Internet Explorer 7 supports extended functionality by the use of ActiveX Controls. These small programs, many developed by companies other than Microsoft, help Internet Explorer 7 do things it can't alone.
Sometimes these ActiveX Controls cause problems that generate error messages or stop IE7 from working at all.
Determining which ActiveX Control is causing a problem can be almost impossible so since they're safe to delete (you'll be prompted to install them again if needed in the future), removing them one by one to determine the cause of the problem is a valuable troubleshooting step.
Open Internet Explorer 7.
Choose Tools from the menu.
From the resulting drop-down menu, choose Manage Add-ons, followed by Enable or Disable Add-ons....
In the Manage Add-ons window, choose Downloaded ActiveX Controls from the Show: drop-down box.
The resulting list will show every ActiveX Control that Internet Explorer 7 has installed. If an ActiveX Control is causing the problem you're troubleshooting, it will be one listed here.
Select the first ActiveX Control listed, then click the Delete button in the Delete ActiveX area at the bottom of the window, and click OK.
If prompted to restart Internet Explorer, do so.
Close and then reopen Internet Explorer 7.
Test whatever activities in Internet Explorer were causing the problem you're troubleshooting here.
If the problem is not resolved, repeat Steps 1 through 7, deleting one more ActiveX Control at a time until your problem is resolved.
If you've removed all Internet Explorer 7 ActiveX Controls and your problem continues, you may need to Selectively Disable Internet Explorer 7 Add-ons, unless you've done so already.
