[wicked.ludicrous]

I remember how a number of people despised ActiveX because to watch some videos on the internet, they had to download something. And I know that ActiveX is used in IE, but is it used in Firefox? If not, what's the equivalent?

And how do I know if I'm downloading something dangerous by watching a video online?

[stantley]

That's one of the main reasons Firefox is more secure than IE, Firefox doesn't allow any Active-x installs.

Active-x is one of the most common ways malware gets on to your system.

[TOGG]

I understand that Active X is proprietary Microsoft software which doesn't work with Firefox (the fact that Active X is also a frequently used attack vector is probably why!). I stopped using IE for that and many other reasons and now use Opera as my default browser.

I use Firefox with the IETab addon just to collect Windows Updates which means that Active X is enabled when that addon is in use. I wasn't aware that Active X was needed to view videos. Something like the open source VLC Media Player should be capable of dealing with most formats; http://www.videolan.org/

[lunarlander]

I wouldn't allow the download+installation of any activeX just to watch a video. The popular way to stream video is to use Adobe Flash like YouTube does. That activeX might be a trojan.

[perfume]

Dear wicked.ludicrous,
That was a top question! FF does not use ActiveX to play videos, but built into the FF 3.5 and above version browsers is a video player based on the open-source platform video formats Ogg Vorbis and Theora. That's way too cool!( source:ibln.news). One member on our site informed me that the electric guitar player from the band Porcupine Tree is somewhat equal to Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits( He plays the electric guitar with the fingers)!

[skyfox]

Hi Perfume. thanks for the info. With 3.5 does that mean we do not even need to download adobe flash player for any videos? After uninstalling flash player (following Togg's info) I've been having trouble re-installing it. So, second question, I dont know if its because my KIS 09 is blocking it or what, but nothing seems to happen after I: 1) download & save to desktop via FF, 2) close everything, 3) double click on flash download icon. It opens, green bar goes across bottom, says its finished (or something like that). but then nothing, even after reboot. I have an adobe folder under programs, but it still says its empty. any advice? thanks in advance. Also, is the new FF a beta program? have all the bugs been worked out? I usually dont upgrade right away until i see what people think.

[IMiteBable2help]

All I did was install patches for 3.0 (making it 3.0.13) and now anything that requires flash is broken. Just so happens that one of the patches was a flash security flaw patch. I'm having all kinds of irritating problems. I did upgrade the flash plugin to the latest. Still doesn't work right. On youtube I get videos that just load a black screen and do nothing, or I'll get "an error has occurred". It's random. I can close my browser, come back to the same video, or click "HQ" and it plays fine. Also, many websites are very slow to load, or don't at all. I don't want 3.5 yet because most of my plugins won't work with it.

But to answer your question, NO. Firefox does not support active X controls, or at least it didn't used to. That's one of the things that make it more secure. Firefox uses Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) instead.

[TOGG]

skyfox,

What happens when you run the Adobe vesion tester with FF?; http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html If it works it should confirm which version, if any, you have installed.

Subject to what the test reveals, you could try downloading from somewhere other than Adobe, just in case it makes any difference; http://www.filehippo.com/download_flashplayer_firefox/

[perfume]

Originally Posted by skyfox

Hi Perfume. thanks for the info. With 3.5 does that mean we do not even need to download adobe flash player for any videos? After uninstalling flash player (following Togg's info) I've been having trouble re-installing it. So, second question, I dont know if its because my KIS 09 is blocking it or what, but nothing seems to happen after I: 1) download & save to desktop via FF, 2) close everything, 3) double click on flash download icon. It opens, green bar goes across bottom, says its finished (or something like that). but then nothing, even after reboot. I have an adobe folder under programs, but it still says its empty. any advice? thanks in advance. Also, is the new FF a beta program? have all the bugs been worked out? I usually dont upgrade right away until i see what people think.

Dear skyfox,
FF 3.5.2. is the latest and stable version of the browser (It is NOT a beta version). I too have KIS2009. As hewee suggested "an off-line installation may do the trick". You do need Adobe Flash to play Videos from You tube etc. First off, download the uninstaller tool from : http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/U...nstaller.shtml

Once the uninstallation is complete (full uninstallation is vital before reinstallation), kindly visit this site to download the OFFLINE Installation exe. file. : http://www.codefear.com/software/dow...ine-installer/

Restart immediately after installation and check in FF browser, whether AF is playing.

[IMiteBable2help]

Originally Posted by TOGG

skyfox,

What happens when you run the Adobe vesion tester with FF?; http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/155/tn_15507.html If it works it should confirm which version, if any, you have installed.

You don't need that. You can see the version right in firefox. Tools < Options <manage add-ons<plugins. Latest version is 10 r2.

Originally Posted by TOGG

Subject to what the test reveals, you could try downloading from somewhere other than Adobe, just in case it makes any difference; http://www.filehippo.com/download_flashplayer_firefox/

It doesn't make any difference other than perhaps getting a virus or two along with it.

[perfume]

Dear IMiteBe2help,
quote"
Originally Posted by TOGG
Subject to what the test reveals, you could try downloading from somewhere other than Adobe, just in case it makes any difference; http://www.filehippo.com/download_flashplayer_firefox/"

I wish to disagree as far as the download sites are concerned. It has been shown over and over that the official download site may be compromized, where as sites such as filehippo and softpedia are "relatively safe for downloads"

[IMiteBable2help]

That would be extremely rare to me, I've never heard it and I've been online since 1997. Where has it been shown "time and time again" ?
Rather than try and guess which download sites are safe, or which ones have been compromised I think it's generally safer to get it here: https://www.adobe.com/ besides that, it's the same installer/version. Downloading from a different server is not going to help. The installer still downloads the actual program from adobe servers.

[perfume]

I am the last person to wrangle, but my downloads from Adobe website were a disaster and the download from filehippo was a smooth ride!

[IMiteBable2help]

hmm.. strange.

[TOGG]

For the record, I too would always advise that programs should be downloaded from their creators sites wherever possible. It certainly seems to be the case that some well known file serving sites will include 'extras' you might not want, such as tracking cookies, if not actual malware.

However, it does appear that, on occasions, people that have, for whatever reason, struggled with downloads from Adobe, have been successful getting their files elsewhere. I may just have been lucky but I have never had problems with upgrading either version of Flash from the Adobe site and so have never had to try the third party option.