Failed to Register + Adobe Flash Installation

Report · Jan 04, 2017

Hi,

I am trying to install Adobe Flash onto a machine and I get the following Error message "Adobe Flash Player: Failed to Register"

I have followed all of the suggestions on the internet and have had no success.

I have checked the permission of the following locations:

C:\Windows\System32\Macromed

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed

with machines that the installation works on and the permissions seem to be correct.

Here is the latest log file enties

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashInstall.log

=O====== M/24.0.0.186 2017-01-04+22-48-32.581 ========

0000 00000044

0001 00000045

0002 00001113 C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Flash Player\www.macromedia.com\bin\* 3

0003 00000010 "C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Local\Adobe\D00F6EC7-E789-4891-9894-493E8A31A2D0\9BC80E4C-EA94-4E56-8956-1384F8BED45D\8AE68D52-CA5F-436A-A47A-F75939FC69B0" -install -iv 8

0004 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/UninstallerPath 2

0005 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\SafeVersions/24.0 2

0006 00000011 1

0007 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe Flash Player ActiveX/ 2

0008 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\\FlashUtil32_24_0_0_186_ActiveX.exe/ 2

0009 00000013

0010 00000015 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil32_24_0_0_186_ActiveX.exe

0011 00000016 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil32_24_0_0_186_ActiveX.dll

0012 00000023 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\activex.vch

0013 00001032 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\Flash32_24_0_0_186.ocx 0

0014 00000018

0015 00001032 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\Flash32_24_0_0_186.ocx 0

=X====== M/24.0.0.186 2017-01-04+22-48-54.710 ========

C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\FlashInstall.log

=O====== M/24.0.0.186 2017-01-04+22-48-40.769 ========

0000 00001113 C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Flash Player\www.macromedia.com\bin\* 3

0001 00000010 "C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Temp\{73938A88-6371-4339-860A-457C2DED9402}\InstallFlashPlayer.exe" -install -skipARPEntry -iv 8 -au 4294967295

0002 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\SafeVersions/24.0 2

0003 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe Flash Player ActiveX/ 2

0004 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\\FlashUtil64_24_0_0_186_ActiveX.exe/ 2

0005 00000013

0006 00000015 C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil64_24_0_0_186_ActiveX.exe

0007 00000016 C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil64_24_0_0_186_ActiveX.dll

0008 00000023 C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\activex.vch

0009 00001032 C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\Flash64_24_0_0_186.ocx 0

0010 00000018

0011 00001032 C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\Flash64_24_0_0_186.ocx 0

=X====== M/24.0.0.186 2017-01-04+22-48-49.330 ========

There is not much clue as to why the installation will not work.

Can one one please assist me?

Report · Jan 04, 2017

Hi,

Please provide the following information:

Operating system on the impacted machine
Is this happening in an enterprise environment, or personal computer? If enterprise environment, how many systems are impacted?
You stated you checked the permissions on C:\Windows\System32\Macromed and C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed directories "with machines that the installation works on and the permissions seem to be correct." Is this a typo? What are the permissions on systems that failed?
Please upload the entire log files (both FlashInstall.log files from the system32 and syswow64 directoreis) to cloud.acrobat.com/send using the instructions at How to share a document and post the link to the uploaded files in your reply. Also post a screenshot of the contents of the C:\Windows\System3\Macromed\Flash and C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash directories.
Post the link to the uploaded files and screenshots in your reply.

Note: If this is an enterprise environment the online installers that you are using are not meant to be used in an enterprise environment. They download and install Flash Player silently in the background and will not work with deployment tools.

--

Maria

Report · Jan 04, 2017

Hi,

The installation is for Windows 2012r2 and is effecting 4 Servers so far. We have a number of 2012r2 Servers that have the Flash application installed.

I am installing the application manually.

I have uploaded all of the documents as requested here is the link Shared Files - Acrobat.com

Thanks

Euan

Report · Jan 04, 2017

Forgot the screenshots

Report · Jan 04, 2017

Microsoft embeds Flash Player for IE in Windows Server 2012. It's not enabled by default. You need to enable Desktop Experience to enable Flash Player in IE. See Install Desktop Experience – Windows Server 2012 R2 – 250 Hello for information on enabling Desktop Experience. Since Microsoft embeds Flash Player in IE on Server 2012, all Flash Player updates are distributed by Microsoft via Windows Update.

Flash Player ActiveX installer doesn't run on Windows Server 2012r2. It fails with an error message indicating the version of IE installed already includes Flash Player. Based on the screenshot you posted, you've manually installed a version of Flash Player for IE before (the file name of the embedded version is different than the manually installed version). How were you able to install it?

Regarding your PM to me for the MSI installer, If you applied for the distribution license to get the Flash Player ActiveX installer for Sever 2012, it'll fail for the same reason.

--

Maria

Report · Jan 04, 2017

Hi,

Thanks for the e-mail.

I ran the installation file on the Server and the application installed. The installation file is called flashplayer24ax_ra_install.exe I did this for about 30 Servers (all Win2k12r2). The desktop experience is installed\enabled already on all of the Servers.

I didn't apply for the Flash Player ActiveX installer for Sever 2012 I need it for another application.

So are you saying that I cann't manually install Flash onto the Servers?

Thanks

Report · Jan 04, 2017

"So are you saying that I cann't manually install Flash onto the Servers?" Correct - this is most likely why you're getting the 'failed to register' error as Microsoft locks the registry entries pertaining to Flash Player ActiveX. You'll need to use Windows Update to update Flash Player for IE on Server 2012. Microsoft Security Bulletins are posted at Security Bulletins 2016 . The latest Microsoft Security Bulletin for Flash Player for IE is posted at Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-154 - Critical

While the offline installer behaves correctly (fails to install Flash Player ActiveX on Server 2012), I have found that the online installer (what you are using) is not behaving correctly. Correct behaviour is to immediately display a message that the version of IE on the system already includes Flash Player and that Windows Update will update Flash Player. I will file a bug with the online installer team to fix this and prevent the online installer from running on Server 2012.

--

Maria

Report · Jan 11, 2017

To be totally clear, we explicitly do not support Flash Player on the Windows Server variants. We don't specifically prevent you from installing it where it works, but we're not testing or fixing bugs specific to Windows Server.

We'd recommend using Flash Player with one of the supported versions of Windows listed on our system requirements page, below:

Adobe Flash Player | Tech specs