Flash content not displaying in IE for only some users - free lunch to whomever can fix!

[Bookem_Danno]

OK - A free lunch to whomever can figure this one out!

(I've searched this forum and the Internet for anyone else having the same issue, but came up empty handed).

We have a Windows/AD domain with various versions of Windows & Internet Explorer installed (mostly XP with IE7).

We also have Flash player installed on just about all PCs, and we upgrade to the latest version (10.2.x.x)

whenever we (IT Techs) come across a machine with an older version.

For a few users (myself included), Flash content will not display when using Internet Explorer.  I've

done extensive testing and found that this happens on both Windows XP & 7, and both IE 7 &  8.

When I'm logged on to the machines in question (I've tested this on 7 different computers/laptops),

Flash content will not display using IE.  For example, http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

doesn't show the flash-based information that is supposed to display the version of the Flash player.

If I right-click on the area where the information is supposed to show, it looks like this:

If I browse the same page using FireFox (v3.6), the information displays successfully.

If one of my co-workers (in IT) logs on to one of the machines in question, the Flash

content displays successfully in IE for him/her.  When I'm logged on, I check the IE

settings (Manage Add-ons) and "Shockwave Flash Object" shows up Enabled.

I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling Flash player.  Even though this happens on every

machine I log onto (and so doesn't appear to be an issue with a corrupt profile),

I deleted and recreated my Windows profile on a few machines.  I've also tried

installing an older version of Flash (v9).  However, none of this has helped.

We don't really have many AD group policies in effect, and I don't know of any

that would cause Flash content not to display.  But, I don't really know what else

would 'follow me around' no matter which PC I try. (Again, this is happening to a

few other users here as well).

Any ideas??  Any other trouble-shooting I can do to help narrow the scope of the problem?

[chris.campbell]

Any chance you could clear your browser cache, then load this page under an HTTP monitor (like Charles or Microsoft's Network Monitor) to see what happens?

Thanks,

Chris

[chris.campbell]

Another question, have you ever installed the 64-bit preview of the Flash Player?

Chris

[Bookem_Danno]

I hadn't used it before, but just downloaded MS Network Monitor (3.4) and

ran a capture for http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/,

but I'm not sure how to interpret the results?  Also, I have not

installed the 64-bit preview of the Flash player, but the majority of

our PCs are running 32-bit XP.

[ozark542]

I had this problem for months. On my Vista operating system, HP desk top, I could not get the Adobe Flash player to install. The program would not appear on the list of installed programs, even though the Adobe download page would tell me I had downloaded it correctly. It would, however, appear on the Programs and Features page and I could uninstall it, which I did countless times. Here's what solved the problem for me:

1) Open Internet Explorer

2) Click on  "Tools"

3) Click on "Manage Add-ons"

4) Under "Adobe Systems Incorporated" find "Shockwave Flash Object"

5) If this is your problem the status will show "Disabled"

6) Highlight the entire entry and click on "Enable" at the bottom of the page.

7) Status should now read "Enabled"

8) Uninstall the flash player, if it is currently installed.

9) Download Flash Player normally.

10) This procedure worked for me, and I didn't even have to restart the computer.

Good luck 

[Bookem_Danno]

Thanks for the reply.  Unfortunately, that's not the problem here...I already verified

that the ActiveX control shows as "Enabled" in Manage Add-ons (see my original post).

Free lunch offer is still out there.................

[EHdzRomero]

   YouTube videos cannot be watched after installing the "update" (hahaha!!!; "update"?, I'd say, DOWNGRADE!); besides, I (well, not really me, my sister) tried viewing flash animations about Biology because of her homework, and they NEVER appeared, just a "scary X", hehehe...

   I Googled it and I found an issue with this "new" version; I disabled an internal configuration, the issue was fixed and I helped another user with same problem too, right here: http://forums.adobe.com/message/3524797 , thing that Adobe DIDN'T DO...

Greetings...

[Bookem_Danno]

Thanks, but another dead-end.  At least you were initially getting sound

from videos.  With our issue, the player will not display at all, so de-selecting

"hardware acceleration" is not even an option.

[chris.campbell]

Would you mind sending me your network capture file (.cap) so I could take a look?  You can email me at ccampbel@adobe.com.

