How can I stop Flash Player from slowing my computer down?

Question

I'm not a techy type so forgive my layman description of the problem please.

My Flash Player is really slowing down my computer, sometimes to the point where it just freezes. I uninstalled it and then re-installed it but that hasn't made any difference. It works a lot better if I use Firefox instead of Chrome as a browser which suggests the issue might be with Chrome......but I always use Chrome and I am very familiar with it and this is a recent phenomena.

I recently received a spam email that attempted to get me to update my Flash Player and this would seem to be the root cause. I have since swept the PC for virus and the check came back clear. Also did a system reboot scan and nothing. I then uninstalled Chrome and re-installed but again, no difference.

I'd rather fix the issue than switch to Firefox full-time. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

jeromiec83223024 · Answer

From your description, it sounds like you followed a suspicious link in an email to what was probably a fake Flash Player installer (we don't send you emails telling you to update). Since Flash Player is a built-in component of Chrome, there's no separate installer to download, and Chrome handles the work of ensuring that you're up-to-date.

If the performance problem has existed since that point and it wasn't a problem before, I'm dubious as to whether the tools you're using have actually identified and corrected the infection. If it were my personal machine (*especially* if I was doing work, banking, healthcare, etc. on it), I'd back my data up to an external hard disk or online backup service, wipe the whole machine and start over from pristine sources. Ultimately that's a judgement call and has to do with your risk tolerance.

I was going to suggest uninstalling and reinstalling Chrome, but you've done that already. In my personal opinion, this falls into the category of "if it sounds sketchy, it probably is", but the forensics required to identify and correct the underlying problem are probably far more difficult and time consuming than just wiping and rebuilding the machine.

As always, we strongly advise against clicking through on links or pop-up messages to Flash Player downloads, and this holds true for all of your software. Always download it directly from the vendor (or the relevant app store) rather than following links. Humans are the weak link in that particular security chain. Use Google, or navigate directly to the vendor's site by typing in their address, and find the product download that you want that way. This prevents all kinds of attacks aimed and tricking you into downloading something fake.

Flash Player downloads can always be found here:
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

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