Tip #4173 - Troubleshooting Active Content
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Q:
Every once in awhile, I have trouble loading certain Web sites. I
use Internet Explorer and it only happens with a couple Web sites
I like to visit on a daily basis. What could be causing this and more
importantly, how can I fix it? Please help me!
A:
Well, to answer your first question,
it sounds like you're dealing with some active content problems. (If
you're not sure what active content is, read here!)
If the Web sites you're trying to visit have active content on them,
it's possible that your Internet Explorer browser is not configured
correctly to handle it. If that's the case, it's not hard to fix it,
so stop stressing out right now! All you have to do is a little troubleshooting
and your active content blues will be gone. Yes!
I am going to
give you four options of what you can try, but keep in mind that after
you go through each one, you should try going to the Web sites you're
having trouble with. That way, you'll know which step took care of
your problem and you won't have to worry about going through any of
the others. This, of course, is a trial and error type of thing, but
that's pretty much all you can do at this point in the game. Okay,
here we go!
1.) The first
thing you need to do is configure Internet Explorer so that it doesn't
run any active scripts automatically. To do that, go to Tools,
Internet Options and click on the Security tab.
Next, click on the Internet icon and then hit the
Custom Level button. Under the Settings
box, scroll down until you see the Scripting section.
Once you're there, click on Disable for both the
options of Active scripting and Scripting
of Java applets. When you're all finished with that, click
OK twice.
That should do
it for that part. Now, remember, you need to go back and check on
the Web sites you're having trouble with. If they're working now,
the problem was probably being caused by the active scripting on the
site. The script was probably written wrong or parts of it were unsupported.
But, since you turned the scripting options off, the site now works.
On the other hand, if the sites are still not loading for you, go
on to the next step!
2.) The next thing
you need to do is configure Internet Explorer so that it doesn't automatically
use items that show active content. For example, animations or scrolling
marquees. To do this, go to Tools, Internet
Options and click on the Security tab. Next,
click on the Internet icon and then click on the
Custom Level button. Under the Settings
box, click on Disable for all of the following: Download
signed ActiveX controls, Download unsigned ActiveX
controls, Initialize and script ActiveX controls
not marked as safe, Run ActiveX controls
and plug-ins and Script ActiveX controls
marked safe for scripting. Click OK twice
when you're done.
Now, go and try
to load one of the Web sites you're having trouble with. If you're
able to get it to work, the problem lies within the active content.
If you still can't get them to come up, keep going!
3.) Next, you
need to make sure your Internet Explorer's internal Java Just-in-Time
(JIT) compiler is disabled. To do that, go to Tools,
Internet Options and click on the Advanced
tab. From there, uncheck the box that says "JIT compiler
for virtual machine enabled (requires restart)," which
is located under the Java VM section. Click OK
when you're finished.
Note:
This one goes by the type of Java you have on your computer, so if
you can't find this option under the Advanced tab, this one isn't
going to work for you. You'll just have to rely on the other options
to pull you through. It all just depends on what configurations your
computer has, along with what the Web site requires. If this one worked
for you, great! If not, I have one more option for you.
4.) The last thing
you need to make sure of is that your Internet Explorer is configured
not to run Java programs automatically. To check on this, go to Tools,
Internet Options and click on the Security
tab. From there, click on the Internet icon
and then hit the Custom Level button. Under the Settings
box, scroll down to the Java Permissions section
and click on Disable Java. Click OK
twice when you're done.
If you're able
to load the Web sites after doing this, the problem was probably being
caused by one or more Java programs that the Web site uses. But, since
you turned the Java options off, the site is free to work.
There you have
it! Now, if you've gone through all the steps and you're still having
trouble loading the sites, you'll want to contact the Web site's administrator
to report a problem. It's possible they're having trouble with their
site and they don't even know it. So, in all actuality, you'd be doing
them a favor by double checking all of this and then letting them
know there's trouble with their site. If none of the suggestions above
worked for you, you can always use the site administrator as a back
up plan. Also, just for your information, all of the rules above work
for Internet Explorer 6 only. Hope this one helps a lot of you out!
~ Erin
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