How to Remove an ActiveX Control in Windows

Article ID : 154850

This article describes how to remove an ActiveX control from your computer, error messages that may occur when you attempt to remove an ActiveX control, and the use of multiple ActiveX control (Occache) folders in Internet Explorer 4.0 and later.

To remove an ActiveX control, follow the steps in the appropriate section.

Internet Explorer 3.0, 3.01, and 3.02

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs, and then click the Install/Uninstall tab.

2. If the ActiveX control you want to remove appears in the list of installed programs, click the ActiveX control, click Add/Remove, and then follow the instructions on the screen. If the ActiveX control does not appear in the list of installed programs, continue with the next step.

3. Click Start, click Run, type the following line in the Open box, and then click OK:
regsvr32 drive:\windows\occache\filename.ocx /u

NOTE: drive is the drive letter on which the Windows folder is located, windows is the name of the folder in which Windows is installed, and filename.ocx is the ActiveX control you want to remove.

NOTE: If you do not know the file name of the ActiveX control (.ocx) you want to remove, you may be able to determine the file name by viewing the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) source of a Web page that installs or uses the ActiveX control. To view the HTML source of a Web page, right-click an empty area of the Web page, and then click View Source.

4. In Windows Explorer or Windows NT Explorer, click the .ocx file in the Windows\Occache folder, and then click Delete on the Filemenu.
Occache is the name of the folder where ActiveX controls are installed in all versions of Internet Explorer 3.x. The Regsvr32.exe file is installed by Internet Explorer and can be used to register and remove registry entries for ActiveX controls.

Internet Explorer 4.x or Later (All Platforms)

Internet Explorer 4.x or later, include the Occache.dll file, which is used to enumerate, update, and safely uninstall ActiveX controls using a "shell folder."

1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs, and then click the Install/Uninstall tab.

2. If the ActiveX control you want to remove appears in the list of installed programs, click the ActiveX control, click Add/Remove, and then follow the instructions on the screen. If the ActiveX control does not appear in the list of installed programs, continue with the next step.

3. In Windows Explorer or Windows NT Explorer, double-click the Windows\Downloaded Program Files folder or the Winnt\Downloaded Program Files folder, right-click the ActiveX control you want to remove, and then click Remove.

4. When you are prompted to remove the ActiveX control, click Yes.

IMPORTANT: The following ActiveX controls should not be removed if you are running Internet Explorer 4.0:
• DirectAnimation Java Classes
• Internet Explorer Classes for Java
• Microsoft XML Parser for Java
• Win32 Classes
Internet Explorer 5.0 or later does not require these components in the Downloaded Program Files files.

Error Messages Removing ActiveX Controls

When you attempt to remove an ActiveX control using an Occache shell folder, you may receive one of the following messages:

• Share Violation These program files are currently being used by one or more programs. Please close some programs, and try again. You may need to restart Windows.

• Component Removal About to remove a Windows system DLL: (<path\filename>). Okay to delete?
Share Violation:

This message occurs if the ActiveX control you are trying to remove is currently loaded in memory by Internet Explorer or the Active Desktop component.

To resolve this error message, follow these steps:

1. Close all open Internet Explorer windows.

2. Disable the Active Desktop. To do so, right-click an empty area on the desktop, point to Active Desktop, and then click View As Web Page to clear the check mark.

3. Remove the ActiveX control by following the steps in the "Internet Explorer 4.0 or Later" section earlier in this article.

NOTE: You may need to restart Windows before you remove the ActiveX Control.
Component Removal:

This message occurs only in versions of Internet Explorer 4 prior to 4.01 Service Pack 1 (SP1) when the ActiveX control you are removing installed files into a folder other than a registered Occache folder (for example, Windows\System or Winnt\System32). Occache cannot always determine if those files are shared by their programs.

If you are certain the file or files displayed in the message are not being used by Windows or another program, click Yes. Otherwise, click No.

NOTE: In Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 and later, Occache does not remove (or prompt you to remove) dependent files outside of a registered Occache folder.

Support for Multiple Occache Folders

Internet Explorer 4.0 and later supports multiple Occache folders. The list of Occache folders is located in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ActiveX Cache
By default, Internet Explorer 4.0 and later uses the Windows\Downloaded Program Files or Winnt\Downloaded Program Files folder. If you upgraded from Internet Explorer 3.x, both an Occache and Downloaded Program Files folder may exist. In this case, all new ActiveX controls are installed in the Downloaded Program Files folder, but previously installed ActiveX controls still work in the Occache folder. When you open the Occache or Downloaded Program Files folder in Windows Explorer, Windows NT Explorer, or My Computer, all ActiveX controls are displayed regardless of the folder in which the ActiveX control's files are located. In this case, the following string values appear in the registry key:

"0"="C:\\WINDOWS\\OCCACHE"
"1"="C:\\WINDOWS\\Downloaded Program Files"

For additional information about ActiveX controls, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

154544 Description of ActiveX Technologies

For information about how Internet Explorer downloads ActiveX controls if a conflict occurs (for example, if the file already exists), please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
196150 INFO: Why CONFLICT Directories Are Created During Code Download

Danger: 240797 How to Stop an ActiveX Control from Running in Internet Explorer

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