Is there a problem using Flashplayer with Macs?

[dt7blue]

I have been a Flashplayer user for sometime using a iMac (using Osx version 10.7.5) and have been experiencing a lot of problems recently when trying to visit various sites e.g. BBC News, Tom Tom for upgrades. The website state I need to download the latest version of Flashplayer, which I then do and then once I have downloaded the latest version and click the prompt to revist the site I was on a) it doesn't take me back and b) when I go back to the same site it still saying I need to get the lastest version of FLashplayer! Annoying or what !!

[C_F_McBlob]

Do a "clean install".

Download the "offline installer": Flash Player (Mac OS X)

Save it - DON'T run it yet.

Spotlight Search "Flash Player.plugin". Search your Mac HD. Trash EVERYTHING that appears in the results.

Go to [user]/Library/Preferences. (Hold the "Option" key and click "Go" from the Finder menu to access your [user] Library folder.)

Trash the Macromedia folder (The WHOLE folder).

Go to Mac HD/Library/Internet Plugins.

Trash the flashplayer.xpt file.

Go to: Mac HD/Library/Application Support.

Trash the Macromedia folder (The WHOLE folder).

Empty the trash.

Make sure ALL browsers are fully quit. Press Cmd+Opt+Esc to open the Force Quit window if necessary, to be sure they are no longer running)

Mount the DMG and run the installer to reinstall Flash Player.

[dt7blue]

Thanks, I'll try it later when I am back at my Mac and let you know.

Best regards

David T

David Thomas

[dt7blue]

Hi MIke,

Can you please explain "Mount the DMG and run the installer to reinstall Flash Player"?

I didn't understand that part and I didn't want to start the whole clean install process until I knew what the last part meant.

[C_F_McBlob]

DMG=Disk Image - the file I linked

When you double click it, it "Mounts" like a CD or DVD on your desktop and a small window opens with the installer.

[dt7blue]

Great thanks again!

Best regards

David T

David Thomas

[dt7blue]

Hi Mike

I have followed your instructions 2 or 3 times and I am getting no joy, i.e. when I try and open a YouTube video of BCC News clip it says I don't have the right version of flashplayer. One thing though try as I might I don't seem to have this DMG image on my desktop so I don't know if that is the issue? However when I went to install the option I did click on the open with DMG (which is the defualt option.

Is there anything elase I can try?

Thanks for your patience!

[C_F_McBlob]

"Okily dokily" as Ned Flanders would say on "The Simpsons".

Let's try this with full illustration.

1. Spotlight search Flash Player Plugin (Search "This Mac")

2. Trash EVERYTHING that appears in the results.

3. Go to:

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[dt7blue]

Thanks Mike Stage 1 is complete

[C_F_McBlob]

Hang on Dave...

This are about 25 steps with pics and the connection reset on me in the middle of it.  Give me about 20 minutes to post the FULL set of instructions.

[dt7blue]

Sure, thanks for your help

Best regards

David T

David Thomas

[C_F_McBlob]

Spotlight search “Flash Player.plugin” (Search “This Mac” and choose "Show All in Finder")

Right click the Plugin and select “Open Enclosing Folder” Trash the Flash Player.plugin and flashplayer.xpt files.

Go to: [user]/Library/Preferences.

Note: You'll need to hold the "Option" key when you click "Go" from the Finder menu to access the [user] Library:

Without the "Option" key

And WITH

Trash the Macromedia folder there.

Go to: Mac HD/Library/Application Support. Trash the Macromedia folder there.

Go to: Mac HD/Library/Preference Panes (not Preferences, but Preference Panes). Trash the Flash Player.prefpane file there.

Empty the trash.

Download the Flash Player (For Mac OS X) again if necessary.

Quit Safari and go to your downloads folder. Double click the DMG to “mount it”.

It will appear on your desktop and a small window will open.

Double click the installer. If you see a warning, click “Open” to let it run.

Click “I have read and agree… etc.” and click “Install”. Enter your password when asked.