Thanks,

Chris

[Guest]

Hello Bookem_Danno,

we've been deploying Flash (the redistributable) also in our company and for some customers via a software deployment tool and experienced several different problems through the flash Verisons. By the time we've developed a update process which works out quite nice since a few flash versions

1. Ensure that all Internet Explorers are closed

2. Registry Fix: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/494/cpsid_49419.html

3. Run Flash Player uninstaller: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/141/tn_14157.html (supports silent / unattended switches)

4. Install Flash Player redistributional

Thats what we did in our installation script for every flash player upgrade.

This works for 100% of all 2500 Windows XP and Windows 7 PCs (IE7 and IE8) in our company in the meanwhile.

I can only remember a problem in the past where we experienced problems with Flash being installed and showed active but not showing any flash content. That happened to us when we either slipstreamed Internet Explorer patches / versions into our installation sources OR using images prepared with Sysprep where we a) Updated the Internet Explorer (Patches and Versions above the original Version provided with the OS) b) Flash Player was preinstalled.

The onliest thing that helped in that case was to fully reinstall / repair the broweser and reinstall Flash Player (using the above update process).

Hope that helps

[Bookem_Danno]

Thanks for the suggestion.  Unfortunately, it did not resolve the problem.

I had already tried modifying Registry permissions based on other forum updates and knowledgebase

articles I had reviewed.  But, I went ahead and tried running the script of SUBINACL commands and

giving it another go.  But it resulted in the same thing....IE won't show content (for me), but FireFox

works perfectly.

[Guest]

Hi, I've read this thread and followed the suggestions. Clearly something is blocking Flash content, especially since you have the Shockwave Flash Object enabled.

One of the first things to check is by going to Tools, Internet Options. Under the Security Tab, make sure it's set to Medium for the Internet Zone.

The other is an Anti-Virus block. Which AV do you use?

Just a couple of things to check since I haven't seen either one mentioned.

eidnolb

[Bookem_Danno]

Thanks for your response and suggestions.

The Internet Zone is set to "Medium" (I even tried the "Reset all zones to

default level" option, but that didn't matter).  Interesting thing is that logging

on to the same machine with another account which has the security level

up one notch to "Medium-High" still displays Flash content successfully.

We use Symantec Endpoint Protection (ver 11), but I don't see anything

in any of the logs, and I would suspect that if the problem were being

caused by SEP filtering then it should affect all users of the machine

(and that's not the case).

[Guest]

Hi, thanks. Ok on the Internet Zone Setting; it was just something that can be overlooked that I thot I'd mention.

I'll see what I have on Symantec.

Thanks for checking.

eidnolb

[Adhmiss]

I have a similar problem.  My company has upgraded from XP and IE6 to Windows 7,64bit, IE8 - and a previously functioning process map that I developed in Flash now has one mysterious issue.. there are 7 buttons on  the first level of the map - and the final button has simply stopped working for about a handful of users.  I have learned to double save and my work since Windows 7 causes the occasional .fla to become corrupt - but this is a new pest.  Any ideas are welcome!

[cnfrisch]

Try the following (assuming you have Adobe Flash Player installed):

• Restart your computer

• Open Internet Options (located in the Control Panel)

• Click on the Advanced tab

• Click on the Reset button, place a check next to Delete Personal Settings and then click Reset.

• Launch IInternet Explorer and Adobe Flash Player should now be properly enabled.

[Bookem_Danno]

Thanks, but that didn't resolve the problem.

[Guest]

Okay, let's have another look at this.

First of all, please don't compare Firefox Flash to Internet Explorer Flash. Those two use completely different methods of installing.

Then, you say "Flash does not display for several users". That mean, you logon to a computer, and you cannot display Flash, while another user logs on the same computer and can display Flash in IE.

If that's so that leaves only a few possible errorsources.

I would say either one of you applies:

1. You use Group Policys on certain users. One of them produces this Flash problem.

How to check that? Easy: Take a domain user with working flash and do a "gpresult" in the DOS-Box. Check which GPOs are applied to the uers.

Now logon your user, verify that Flash is not working and do the same. Check again which Group Policys are applied to your user account.

Compare them... if you see a difference, check these differing policys.

2. You use Server-Stored-Profiles:

If your userprofile is stored on the Server, no matter where you are logged on. The Application Data and so on will be same on all computers. Same as your internet settings and stuff. If you have ever done anything in the past, that kills flash for certain users (by accident), then this mistake is stored on the server and will occure on all Computers you are logged on.

