Flash advertisements are annoying the crap out of me

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
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A large number of the ads in the forums seem to have become Flash-based ads. I have Flash 6 installed on this computer and it works fine for most stuff. I really don't want to upgrade to Flash 7, and more to the point I can't when I'm browsing at work. So now I have to deal with IE-imposed popup windows almost every time I view a page on the forums. I know the ads can be coded so it doesn't ask you to install anything automatically, and it already switches to flash-based ads that are compatible with Flash 6 once I click "No". I don't mind the ads, that isn't the issue. I mind the fact that you have to install Flash 7 or be subjected to near endless popups in IE.

So please, is there any way the ads can be made such that they don't automatically prompt you to install software?

EDIT: I've highlighted the key part of my post that most of you missed. My work = no install rights. Hell, they almost had a stroke when the Publications department refused to switch to PCs from Macs.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
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Thought of switching to another browser, say Firefox, and install the "Click to view Flash" extension? There are also registry tweaks for IE to permanently disable Flash prompting you to install.
 

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
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Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Thought of switching to another browser, say Firefox, and install the "Click to view Flash" extension? There are also registry tweaks for IE to permanently disable Flash prompting you to install.
The sad part is, he probably doesn't have permission to do any of that at work. :(

I usually use Mozilla to browse at home, but whenever I am forced to use an IE system with an out of date or missing Flash component, I find this behavior highly disgusting. Please do something about it... best of all, have it fall back to plain ol' .GIFs if Flash is unavailable. :)
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
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Yes, as I posted above, I am in an environment where I cannot install a new browser. And think about it: if I couldn't install Flash 7, a plugin, how could I install Mozilla?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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Sorry, I missed the part about being at work.
I found this site on the first page of my Google search for "block flash registry": http://www.ozoneasylum.com/4999
Can you perform local registry-edits on your machine at work?

I think the prompt to install, is a basic built-in feature of MS's ActiveX support in the browser, it does that automatically whenever it sees those tags with the right OBJBASE/CLSID for flash content. (I think, not 100% sure.) So setting the "kill bit" on those CLSIDs in the registry prevents it from being automatically downloaded/run.

I'm not sure how "locked down" your machine at work is, but it is possible to install Mozilla Firefox in a way such that it runs entirely off of one of those USB flash memory key things.
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
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Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Sorry, I missed the part about being at work.
I found this site on the first page of my Google search for "block flash registry": http://www.ozoneasylum.com/4999
Can you perform local registry-edits on your machine at work?

I think the prompt to install, is a basic built-in feature of MS's ActiveX support in the browser, it does that automatically whenever it sees those tags with the right OBJBASE/CLSID for flash content. (I think, not 100% sure.) So setting the "kill bit" on those CLSIDs in the registry prevents it from being automatically downloaded/run.

I'm not sure how "locked down" your machine at work is, but it is possible to install Mozilla Firefox in a way such that it runs entirely off of one of those USB flash memory key things.
Most of what you've suggested would constitute a felony in my situation. :p

ActiveX does this automatically, but the ad can be coded on the serverside to include something akin to the "kill bit". As I've said, I've visited many sites where this does not happen, simply because the proprietors of said sites took what minimal effort it required to prevent this from happening. It's not a huge stretch to do it; otherwise it would hardly be seen.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,200
126
Oh, ok. In that case, I really don't know enough about the inner workings of IE to comment then. I just use Mozilla (now Firefox), and am happy. I do have Flash 7 installed though, because it was an update that fixed a bunch of security bugs in Flash 6 that was already on the system.

I don't even want to know about the felony thing, I'm guessing that you have some sort of gov't job then. :p

So really, you are asking the admins of this site to re-configure their ads to not prompt to install Flash in IE, not that you want to block flash altogether, although I personally think that is the superior solution.

You claim that you have Flash 6 already installed, and that your computer is locked-down. Have you considered bringing up the Flash 6 vulnerabilities with your admin? Perhaps they would install Flash 7 for you, and even sanction its use, if it fixes security-related bugs.
 

yukichigai

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2003
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Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
You claim that you have Flash 6 already installed, and that your computer is locked-down. Have you considered bringing up the Flash 6 vulnerabilities with your admin? Perhaps they would install Flash 7 for you, and even sanction its use, if it fixes security-related bugs.
Informing IS about things like that tends to invoke their ire. On top of that, the timeline from me requesting something like that to when it actually gets implimented would be in the magnitude of months since it's a non-critical thing, particularly because there's a content-filtering system and several firewalls which would stop just about any possible Flash-exploit-based attack. It's likely that by the time it would happen Flash 8 would have been released, at which point I'm back to square one. It's better to let IS initiate system-wide software updates on their own timeline. Sure, they usually skip a version or two, but when they update it's shortly after a new version has been released.