Is there any way to avoid getting the annoying prompts to install
Shockwave and Flash when browsing web sites, short of actually
installing those plug-ins?

As a computer programmer, I am halfway entertaining the idea of
creating and registering dummy ActiveX controls using the appropriate
GUIDs as described in this Usenet post:

http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9j9g3h%2420a%241%40nntp.hut.fi&oe=UTF-8

Disabling all plug-ins is not an option, since I plan to use Adobe's
SVG viewer plugin.

I really wish there was an option to "Never trust software from XXX"
to complement the "Always trust software from XXX" option.  Then I
could simply ignore everything from Macromedia, etc.

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Request for Question Clarification by alienintelligence-ga on 02 Aug 2002 02:08 PDT

Hi gw,

Is registry manipulation an option?

-AI

---

Clarification of Question by gw-ga on 02 Aug 2002 06:23 PDT

Yes, registry manipulation would be fine.

---

Request for Question Clarification by rico-ga on 08 Aug 2002 06:20 PDT

I'm back with another possible solution, gw-ga,

While researching another question, I came across a tool called
"Secure IE", which uses the IE browser engine and, among other things,
blocks Flash/Shockwave content.  I downloaded the 15-day trial
package, tried it out (admittedly a cursory tryout), went to
Macromedia and Yahoo, and it seems to work as advertised.  I'm using
IE 6.0.

Pros: Blocks Shockwave/Flash from displaying.

Cons: Don't know whether it will kill the prompts if Flash isn't
installed. While it uses the IE engine, it is not IE.  Some reviewers
at download.com noted it was noticeably slower than IE (I didn't
notice any performance hit on my machine). Windows only.

So, if you're interested in trying it out, go to...

http://www.secureie.com/p/lg1/

...for the download.  If it works for you, let me know, and I'll post
this as an answer.

regards,

rico

Hi GW,

If you're using IE, you may want to look at this answer and the
additional comments provided by seizer-ga et al; at ...

https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=33156

Happily, the Google Answers database is growing large enough that
similar questions are starting to be asked, and it's getting worth the
effort to take a quick search through GA to see if you turn up
anything.  Don't know whether this will help your specific question,
but I think it may be a good starting point.

I'm answering this as a comment, btw, as I'd feel uncomfortable
charging for someone else's research.

rico

Thanks for noticing this.  Like the original poster there, I'm also
using IE6.

I wonder if modifying my HOSTS file to include all the subdomains of
macromedia.com and deploy.akamaitechnologies.com would work.

After you've tried it let us know if
the prior answer will solve your problem.
We don't want to presume one way or the other.
;-)

thanks,
-AI

Perhaps I am misunderstanding your question, because the answer, to
me, sounds quite simple and I am suprised no one else suggested it. 
You can go to the tools menu in IE, then Internet Options, and under
the advanced tab, there is an option to turn off install-on-demand
prompts.  IE, Netscape, and Mozilla all have this option, although
perhaps under different menus.  But, as far as I know, you can disable
those prompts to install components in this manner.

dexterpexter

I unchecked these two options:

Enable Install On Demand (Internet Explorer)
Enable Install On Demand (Other)

Then I rebooted.  Yahoo! mail still prompts me to install Flash.