Flash Player Won't Update on Firefox

[jrnyman78]

Hello,

I have attempted to update Flash Player numerous times without success. I am using Firefox Quantum ver. 56.0.1. When I check the version of Flash Player it shows Shockwave Flash v. 18.0.r0. It also shows that it was last updated March 7, 2016. Firefox has blocked it, obviously, because it is out of date.

I go through the process of updating it and every step completes ending with a final step which says the program was successfully updated. I then restart the browser only to find nothing has changed.

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate which is current on updates. I do not have any antivirus software running or any other software that may prevent Flash from updating.

As I stated above, Flash Player thinks it has updated successfully and gives no errors to the contrary. Aside from attempting to update it numerous times, the only other thing I have done is run the uninstaller which also shows that it has completed successfully but when I launch Firefox, it still shows ver. 18.0.r0 installed.

I hope I gave enough details for someone to be able to help me figure out what's wrong.

Thank you,

Steve

[Here is the list of all Adobe forums... https://forums.adobe.com/welcome]

[Moved... Shockwave is a different product... Mod]

[_maria_]

It sounds like there's a previous version of Flash somewhere on the system and Firefox is loading that, instead of the latest version.

Please go to C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash and post a screenshot of the files listed in this directory.

If this is a 64-bit OS, also go to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash directory and post a screenshot of all of the files in this directory.

https://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-7043#jive_content_id_How_do_I_attach_a_screenshot

Go to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features.  Make sure the Version column is displayed, if not, enable it.  What are the full names of the Flash Player entries listed and the corresponding version numbers?

[jrnyman78]

The version listed in Programs area of Control Panel is 29.0.0.113 which matches the screenshot below.

So, the correct version is installed but Firefox can't or won't recognize that it has been updated. If that's the case, no amount of uninstalling and reinstalling Flash is going to fix the problem. Looks like I need to seek help from Mozilla.

Thanks for your prompt help.

[_maria_]

Thank you for the screenshot.   In Firefox, please go to about:plugins and look for Shockwave Flash.  What is the File, Path and Version listed? 

[jrnyman78]

Here is what's listed in about:plugins...

[_maria_ · Accepted solution]

Perfect.  Thank you, and I apologize for not asking for this in the first place.

Based on the screenshot, there is a version of Flash Player (18.0.0..232) saved at C:\Users\Server\AppData\Hola\firefox_hola\app\flash and this is what Firefox is loading instead of version 29 saved at C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash.  If you rename NPSWF32_18_0_0_232.dll to something else, Firefox will load Flash Player 29 from C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash directory.

[jeromiec83223024]

More than likely, those files are corrupted on your disk and can't be overwritten.

You can validate this by uninstalling Flash Player.

Uninstall Flash Player - Windows:

https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html

My guess is that you'll still see it in Firefox.

If that's the case, try running the disk repair utility.  Disk corruption can sometimes be an early hint that a hard disk is failing, so if you have critical data and haven't made backups in a while, now is a good time to do that, before you give the disk a good workout.

Check your hard disk for errors - Windows 7:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2641432

If you discovered and corrected problems with the filesystem, then Uninstall Flash Player again and confirm that it's no longer present in Firefox.

At that point, you should be able to install successfully:

https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

If you're still stuck, the installation logs would be really helpful:

https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/installation-problems-flash-player-windows.html