ActiveX Control Initialization GPO Setting - Office

Question

I'm testing the ActiveX Control Initialization GPO setting via the registry and per the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for GPOs, if I set the DWORD value to 2 for uficontrols, that should be:

If SFI, load the control in safe mode and use persisted values (if any). If not SFI, load in unsafe mode with persisted values (if any), or use the default (first-time initialization) settings. This level is similar to the default configuration, but does not prompt the user.

However, when I look in the Trust Center Settings after making the registry change (and restarting the Office application) it shows that the ActiveX Setting is set to "Enable all controls without restriction...."

It makes me uncertain if 2 is the correct value and I was looking for confirmation. For reference, GetADMX has the same information as the spreadsheet from MSFT.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Answer 1

It's not Excel development - its Office Group Policy settings.

To be honest, I'm asking because we're blocking ActiveX controls and apparently the built-in mechanism that Access uses to import Excel files into the database is an ActiveX control, so I'm trying to make a Microsoft feature work.

Answer 2

Hi @RJames2010 ,
I suggest you check if you have set the Disable All ActiveX settings:

Registry Hive HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry Path software\policies\microsoft\office\common\security
Value Name disableallactivex
Value Type REG_DWORD
Enabled Value 1
Disabled Value 0

Answer 3

That reg setting doesn't exist on my test box. Access is allowing the ActiveX control if I set uficontrols to a value of 2, but in the Trust Center it looks like it will allow everything without restriction, which is not what I want.

Thank you!