Desktop application cannot find installed version of Flash Player

Sometimes software packages (ancient copies of Quickbooks come to mind) take advantage of the installed ActiveX Flash Player on Windows systems.

With the release of Windows 8 (and now Windows 10), Flash Player isn't a discrete piece of software, but a built-in component of Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.

The assumptions that those software packages make about the location and availability of Flash Player on Windows 7 no longer hold true in modern versions of Windows, and the software will report errors (and in extreme examples, refuse to install), because the software itself is looking in the wrong location.

Unfortunately, these kinds of problems require intervention from the software developer, or compatibility-minded workarounds, like running a virtual machine with an older copy of Windows, just for that specific program.

but the program I am using doesn't show it as installed and/or updated

Not sure what you mean by this.  Flash Player is a browser plugin and only works in the browser.  Please be more specific in describing your issue, so that we may be able to better assist you, providing the following information:

• Operating system version
• Web browser and version
• Flash Player version
• Explain your problem in step-by-step detail if possible
• A direct link to a web page that demonstrates the problem
• If you get error messages, please provide a screenshot