DIY: How to disable Active Script in Internet Explorer

By Robert Vamosi on 29 March 2006
Active Scripts are programs written in JavaScript, or sometimes Microsoft's VBScript and ActiveX, that enable websites to add specific functionality.

Unfortunately, more than a few well-known vulnerabilities have been discovered within Active Script, and criminal hackers have seized upon this potential. Until a specific patch can be issued, Microsoft often recommends disabling Active Script within Internet Explorer, then enabling it again for only a handful of trusted sites.

Required attention span: five minutes

Before you start, you'll need to gather these elements:

  • PC running Windows with Internet Explorer

Step one | Step two | Step three | Step four | Step five | Step six | Step seven

Step one
Within Internet Explorer, click the Tools menu, then Internet Options.


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Step two
Click the Security tab, and within the Internet zone, click Custom Level.


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Step three
Scroll down to the Scripting section.

This image displays the default settings for Internet Explorer -- and these settings are not safe.


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Step four
Change the following settings: Disable Active Scripting, "Allow paste operations via script", and "Scripting of Java applets" -- then click OK.


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Step five
Answer Yes when prompted to make these security setting changes.


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Step six
While your Internet Explorer may be safe against attack, it now may break some Web pages where Active Script is necessary.

To avoid this, add the sites that you visit regularly and that are now broken to your Trusted sites group. To add a site, click to highlight Trusted Sites, then click the Sites button.


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Step seven
To add a given site, just type star-dot-[the full domain of your chosen Trusted site], and click Add.

For example, *.cnet.com.au


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Topics: browser, internet, web, explorer, active, ie, script, disable, step, enlarge

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