unsafe files (not secure obviously but may help).

About 1/3 down are:

1. Only allow approved domains to use ActiveX without prompt
2. Download unsigned activeX controls

Under Active scripting, disable, enable or prompt as you like.

In Internet Options, click on the Advanced tab

Scroll down to the bottom to the security tab. In here, you can allow active content to run files on My Computer.

You could also try adding the site to the list of trusted sites and reducing the security level.

Also, if using a modern version of IE, you can turn on (or off for you) ActiveX Filtering in the Tools menu

Registry hack from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4663509/how-do-sites-run-in-ie-without-asking-for-allow-scripts-activex

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"NoUpdateCheck"=dword:00000001
"NoJITSetup"=dword:00000001
"Disable Script Debugger"="yes"
"Show_ChannelBand"="No"
"Anchor Underline"="yes"
"Cache_Update_Frequency"="Once_Per_Session"
"Display Inline Images"="yes"
"Do404Search"=hex:01,00,00,00
"Local Page"="C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\blank.htm"
"Save_Session_History_On_Exit"="no"
"Show_FullURL"="no"
"Show_StatusBar"="yes"
"Show_ToolBar"="yes"
"Show_URLinStatusBar"="yes"
"Show_URLToolBar"="yes"
"Start Page"="http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&pver=6&ar=msnhome"
"Use_DlgBox_Colors"="yes"
"Search Page"="http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=ie&ar=iesearch"
"Check_Associations"="yes"
"FullScreen"="no"
"Window_Placement"=hex:2c,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,\
  ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,ff,e9,00,00,00,b4,00,00,00,75,04,00,00,54,05,00,\
  00
"Expand Alt Text"="no"
"Move System Caret"="no"
"NscSingleExpand"=dword:00000001
"DisableScriptDebuggerIE"="yes"
"Error Dlg Displayed On Every Error"="no"
"NoWebJITSetup"=dword:00000000
"Page_Transitions"=dword:00000001
"FavIntelliMenus"="no"
"Enable Browser Extensions"="yes"
"UseThemes"=dword:00000001
"Force Offscreen Composition"=dword:00000000
"NotifyDownloadComplete"="yes"
"AllowWindowReuse"=dword:00000001
"Friendly http errors"="yes"
"ShowGoButton"="yes"
"SmoothScroll"=dword:00000001
"Enable AutoImageResize"="yes"
"Enable_MyPics_Hoverbar"="yes"
"Play_Animations"="yes"
"Play_Background_Sounds"="yes"
"Display Inline Videos"="yes"
"Show image placeholders"=dword:00000000
"Print_Background"="no"
"AutoSearch"=dword:00000005

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_LOCALMACHINE_LOCKDOWN]
"iexplore.exe"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_LOCALMACHINE_LOCKDOWN\Settings]
"LOCALMACHINE_CD_UNLOCK"=dword:00000000

Answer 2

Add this comment in the html file before the first tag:

<!-- saved from url=(0014)about:internet -->

Answer 3

One solution to your problem is to set the permissions for ActiveX from Internet Options. Go to Internet Options -> Local Intranet -> Custom Level.

Then you should check the following on ActiveX controls and plug-ins:

 - where you have Enable and Disable check Enable
 - where you have Enable, Disable and Prompt check Prompt (this is for security reasons)

Hope this fixed your problem.