Windows 10 Internet Explorer 11, accidentally deleted flash player add on for ie, and can't reinstall due to adobe loophole

Question

I have a Windows 10 laptop, and like to use the internet explorer 11 (personal preference, don't judge) on there as my browser. My computer was building up with trash files, and in an attempt to clean unnecessary files, I think I have accidentally deleted the file consisting of the add-on for the adobe flash player and ever since then, it doesn't seem to work on my laptop. Before this, it worked fine.

So I went on the links to download the adobe flash player, but it redirects it to the help page, saying windows 10 has flash embedded for ie. (1st loophole)

So I went to the help page for the flash player and checked for problems and it clearly says that it's not installed, so the first page was wrong when it suggested that I haven't enabled it.

In short, I accidentally deleted the file (I think), and it definitely isn't installed as suggested by the adobe help website. So I want to reinstall it. How??

Thanks guys. Please help!!!

_maria_ · Answer

Hi,There is no Adobe loophole. The OS detection on the download pages detects that the OS is Windows 10 and as of Windows 8, Microsoft embeds Flash Player in IE and Edge in Windows 10, and all updates are distributed by Microsoft, not Adobe, via Windows Update, as such, no installation file is offered for download. The Flash Player help page detects the OS and whether or not Flash is installed or enabled. If Flash Player is not present, or disabled, the page indicates this.The embedded Flash Player files are saved at C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash and are named: activex.vch, Flash.ocx, FlashUtil_ActiveX.dll and FlashUtil_ActiveX.exe. If this is a 64-bit OS there's another set of files in C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash. If you deleted these files, then yes, the embedded Flash Player was deleted from the system. Unfortunately, Microsoft does not provide a separate standalone installer to re-install the files that were deleted. You can try one of the following options to repair the deleted Flash Player from the system, but there is no guarantee this will work:Run System File Checker to repair files/permissions: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929833Find a previous Flash Player Update for IE/Edge KB article and run the installer.Updates up to Dec 2015 are listed here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/2755801for links to KB articles for previous version of Flash Player updates for IE/Edge which contain links to download the updates.Feb 2016 update is listed here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/security/ms16-022March 2016 update is listed here Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-036 - CriticalYou may need to do repeat this several times until you find one that works, that is if you find one that works.If these options do not fix the problem, please contact Microsoft customer support or their community forums for assistance.--Maria

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