You may see the following: click “Force Close All” if you do, and then click “Retry”.

The installer will run.

Choose your update preference, and click “Done”.

Open Safari again and click Safari>Preferences (Cmd+,)

Go to the Security tab. Make sure “Allow plug-ins” is checked.

That should be a COMPLETE "clean install" for OS 10.7.5.

[dt7blue]

Hey Mike,

You did it, I am up and running. Great job and thanks for all your help and patience!

Many thanks

David T

[Dorey]

What about Windows 8 for ASUS LAPTOP could you show me what to do ? Because nothing is working out and I am affraid into do anymore downloading because I might crash my Computer and I am having trouble even getting to Adobe Website . I have tried to reinstall but it fails to connect and I have the Dish Internet Service . I am really getting frustrated with these troubleshooting issues with Flash Players and I just uninstalled Real Player to see if that was causing problems , but no didn't work . So , now I don't even have Real Player or Flash Players installed . There is message saying that with Windows 8 that I don't need Flash Players , but still nothing plays or run . Youtube tells me that I need to Install the latest version Flash Players and the video players on Youtube .com are blank with a spinning icon .  Let me know what is there to do ?

[C_F_McBlob]

RealPlayer is designed specifically for RMF files which almost NO sites use anymore. It's totally unnecessary software because there are alternatives to it that don't cause the problems it does.

The Youtube (you don't have Flash Player" issue is a known problem with Internet Explorer 11, which Microsoft has been aware of since October 18 when they released their latest "untested" browser. The pages can't recognize the browser, so they don't recognize any of the plugins, like Flash Player. So far, Microsoft has made NO indication that they have any plan to fix it soon.
Microsoft's recommendation is to use Compatibility View for affected pages, and "pretend" you're using an different browser. Trouble with that is it has seen limited success at best, and you have to individually enable it for EVERY page that has problems.
I'm not big on "pretending" so I recommend actually using another browser.

Firefox (from Mozilla)

Opera (from Opera)

Safari (from Apple)

Chrome (from Google)

ANY of those will work where IE11 won't, with the Flash Player Plug-in (For all other browsers), and Chrome doesn't even need that because it has its own Flash Player plugin built in.

[BeeJay25052]

I got mine working.  However I am curious.  I went through the user library and could not locate the Macromedia files or anything under the Preferenes Panes.  Where did these things go?

[C_F_McBlob]

The only thing you should see in "Preference Panes" (the items in your System Preferences) is Flash Player.prefPane.

The rest is in Preferences

[Guest]

Hey Mike, When trying to upload photos on my iMac to the web with FlashPlayer v. 11.9.900.170 I repeatedly get a Plug In Failure message. I followed your suggestion above to dt7blue to the letter, but still not working. Can you help further? thanks Jan

[C_F_McBlob]

1. Reset Safari (Click Safari>Reset Safari...)

2. Try another browser?

[Guest]

Thanks Mike. The rest did not change the problem, but I then downloaded Chrome and it is working fine. Cheers Jan

Sent from my iPad

[Guest]

Thank you very very much. It took me three try's but I did manage at the end.

[Guest]

I have followed your advice as I have the same problem. However when I try to empty my trash, I can't as apparently the 'FlashPlayer.prefpane' is in use. Can you elighten me please?

[C_F_McBlob]

Reboot and you can empty it from the trash. Or... from the Finder menu click FInder>Secure Empty Trash.

[Stagehand113]

You are a Godsend. I just had to install Lion, much to my dismay...(I love Snow leopard) and have nothing but problems. I downloaded the flashplayer update and the flashplayer quit on Safari and Firefox. Your instructions were easy and it worked on the first try. Thank you. Thank You. Thank You!

[AccentCreate]

Hi Mike,

I started to follow your instructions, but discover that I don't have a Library under Users, only one in the main HD folder, above Users.

Is this an issue I should worry about? Every seems to work fine, except for videos in Chrome.