Thread: MACROMEDIA FLASH PROBLEMS - Solved! “click to activate and use this control”

This is a result of the latest update to the browsing program Internet Explorer. Microsoft recently lost a court battle with a holder of the patent responsible for the way Internet Explorer displays OBJECTs and EMBEDs. Microsoft then updated its Internet Explorer browser with changes that require a user to approve of the files and activate ActiveX based media. This seriously affects all Flash animations and other files (QuickTime, RealPlayer, Java and Adobe Acrobat to name a few). It means users have to click the object first in order to activate its functions.

Thankfully, there are ways for developers to modify their site so the user does not have to approve the of files affected by Microsoft’s changes.
Below is the easiest and most user-friendly option available at this time.
To fix the problem, please follow these steps:
1) Just below the last <object> in your HTML page, insert the following javascript:

<script type="text/javascript" src="ieupdate.js"></script>

2) Open a new document in Notepad or your HTML editor, and copy & paste the following content into it:

theObjects = document.getElementsByTagName("object");
for (var i = 0; i < theObjects.length; i++) {
theObjects[i].outerHTML = theObjects[i].outerHTML;
}

3) Save this file as ieupdate.js

4) Upload both files to your webserver, and the problem should be solved.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have files in sub-folder, you will need to paste the javascript file into every sub-folder for this to work.
Macromedia has come up with it's own answer to the problem.
Though it's more complex, it might work better for some designers.
For more on this issue and other solutions:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/ieupdate

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/activecontent/articles/devletter.html

http://blog.deconcept.com/2005/12/15/internet-explorer-eolas-changes-and-the-flash-plugin/

I tried this but to no avail, even though I was very carefull. I am not familiar with Java. When you say 'last object', are you referring to text if it's last on the page or an inserted item like a banner?

J