Basic information on Flash Killer / "kill-bit"

Report · Jan 24, 2011

Microsoft has a method to easily disable certain ActiveX controls, using a "kill-bit". It is documented at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797

The "kill-bit" for Flash Player is documented in http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/190/tn_19091.html

What does that mean?

Flash Player may not be working on Internet Explorer, and the 'Shockwave Flash Object' add-on may not show up at all. Most likely because the FP ActiveX has been "kill-bited" by some anti-malware app.

How to check and remove the "kill-bit"?

WARNING! Fiddling with the Windows Registry may render Windows or installed components unusable. Always make a registry backup or a System Restore Point before attempting to manually change anything in the registry!

open the registry editor: Start | Run | type regedit.exe
navigate to this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000}
if that key does not exist, then the "kill-bit" for Flash Player is not set
if it contains a DWORD entry with the name Compatibility Flags that has any value other than 0x00000000, then the "kill-bit" for Flash Player may be set
to remove the "kill-bit" do any of the following
- change the value from 0x00000400 to 0x00000000 (right-click | Modify | change value data to 0)
- or delete the registry key (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000}) completely
close the registry editor when done

Report · Jan 26, 2011

Since we had another user that had this Kill-bit on 1/25/11 and used your info, I am bumping this up.

Thanks Pat, good info & idea!!

eidnolb

Report · Jan 27, 2011

I have copied the info from this topic into the sticky "Reader this before you post" article: http://forums.adobe.com/message/3432049#3432049, so we don't need to bump this any more.

Report · Jan 27, 2011

Resetting the "kill-

bit" to zero fixed my problem.

I entered a seperate post to Flag this fix. It may not solve everyone's problem, but it solved mine.

Thank you very much

Report · Jan 28, 2011

After a PM discussion with eidnolb I realize that it was not the best recommendation to ask users to modify their Windows registry. There are indeed safer ways to update registry information.

The easiest would be if I could upload a .REG file as an attachment, but forum attachments are still disabled. Therefore the next best thing is to have users create, then execute a .REG file. Or download the zipped .REG file at the bottom of this post from my own website.

Do the following:

open Notepad
select and copy the three (four, if counting the blank line) lines below, then paste them into the Notepad window

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000}]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000000

save the Notepad data as Remove_kill-bit or similar (to the Desktop, or My Documents), then close Notepad
right-click on the saved file, then rename it to Remove_kill-bit.reg
double-click on the renamed file to execute it
when you get a pop-up "Are you sure you want to add the information ... to the registry?" click [Yes].

Alternatively you can download a zipped version (Remove_kill-bit.zip) from this attachment

Report · Feb 25, 2011

I have entered a Feature Request to add the removal of the "kill-bit" registry key to the Flash Player uninstaller.

Issue: https://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FP-6266

The "kill-bit" removal has been added to the 10.3 installer.

Message was edited by: ʇɐb ɹəuəllıʍ