Press Space bar or hit Enter to activate?

Recently, I posted to this forum because I was having a problem with activeX. I was getting a pop-up on a certain webpage telling me I needed to click to activate activeX.

I was told here to get the latest update fix for activeX and I did so. But this did not solve the problem on that page. I was then told that it was the fault of the programmers of that page and was given some code to send to the programmers to use to fix their page. They have yet to reply and the pop-up is still there.

However, why I am writing now is because when I go to a page where I am trying to access a shockwave game I get the message "Press Space bar or hit enter to activate." When I press the space bar or hit enter the message doesn't go away like it does when I click the pop-up to activate activeX. The game continues to load, though.

During the process I went through last time with this (recently, like I said) I downloaded the latest version of shockwave.

Any idea if the two problems I spoke of above could be related? Or any idea why I'm getting the message about space bar and enter since I have the latest version of shockwave?

Please post a link to one of the games you're refering too.

Dr Seven--Shockwave needs ActiveX controls to run in order to work. If you trust the site put its URL into Trusted Site.
After reading your last thread, I understand the earlier problem was limited to one site and that the problem really never was fixed. If the above suggestion does not help, the reason could be the same here. The writers of the page have to adapt their script to work with the new way MS handles ActiveX.
If you can view the site after clicking the Spacebar (or Enter), that may be the best you can do for now.
Would you like to tell us the site's URL so we can also look at its behavior.

P.S. Do not forget the info at this site
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/?u...ng_activex.asp

Welshjim and Steve,

I should have known that you would want a link to the site, but I didn't think about that and now I can't go back and get you a link because it was a game listed in a ezine I subscribe too and I deleted todays issue. And I suppose you're going to suggest going to the archives of this site, but they don't keep game links archived.

Welshjim, I looked at the code once again in microsoft library which you provided the link to, but I still don't understand the relevance since I am not going to be able to go into someone's website and change the code for them. What am I missing here?

In the meantime, I guess I will have to wait until I go to another game site that gives the error message in question. Then I can post the link so you can take a look.

Have a look at the links on this recent thread. It may be related to your problem..

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=207709

fink--That link talks about a patch that was temporary, and basically allowed ActiveX to work the way it always had on IE after installation of the original version of 912812. The new version of 912812 (which was part of the June Updates, but I cannot remember the number) will no long permit the patch to work. This is all due to that patent dispute on how ActiveX may be used by IE. Apparently MS is not willing to settle with the patent owner and is working around it. (The extra step(s) mentioned at the beginning of http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/?u...ng_activex.asp )
I regret that I do not know why Dr Seven is having the problem (although see my next post to Dr Seven). It is not clear whether the site has been put into Trusted Sites and still not worked. And it is not clear whether just clicking the notice off allows the site to work.

Dr Seven--That link I gave you actually has a lot of information for users of IE, not just those who create web pages.
One of the first links on that page is
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/...vexupdate.mspx
And if you look at the parent page, between the two images at the top, you will see that clicking Spacebar is a new extra step that apparently may have to be taken. In your case "may" seems to be "must". I do not know why that is so. I do not get these messages.
It may have to do with the following quotes:
"To activate an interactive control, either click it or use the TAB key to set focus on it and then press the SPACEBAR or the ENTER key. Interactive controls loaded from external script files immediately respond to user interaction and do not need to be activated.... For these controls only, a prompt appears before the control is run in Internet Explorer. To run the control, the user needs to click the button in the message window before the page loads. After loading, the control will not require activation. "
I am not saying that I understand all that, but it implies that perhaps you are not downloading the necessary ActiveX controls before trying to access a site that needs ActiveX controls to run. So if the control is downloaded you will not have to activate it.
It is necessary to differentiate between an ActiveX control and the permission to run one.
The ActiveX controls installed on a PC can be seen by clicking IE Tools|Internet Options|General tab|Settings|View Objects.
To download an Active X control from a webpage, it often occurs automatically when you visit the webpage, but you also need to have the settings "Download signed ActiveX controls" and "Automatic Prompting for ActiveX controls" (in IE Tools|Internet Options|Security tab|Custom Level) set to Enable. But the simpler way to do that is, again, to put the site's URL into Trusted Sites.
As I mentioned in my post to fink, have you put the page's URL into Trusted Sites?
I think your problem is not a Shockwave problem, but rather an ActiveX problem.

Fink,

I have deleted that security update. I'll have to wait to see if it does any good because I don't go to those pages all the time.

Welshjim,

I don't absolutely need to click the space bar. I thought I made clear that the game will load anyway and that pressing space bar doesn't make the message go away. I was just wondering why I was getting the message when it didn't seem to make any difference either way.

There was no other activeX I could download. I tried several and was told they were not compatible with my system. When I downloaded the one that was compatible it still didn't fix the problem. I still get the pop-up that says "click to activate activeX program on this page."

I have the download and automatic prompting enabled. I tried putting the site in trusted sites. None of this has helped.

Someone else here visited the site in question and provided me with some code that would supposedly fix it. This code was intended for the webmaster of the page. But they have ignored me.

So I am at a loss on how to proceed.

If the same problem is happening with everyone that visits the site, there is no solution until the webmaster(s) fixes the problem.

It would informative to see if everyone who visits the site DOES have the same problem. Unfortunately, there is no way to find out since there is no forum and no other place of any kind to contact fellow members.

The ONLY real information we have is the error message you supplied in your original message "Press Space bar or hit enter to activate". Out of the Billions of webpages scanned by Google, nary a single, solitary one contains that exact phrase:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search

Without any further information (from somewhere), I'm afraid it will be next to impossible to offer much more help than what has already been supplied. :(

SpywareDr--The msdn article comes close

Quote:

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To activate an interactive control, either click it or use the TAB key to set focus on it and then press the SPACEBAR or the ENTER key.

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Clicking on it did nothing. How would I use the tab button to set focus on it? I thought the tab was only for lines of text. This pop-up is not in a line of text. What am I missing here?

And in reply to spyware, I might not have copied the message exactly, but I thought you'd get the gist.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dr Seven

Clicking on it did nothing. How would I use the tab button to set focus on it? I thought the tab was only for lines of text. This pop-up is not in a line of text. What am I missing here?

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Even while viewing this page that you're reading now, start tapping the [Tab] key, (and keep tapping it). Notice how the 'focus' is jumping from one link [URL] to the next within the page? (Once you've [Tab]bed to a link you liked, you could press [Enter] to go to that page).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dr Seven

And in reply to spyware, I might not have copied the message exactly, but I thought you'd get the gist.

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Since the error message is apparently ALL you intend to offer, the exact error message may help us . . . to help you.

I seewhat you mean now about the tab button. But the error message didn't seem to be a link. It was just sort of like a inset. Anyway, next time I get the error message I will copy it EXACTLY.