Installing ActiveX for Mozilla Firefox



Have you ever tried to view a video or listen to music online only to be told that you need to install ActiveX? It can be frustrating when you're surfing the web, only to be interrupted by this message. It's an easy problem to fix, however, and you can do it by yourself.

ActiveX is a technology used for viewing media within a web browser, be it news clips, music videos or a slide show. ActiveX is only supported by Internet Explorer. So if you're trying to download the ActiveX plug-in into Mozilla Firefox or Safari then you're going to run into some difficulties. There are ways around this, however. You can try to download a third-party add-on or install ActiveX on to your computer's operating system.

Adding ActiveX to Firefox

Follow the directions below to properly install ActiveX for Firefox:

  1. Open a Firefox web browser.
  2. Using a search engine, look for an ActiveX plug-in that you can download for Firefox. When your search results are returned, make sure you choose a version that matches your edition of Firefox.
  3. Select "Download" for the appropriate version for Firefox.
  4. You will receive the message: "Firefox prevented this site from asking you to install software on your computer." Select "Allow" to continue downloading.
  5. Another window will pop up and ask if you would like to continue with the ActiveX installation process for Firefox. Select "Install Now."
  6. Once the ActiveX plug-in has finished downloading, select "Tools" from the menu bar at the top of the web browser. Select "Add-ons" from the menu that drops down.
  7. A window will open and you should select the "Extensions" tab.
  8. In the list of options provided, locate "Mozilla Firefox ActiveX Plug-in." Enable this plug-in by clicking the button beside it.
  9. Exit your Firefox web browser and then open it up again. This will finalize the ActiveX installation.

Additional Tips and Warnings:

If you don't know which version of Mozilla Firefox you currently have installed on your computer, and therefore you don't know which ActiveX plug-in to download, you can find out quite easily. In your Firefox web browser select the "Help" menu and then click on "About Mozilla Firefox." It will tell you what version you are using.

As with everything on the Internet, you need to exercise extreme caution when downloading anything. Make sure that you find and download a reliable and recommended version of ActiveX. There are versions out there that are designed to corrupt your operating system. These malicious versions often look just like the real ones.

ActiveX is not designed to work with more recent versions of Firefox (version 3.0 or higher) so you will need to download and install a older version of Firefox, which is easily done.

 

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