Firefox 1.5 viewing problems

Hi Firefox is having trouble displaying banner ads that some sites have. for example, at the top of the screen I am seeing on this website, it says unable to connect in a small box at the top of the screen. Whenever I try to view any type of video clip, such as a movie trailer, it tells me I am missing a plugin and it automatically searches the web for the "appropriate plugin" and then does nothing. I have XP media center and I have wmp 10. I don't know what the deal is. What in the world is active x? Does that have something to do with it? Should I uninstall firefox, and redownload it? (I guess I'd loose my bookmarks that way, so hopefully that is not what it comes to.) Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's some background on ActiveX. Its broad application makes it vulnerable to serving as a vehicle for malware.

One of Firefox's security benefits is that it does not use ActiveX. There is a Mozilla activeX Project. You can check the details; looks quite elaborate, at least at this point.

You've got kind of a "pushme. pullyou" situation; the lack of ActiveX supposedly makes Firefox more secure, but you WILL lose some interactive elements of some sites: for example, MS security updates are not possible with Firefox. Maybe someday….