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Arrrggg! won't install Flash player due to active x not registered

Forum|Forum|15 years ago
June 23, 2010
5 replies
9340 views

I can't install any version of Flash Player in either windows explorer or firefox - keep getting the error: 'The ActiveX control for Flash Player could not be registered'

Have looked on the support site which suggests looking at a bunch of registry keys, none of which are found in search.

Have tried uninstalling both broswers, checking and unchecking add-ons in their control panels, logging in as administrator and every other recommendation I could find on the internet.

Note it was working ok earlier today until asking me to upgrade to version 10.

Very frustrated. Please help.

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer pwillener

Yes I still have the backup from yesterday, and added that key as suggested but no luck, still getting the error.

I was talking to our IT consultant about the issue and mentioned that the only change to my system config in recent times was to install Microsoft web expression 3. He suggested that maybe could have caused the issue, have you heard of any conflicts between the two ?

I never even heard of the product.

This is getting a bit difficult, and I have only one option left: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/163/fb1634cb.html

It was suggested some time ago that Flash Playe 10.x would automatically do that, but I'm not sure of that.

Can you read the article above, and do you think you can do that?

I have to go out now, but I will be back tomorrow, if you need help with that SubInACL thing.

P

perpends

Known Participant

I sympathize, as I've been having the same issues on an installation of xp sp3 home edition. For a couple of weeks, since attempting to update, I've been unable to use flash player on IE8, though I can get it to work with the latest version of Firefox. I haven't been able to determine why, and have laboriously worked through all the Adobe support articles, checked through the registry, run the subinacl tool, etc., etc.

In my case I was missing the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000} & HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{D27CDB6B-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} entries from from the registry, though I had the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{57A0E746-3863-4D20-A811-950C84F1DB9B} key present.

I added the D27 keys, according to the instructions from your advisor in this post, and rebooted, then attempted to install the flash player with the standalone ax.exe installer from the desktop, (browsers closed), and same registry failure error.

I recommend in the meantime you install firefox browser on your system, if you don't already have it, and use it with the flash plugin for firefox. That will get flash running temporarily on your system....

I'm about ready to do a clean install of my OS, because I can't find any corruption in the registry, and can't figure out any other way to repair the system...

I have kept current with ESET NOD32, have run clean scans with Malwarebytes, MBAM, and have no indications that there is malware present. The only problem is with flash....I think there's some issue with the installation of Flash on Home Edition versions of xp, but I can't be sure of this....

Anyway, I recommend as well that you ignore the last post from Tech378, who doesn't have the latest version of flash installed on his system and suggests malware....While your issue could I suppose be the result of malware, he's clearly mistaken in his assumptions....the latest flash installation is not the Flash10e version, but the Flash10h files you have in your system32 folder when you run the installer.

The previous advisor, pat willener, can be trusted, and regularly helps with adobe issues in this forum...

Good luck. It's pretty frustrating, I know....

T

Tech378

Participant

I must warn all of you that it is the post from perpends that you should be ignoring. A clean install of the OS?? Come on. What kind of solution is that? My system is working perfectly and always did. What perpends said about the OS version is wrong because my version of the OS is also Windows XP Home SP3 which he claims is not working well with Flash. My IE8 has no problems with Flash on my system either. And my version of Flash IS the latest version. If only he read my post properly he would see one of my files as FlashUtil10h_Plugin.exe (the 10H is there!!!). Sorry that I highlighted the wrong file by the way. I know that must have caused the confusion. Anyway, my Flash was updated without any glitch just before I posted here so whether I still have some 10e files leftover is irrelevant. Apparently when a computer works properly and doesn't require reinstalls of everything, not all files of a given program have to be updated due to the new version. Updating only requires a certain number of files to be updated. And yes perpends may be right that I don't have a history with the Adobe forums but to say that I cannot be "trusted"??? That’s rich. If anything, he should not be trusted based on my above points. As for the malware issues, have you tried Norton? Or Trend Micro? These are very reputable anti-malware companies so I would still recommend at least checking for infections. There is really no harm in scanning and in turn is certainly not a reason to brand me as untrustworthy.

Thanks

P

patti_mailAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks for all the replies. I have Trend running on my system and ran a adaware & CC Cleaner scan and didn't find anything dodgy. Haven't had time to have another look at the registry keys, but will give that a go later today and let you know. Have reverted to using Safari in the meantime.

T

Tech378

Participant

Update on 5 July 2010: No this is not a malware.

I researched and figured out what those ActiveX files are. They actually belong to a very good Debugger tool (Adobe Flash Player Content Debugger version). It's actually very good for reporting web page flash content error codes among other things.

However, I cannot take back what I said about perpends (in my other post) because I was right about the 10h thing and the OS version. Furthermore, it is still not acceptable to undermine other forum members who are willing to help with good intentions. As you can see I do admit when I'm wrong so there's no harm done.

So, here was what I said on 25 June 2010 (when I was wrong about malware):

Hi,

It seems that your computer is infected with a malware. If you take a look at my computer's files in that directory C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\

You can see that there are no such files by the names of FlashUtil10h_ActiveX.exe or FlashUtil10h_ActiveX.dll (as per your log posted earlier). I find those files very suspicious considering that my machine is really working perfectly without those files and is also running Win XP. I don't believe it's a permission issue at all. It is very common for Trojans to come in the form of downloaded ActiveX controls. Tell your IT consultant to check your system for infections. Please let me know what you find.

Thanks

F

Flex developers

Participant

Hi Try this sure it will work since i have the same problem and solved it using this method

go to

windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts open the hosts file in your favourite editor and make sure that there is only one entry for localhost, or if there are more, make sure that the last one looks like this:

127.0.0.1 localhost

hope in ur system the last one will be like ::1 chnge it to 127.0.0.1 localhost and u r problem is solved if solved please let me know..

P

patti_mailAuthor

Participating Frequently

Hi There, thanks for you reply. Checked my hosts file and is 127.0.0.1 already?

This is what it looks like:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host

127.0.0.1 localhost

pwillener

Legend

Before doing any registry manipulation, you must make a registry backup. Even very experienced users do that.

Either do the following:

take a System Restore Point (see this article http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/getstarted/ballew_03may19.mspx)
or use ERUNT to make a registry backup.

Once you have done the backup, allow all four of the above registry key Full Access.

P

patti_mailAuthor

Participating Frequently

I think I've set them now apart from the 3rd which I couldn't find. Shall I try installing again?

pwillener

Legend

Yes, please try again - good luck! (And make sure all browsers are closed when running the installer).

pwillener

Legend

You shouldn't get any ActiveX errors when installing the Firefox plugin; what error do you get on Firefox?

Are there any browser windows open when running the installation?

Try this:

download the FP uninstaller from http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/141/tn_14157.html (save to disk);
download both Internet Explorer and plugin installers from http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/fp_distribution3.html (save to disk);
close all browser windows, then run the downloaded uninstaller, followed by the installers.

P

patti_mailAuthor

Participating Frequently

Thanks for the reply.

Firefox is working after I re-installed flash as per your suggestion. Explorer still isn't woking, when I tried installing the ActiveX.exe file, got the same error saying it counld not be registered.

Yes, I did have the broswer open initially, however closed it down for subsequent attempts.

Here's the error:

pwillener

Legend

Are you running the installation from an Administrator account? If not, can you right-click on the installer, then select 'Run as Administrator'?

If it still fails, can you give me the contents of the FlashInstall.log file (in %WINDIR%\system32\Macromed\Flash or %WINDIR%\syswow64\Macromed\Flash [%WINDIR% usually is C:\Windows]).

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