Internet Explorer blocking ActiveX for ArchiCAD Help

[Anonymous]

The Help for ArchiCAD 9 uses Internet Explorer. Each time I go to use ArchiCAD's Help I get stopped by Explorer's security. Explorer asks me block or allow ActiveX controls for the Help website. Is there a way to tell Explorer that ArchiCAD's Help is a known and trusted website so that I don't have to stop and allow the ActiveX controls each time I use ArchiCAD's Help?
Thank you,
John

[Karl Ottenstein]

Hi John,

You need to update your signature to show that you are running SP2 and not SP1. 😉

See:
http://www.graphisoft.com/support/archicad/archiguide/IEstartupProblwithXPSP2.html

HTH,
Karl

[Anonymous]

Thanks Karl,
I am running Windows XP with Service Pack 2.

Any advice on how to get Internet Explorer to open ArchiCAD Help without stopping at the AxtiveX message?

Thank you,
John

[Karl Ottenstein]

Hi John,

Either open Internet Explorer to a normal web page to get to Internet Options to change your settings, or go to Control Panel | Internet Options.

You have to change the settings as indicated in the ArchiGuide page. All should be fine then.

(Well, almost: I'm still experiencing a bug from during beta testing where I open help, then click on Index - or something - and Help disappears and AC is on top again, I bring Help on top again, click a link, and Help goes behind AC again, have to bring Help on top again, etc. Usually after 3 iterations of this, Help stays put!)

Karl

[Anonymous]

Karl,
Thanks for the tip on the ArchiGuide for information about this problem. The ArchiGuide article has this disclaimer:

Note: Allowing this option will enable all other HTML pages to run active content in Internet Explorer. This could be potentially unsafe for your computer. Please consider carefully before enabling this option permanently !

It would be better if there was a way to allow just the Active content on the Help web page to run without allowing all Active content to run globally.
Thank you,
John

PS Karl, How do you keep up on all of the ArchiGuide articles?

[Karl Ottenstein]

johncassel wrote:
It would be better if there was a way to allow just the Active content on the Help web page to run without allowing all Active content to run globally.

I agree, but AFAIK, Internet Explorer does not allow that option. I just tried to change the local security options (since the help is a local content, and not from the web ... unless you access it over the graphisoft.com site), but the 'global' setting seems required. A quick Google showed that all kinds of other software requires this setting to be checked.

Note that this ia part of the increased security of SP2, which changes this to be 'unchecked' after installation. If you check it, you'll have the same level of (in)security as before SP2 with respect to this aspect if that's any comfort.

If it worries you too much to check this box, you can leave it unchecked, and then just click as shown in the attached screenshot each time you open ArchiCAD Help ... enabling the active content only for that page/session.

PS Karl, How do you keep up on all of the ArchiGuide articles?

Well, I try to stay on top of as much as I can to be of the most use to my clients. 😉 I made it a point to click on the Support box and go to ArchiGuide once a week back when GS was updating ArchiGuide on a weekly basis ... since the most recent 5 articles show on the main ArchiGuide page; it was a quick way of seeing what was new before the next batch of articles appeared and pushed those articles into the archives. These days, articles are few and far between, so it is easier to see what's new.

Greg posted a message about this particular one after he wrote it, which is why I remembered this one. My wish is that GS would post a message here whenever a new article is posted either there or on the "Community" page as well, then it wouldn't just be archi-addicts like me scavanging things. 😉 [For example, how many people here have clicked on the big "Community" button on the top right of the ac-talk page? The upper left corner of that page lists the new "ArchiCAD 9 Times" series ... #5 appearing "soon" if not by the time you read this.... and interesting that there are no links to old articles ... you have to open the current one and then change the URL to have 1, 2, 3 etc as the article number to access the old ones.

Happy sleuthing. 😉

Karl

[Anonymous]

Hi Karl,
Would you mind giving me a 2013 version of those instructions?
I can't find any ArchiGuide page to refer to, and Archicadwiki just sends me back here, which is getting a bit recursive for my liking.

All I want is to be able to read my Archicad help file when I need help.
Thanks,
Chris

Karl wrote:
Hi John,

Either open Internet Explorer to a normal web page to get to Internet Options to change your settings, or go to Control Panel | Internet Options.

You have to change the settings as indicated in the ArchiGuide page. All should be fine then.

(Well, almost: I'm still experiencing a bug from during beta testing where I open help, then click on Index - or something - and Help disappears and AC is on top again, I bring Help on top again, click a link, and Help goes behind AC again, have to bring Help on top again, etc. Usually after 3 iterations of this, Help stays put!)

Karl