October 03, 2004

• Firefox.
• That's not the answer i'm looking for! thanks anyway...
• I would set everything in internet options to 'on' in case it is something related to activex but not that exact setting. (then if it works, disable them until you figure out what it is) Or yeah, get firefox.
• As I understand it Gmail relies on Java to work so make sure that you have it installed and active.
• See here, this is what happens if I try to use Opera: We're sorry, but we don't seem to be compatible. Our software suggests that you're using a browser incompatible with Gmail. Gmail currently supports the following: Microsoft IE 5.5 and newer Netscape 7.1 and newer Mozilla 1.4 and newer Mozilla Firefox 0.8 and newer Safari 1.2.1 and newer You need to have Javascript and cookies enabled, regardless of the browser you use.
• My father just got new computer, and he was having all kinds of problems, and they all went away when we installed Java. I'm pretty positive your problem is Java, too, like zqwerty suggests. This article makes me confident that ActiveX relies on Java.
• kit, gmail shouldn't need ActiveX in order to load. I just did a search in gmail's Knowledge Base, and couldn't find anything at all in there that mentioned "ActiveX", "Active-X", or even just "Active". The message you're seeing raises a red-flag for me, since the combination of IE and any of a number of common ActiveX, Java, or Scripting exploits can easily end up with your machine compromised and the resulting headache of a cleanup. If you're seeing a message that is notifying you to do more than just enable Javascript or cookies, then I think it might not be gmail doing the complaining.
• Thanks everybody... this is a help. I've tried some of the above, still not working tho. Does anybody know which bit of Java i should download/ I've just looked on their site as was spoilt for choice. Again - forgive my ignorance. My techy knowledge is seriously lacking...
• This is the full error message: Gmail requires ActiveX controls to be enabled Your browser seems to be Internet Explorer, and ActiveX seems to be disabled. Gmail requires ActiveX to be enabled in order to operate. To use Gmail, enable ActiveX controls in Internet Explorer. You can do this by going to the Tools menu, selecting Internet Options, Security tab, Internet zone, and either select the Default Level, or selecting Custom Level and scrolling down to "Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins" and selecting Enable. Don't know if that helps. You're scaring me now, jeff!! Thanks, though
• Either This or This should give you the bit of java you might be looking for. It's hard for me to catch the address since the page detect if you already have java and alters the address accordingly. If those don't work, it's the green box on the main page. If that's not the problem, I can't guess what is. I know nothing about Gmail, never having had a Gmail invite *ahem* ;) Does Gmail require a browser, or can you use an email utility like outlook? I always thought you could use outlook (or whatever), but I'm getting the impression you can't. That'd be the simplest solution, otherwise.
• Mr. Knickerbocker: I sent an invite to the address in your profile. I don't know much about video games, but on the few occasions I've installed games on my computer the installer has run a test for ActiveX controls. I'm pretty sure that said games gave options for installing ActiveX if you didn't have it already. You might try installing a game to see what happens? Of course, if you follow the directions you just posted, all may be well. To paraphrase Silent Bob in the movie Chasing Amy, "What I don't know about computers, you could just about stuff into the Grand fuckin' Canyon." As for using Gmail with outlook and so on, you may want to look at this big honking list of gmail applications (I FPPd this a couple of months ago).
• If anyone has a spare invite to gmail, I'd like to give it a try. Please...
• squidranch - is that your real address in the profile? I was going to send you an invite, but I wouldn't want it to be lost to a spam address. You can email me your address to me (gmail in profile) - actually, then all I have to do is click one button to send the invite.
• Thanks for the invite jb.
• Thanks the_bone! I'll play with it some tomorrow.
• Gmail doesn't need Java; it does need javascript. I'm surprised it needs ActiveX to run in IE, since it doesn't need it for any other browser - well no other browser uses the crap that is ActiveX. What jeff said, basically - something else might be amiss.
• Sounds to me like something is rotten in denamark. AtiveX is a plugin placed in a cgi-bin on site. When a user clicks on a site the needs ActiveX to run, a cab (or ocx) file is downloaded onto the users computer in order to make the ActiveX control work. ActiveX is also IE specific. Bluestone is right Java is't the same as javascript. Two completely different languages. Gmail uses javascript. I'd try uninstalling IE and reinstalling it - if your not running a more recent IE version maybe time to upgrade.
• Are you running on a Mac? Because IE on a Mac will give you that ActiveX warning. You should switch, since Gmail supports almost any other browser on OS X, and IE has been been abandoned by Microsoft.