Uninstalling Flash Player 19 and below using SCCM

[markr9105337]

I have numerous systems that have various versions of flash player xx active x up to version 20.  I need to be able to go in and update these systems and at the same time remove the previous version.  I want and need to do this silently do it when the system is idle so I can go in an not impact the user.  I downloaded the latest flash uninstaller, and I can manually run it and works perfectly.  I verified in the log file what the command line was that it used to do this and I try running it from a elevated DOS prompt and it does remove the application from the folder area but does not remove it from add/remove programs.  It fails there and you have to re-run it again from add/remove programs for it to be removed there.  Here is the command line that was generated when using the flash uninstaller: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil32_20_0_0_306_ActiveX.exe -uninstall activex -msi    and this is what I ran from the elevated DOC prompt.  The rest of the log file is the same as if I ran this from the Uninstall_Flash_Player.exe.  SO not sure why it is failing to remove it from add remove programs.

My goal is to be able to create the package in SCCM to do this and as part of that package run the uninstaller against the older versions to remove them prior to installing ver 20.  Any assistance with this would be appreciated.

[_maria_]

Hi,

There are a few issues wrong with your approach:

• While the FlashUtil file can be used to uninstall Flash Player, it will leave artifacts behind until the system is rebooted.  Mainly the FlashUtil file itself since it's in use during the uninstall. The file is marked for deletion in the registry and will be deleted once the system is rebooted
• -msi is not the correct argurment to use to completely remove Flash Player from a system.

To completely uninstall Flash Player, silently, from a system use the standalone uninstaller with the -uninstall argument (nothing else): uninstall_flash_player.exe -uninstall

If you have different player types (e.g. ActiveX and NPAPI plugin) and only want to remove one or the other include the player type argument (-activex or -plugin):

• To uninstall only the ActiveX Control: uninstall_flash_player.exe -uninstall activex
• To uninstall only the NPAPI plugin: uninstall_flash_player.exe -uninstall plugin

Information on uninstalling silently is included in Chapter 3 of the Flash Player Administrator Guide‌

The Flash Player Uninstaller is updated with each release.  If your deployment strategy includes running the uninstaller first and then deploying the new version you'll want to download the latest uninstaller with each release and use that for each deployment.

Note that running the uninstaller will reset the Flash Player update settings to their default settings which opts the system into notification updates. If you disable Flash Player updates on your client machines (e.g. to deploy solely using SCCM) you'll want to deploy a mms.cfg file disabling updates as part of your deployment strategy.  For example:  run the uninstaller, deploy the new version, deploy the mms.cfg file disabling updates.

The default update settings display as the following in the mms.cfg file:

AutoUpdateDisable=0

SilentAutoUpdateEnable=0

To completely disable updates set the update options to the following in the mms.cfg file:

AutoUpdateDisable=1

SilentAutoUpdateEnable=0

--

Maria

[juanf98727592]

This doesn't address how you would uninstall specific versions. In my case I deployed the new Adobe Flash version and realized the older versions did not get installed. I cant go back and run this uninstaller and then redeploy the newest version again, users need Flash and downtime needs to be minimized

[_maria_]

This doesn't address how you would uninstall specific versions.

There is no option to select a Flash Player version to uninstall using the standalone uninstaller.  If you're using the MSI installer, you can issue the msiexec command with the MSI GUID for a given Flash Player version.  However, only 1 version of Flash Player for a given type (ActiveX for IE, NPAPI for Firefox/Safari, or PPAPI for Chromium-based browsers) can exist on the system at any given time.

<edit>

In my case I deployed the new Adobe Flash version and realized the older versions did not get installed.

Please provide more details on this.  As I mentioned above, only one (registered) version of a Flash Player type can exist on a system at any given time.  If Flash Player was in use during the uninstallation process, the files in use cannot be deleted and are marked, in the registry, for deletion upon reboot.  This is standard process.  Is this, perhaps, what you are experiencing?

Please describe your situation in more detail, including, but not limited to, client operating system versions, Flash Player type (e.g ActiveX, NPAPI, PPAPI), installer used (exe, msi, etc), so that we may be able to better assist you.

Thank you

--

Maria