Various Windows Live Mesh connections

trickslide · 24 Jan 2012

Hi,
I have just went to uninstall a program in programs and features and noticed a whole bunch of Windows Live Mesh ActiveX controls.
Theye were all installed on the same day and are of all the same size 5.37Mb and version 15.4.5722.2.
I was concerned as they are all in different languages in the program name. Some look like chinese, arabic and even greek(I am no expert) see attachement

E.g Ovladaci prvek Active X Palatformy
and Urruneko konexioetarako
and ones I can not even type.
Should I be worried?
I am on Windows 7
I am not overly technical but if you need a screen grab or other info I can let you have.
Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks
Richard

Anak · 24 Jan 2012

Hi trickslide, welcome to 7F! :)

If the program you un-installed was Windows Live Mesh it is okay to delete those also.

If not, then I would delete all but, the two for remote connections near the top, third, fourth ones down.

trickslide · 24 Jan 2012

Hi Anak,

Thank you for the quick reply.

It was not Windows Live Mesh, but I will delete the ones other than the ones you said.

Out of interest what are they and can they do any harm?

Thanks
Richard

Layback Bear · 24 Jan 2012

When Googled you will find this.
Windows Live Essentials: Other Programs - Get started

Anak · 24 Jan 2012

Your welcome!

If you have those on your machine then you are using Live Mesh (LM) to sync any of your mobile devices with your machine, from anywhere.

Because of this LM will install the whole package of translated active x controls to facilitate the sync. It compares somewhat to Word installing fonts you don't need, and will never use.

I should have mentioned earlier that you should have created a System Restore Point in case of any problems later on, but one that is dated after you installed LM should work also.

trickslide · 24 Jan 2012

Again thanks for the reply,

The explanation makes sense as I have been syncing with Hotmail and mobile phones, looking at the files, a pattern emerge regards the different language versions.
You know you get a funny feeling when you see something unusual especially in a language you do not speak and think, virus...
Cheers for the advice.
All the best Richard

Anak · 24 Jan 2012

As long as your active x controls match your region/language settings on your devices you should not have any problems.

Some helpful links:
Windows Live Mesh and Devices Help Center - How to Allow Remote Connections
Mesh Portal
Mesh Threads | Fourms

Anak · 24 Jan 2012

trickslide said:

Hi Anak,

Thank you for the quick reply.

It was not Windows Live Mesh, but I will delete the ones other than the ones you said.

Out of interest what are they and can they do any harm?

Thanks
Richard

In my haste I did not answer your question completely.

A Microsoft ActiveX control is essentially a simple OLE object that supports the IUnknown interface.

Source: ActiveX Controls

Note OLE vs. Active technology: The name OLE denotes the technologies associated with linking and embedding, including OLE containers, OLE servers, OLE items, in-place activation (or visual editing), trackers, drag and drop, menu merging. The term Active applies to the Component Object Model (COM) and COM-based objects such as ActiveX controls. OLE Automation is now called Automation.

Source: OLE Topics

And yes they can do harm if they are not designed properly. Designing Secure ActiveX Controls

So make sure you use Windows updates, and any update feature on all of the devices you use to sync with.