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QueenMaeve
QueenMaeve
Participant
July 11, 2017
Question

Flash Installer choosing different versions of installer

  • July 11, 2017
  • 1 reply
  • 372 views

I am running Windows 8.1 Pro.  I use Firefox browser.  Both are updated fully.  I have Flash installer set to "Notify me to install updates."  Occasionally I receive an Adobe notice as soon as I boot into Windows that an update to Flash is available.  I tell it to install the update, it appears to proceed normally and I am asked to save an update file to my hard drive.  This is all exactly how I want it to work, but every time this happens, the file I am given to download is named "flashplayerXXau_ha."  However, if I go to the Flash website and ask it to check my version and download the latest update, the file I am given to download is named "flashplayerXX_xa."  Why do the two files have different names?  What is the difference between the two files?

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1 reply

_maria_
_maria_
Legend
July 11, 2017

Essentially there is no difference between the two files except for the file name.  The online installer (which this is) is a shim installer that downloads and installs Flash Player silently in the background with any optional third party offers the user may have chosen.  Since there are a myriad of options, the file name changed based on the options.


HTH.

--

Maria

QueenMaeve
QueenMaeveAuthor
Participant
July 11, 2017

Thanks for the clarification.  I must say that I think this is a very bad idea.  With all the malware and spyware and phishing out there, the fact that I am prompted by a popup to download a file with a name that is different from the one I get by going directly to the Adobe site is a Giant Red Flag to me.  I don't trust popups, not even popups that look like legitimate Adobe update alerts.  If I receive one, I always go to the vendor's site to verify that there really is an update available, and if when I get to the vendor's site I find the update they are recommending has a different file name, I become suspicious.

There is a difference between the two installers.  The one I receive directly from Adobe's site (flashplayerXX_xa) offers me two third-party options, and the one I receive from the update alert (flashplayerXXau_ha) offers me only one third-party option (McAfee).  This difference also makes me suspicious.

_maria_
_maria_
Legend
July 11, 2017

I totally understand your concern.  Unfortunately, I'm not privy to the third party offering rules to determine what is offered and when.  I would actually recommend opting into Background Updates.  Notification Updates, what you currently have selected, can take up to 7 days to notify the user an update is available, whereas, Background Updates usually updates the system, with no user interaction, within 24 hours of an update being released. For example, version 26.0.0.137 was released earlier today.  A system opted into Background Updates will be updated to 26.0.0.137 within the next 24 hours.  A system opted into Notification Updates will take up to 7 days to notify the user an update is available.

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