ReCrystallize Pro Support Frequently Asked Questions

The Crystal Reports ActiveX report viewer fails to install when using Internet Explorer versions 9, 10, or 11.

Synopsis:

When attempting to view a report with the Crystal Reports ActiveX viewer using Internet Explorer 9 or later, the browser prompts three times to install the ActiveX viewer.  A red X is displayed in the upper left of the browser window.  Attempting to refresh the page or view the report again results in the same behavior.

More Information:

Automatic installation of the Crystal Reports ActiveX viewer may fail in Internet Explorer versions 9 and higher regardless of security settings.

ReCrystallize Pro version 14 or later provides the option of using the .NET based report viewer, which works with most web browsers, does not require download or installation of a viewer, and is not affected by this issue.  The Java web report viewer provides a similar report viewing experience to the ActiveX viewer and is not affected by this issue.

To use the ActiveX viewer with Internet Explorer 9 or 10, follow the steps below to manually install the viewer.  This is a one-time process for each computer.

This solution manually installs required files for the Crystal Reports XI R2 (11.5) ActiveX viewer. 

1. Purchase the ActiveX Viewer manual installer or purchase ReCrystallize Pro.
   
   ReCrystallize Pro customers with a current Software Updates option and/or ReCrystallize ReSolutions tech support package may request this file at no cost.

2. Download the ActiveX Viewer 11.5 manual installation MSI file using the link provided by email.
   
   It may be possible to "push" and remotely install this MSI package to computers on a Windows domain using Group Policy and Active Directory.  We have not tested remote deployment of this package.
   
   ReCrystallize Pro customers may have this file installed at
   
   C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\crystalreportviewers115\ActiveXManualInstall\ActiveXViewer115ManualInstall.msi
   
   so that client browsers can download the file from
   
   http://YOURSERVER/crystalreportviewers115/ActiveXManualInstall/ActiveXViewer115ManualInstall.msi
   
   where YOURSERVER is the name or address of your web server.
3. Run the MSI file to install the required version 11.5 ActiveX viewer DLLs to the "Windows\Download Program Files" folder and register the DLLs.

Installation Steps

Browse to the location of the ActiveXViewer115ManualInstall.msi file.   Internet Explorer may prompt to confirm that you want to download and run the installation file.  Click

Run
Actions
More Options
Run anyway

to run the installation.  Click Next to begin the installation.  Click Yes if prompted by User Account Control to allow changes by ActiveXViewerManualInstallation.msi.  Click Finish to exit the installer.

If possible, add your web server to Internet Explorer's Trusted Sites zone.  This will eliminate multiple prompts to install the ActiveX viewer objects.

Browse to a report web page that uses the ActiveX report viewer.  Internet Explorer may prompt to allow installation of the 'Crystal Report ActiveX Viewer Control' from Business Objects Americas'
Click Allow or Allow for all websites.

Internet Explorer may prompt again for 'Crystal Report ActiveX Viewer Web Report Broker'  and 'Crystal Report ActiveX Viewer Helper''.   In each case, click Allow or Allow for all websites.

The ActiveX viewer should then load and display the report.  It should not be necessary to repeat this process to view additional reports on the same computer.

In Internet Explorer 10, Compatibility Mode may be required for the report to display correctly in the ActiveX viewer.  Compatibility Mode may be activated by clicking on the icon of a broken page to the right of the web address in the address bar.

In Windows 8, only the Desktop version of Internet Explorer supports ActiveX controls and other binary browser add-ons.