The plug-ins of Internet Explorer are called Plug-ins. For instance the flash player is an ActiveX control. However they have been posing huge security issues. These are parts of software which have access to the system if you want to install and execute them. Normally websites prompt you to install ActiveX controls and this can be used for several purposes.

An ActiveX control is a small application for Internet Explorer. It is often referred to as an add-on. These programs are not restricted from doing malicious things on your system. They would monitor personal browsing habits, generate pop-ups, log passwords and keystrokes and perform other malicious stuff.

ActiveX controls other than Internet Explorer work in Microsoft applications like Microsoft Office. Other browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari use some other type of plugins. It basically controls function in Internet Explorer.

Do avoid installing Active X unless you are confident about its source. There are certain ActiveX controls which are normal say for instance you have Flash player Active X control installed. However you should not install other ActiveX controls. Say for instance Oracle would not infect your PC but Java Activex control has security issues and would be used to contaminate your computer. More the ActiveX are installed more the websites would take advantage of their issues to damage the system. You can uninstall ActiveX which you do not use as it would reduce threat of a bug attack.

The latest versions of IE include Protected Mode, ActiveX filtering which prevent weak ActiveX controls from running. However they are unsecure by their architecture and not much can be done to make them secure.

If you click the gear icon in IE and select manage Add-ons. Click box under show and choose all Add-ons. You would have several common ActiveX controls installed throughout the system like Windows Media player, Adobe’s Shockwave Flash and so on. You need to uninstall them from Control Panel if they have to be removed from the system.