How to check: Delete your server stored profile (or rename it) and logon to a computer, see if flash is working.

Or: Logon to a computer using a local account, no domain account.

3. You have a faulty default user profile:

Some companys have copied a "Default User" folder in their netlogon. If this is there, and you logon to a domain computer the very first time, it uses the server stored default user profile instead of the local one.

How to check:

Go to \\%logonserver%\NETLOGON and check if there is a Default User folder.

If its there, rename it (or let a domain admin do it, if you are not the one).

Now logon to a computer where you've never logged on before, and check if flash is working.

4. a mix of these:

Like... if you setup your PCs via Image, the faulty default user profile could be local. But if you use server stored profiles, it does not happen to every user, just new ones, or users where you recreate the user profile.

Further possible solutions:

- Delete: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer

- Delete: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Internet Settings

- Delete: %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Internet Explorer

- Delete: %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Internet Explorer

Reboot

these should be rebuilt and IE should be fully default configuration

[Bookem_Danno]

Velocy,

Actually, IE and FireFox have very similar methods for installing the Flash plug-in.  It's just that

FireFox (not being a Microsoft product) is most likely immune to any other Windows hooks

(like AD, etc) that may be causing IE Flash to fail like this.

1. We have very few GPOs in effect.  One of the accounts that I know Flash Player displays

for successfuly in IE is in the same OU that my account is in (GPRESULT shows the same

GPOs).  Just for kicks, I even tried moving one of the machines into the default COMPUTERS

OU, but that didn't change anything.

Can you tell me any specific Group Policy entries that I might search for??

2. We don't user roaming profiles,

3. We don't have a Default User folder in the NETLOGON share.  As I mentioned in my original

post, I did try blowing away my Windows profile on one of the machines.  I also tried logging on

to a machine that I'd never logged on to before.

4.  I tried deleting the Registry/Profile entries as suggested, but the same problem persists.

[Bookem_Danno]

Discovered another thing yesterday, which really only serves to confuse me further

instead of narrowing things down:

I had to get the 'instructor' PC set up in one of our training rooms, and logged on with

one of our master Domain Admin accounts.  This account has been able to view

Flash content in IE just fine on all the PCs where Flash wasn't working for my

account (which is also a member of Domain Admins).  Well, on the instructor PC,

IE/Flash would not work for the master account.

This does seem to indicate that Group Policy is not to blame, since it can't be a

machine-based policy (since some accounts work on a computer where mine doesn't)

and it can't be a user-based policy (since, like with the master account, it might

work just fine on one computer but not on another).  I'm starting to think that this is

just simply a 'bug' of some sort with Adobe Flash Player, at least the IE ActiveX

version.  Frustrating thing is that I haven't come up with a fix or work-around that

works (aside from using Firefox instead).

[Bookem_Danno]

Didn't need to buy anybody lunch, because we came across the "fix"

in-house.  But, thought I'd post the resolution here in case anyone

else stumbles across this "stumper" looking for an answer:

Our Internet filtering device (made by M86 Security) has a global

setting called "Pattern Blocking" which, according to the documentation

I finally found after the fact, is supposed to help block "the usage of

Proxy clients such as Google Web Accelerator and various proxy

pattern types".  Apparently, it blocks more than just that because

that was what was stopping the Flash content.  The setting is supposed

to be disabled by default, so it still remains unanswered how it got

turned on.  But, the probe (real-time log) showed entries in the Flash

VIdeo categorey with a pattern name including "Flash_IEProt".  So,

it seems to pick on only Internet Explorer (i.e. ActiveX), but not for all

users and not consistently. (That's why FireFox, Chrome, etc were not

affected.  In fact, I could get the Flash content to display in IE if I

went into the source code and hard-coded the URL to the MOVIE=

parameter).

That useless option was disabled like it should have been, and

all was well with Flash afterward.

[chris.campbell]

Thanks for letting us know and I'm glad to hear you resolved the problem!  That would have been a tough one to track down!

Chris

[normedia]

Hi, i am battlingv with this very issue, have uploaded and published webpage a million different ways thinking it was the coding or the flash movie, it all works fine in google chrome, firwfox etc. but not in IE (frustrating!!!) - so if i understabnd correctly it is a problem with IE settings?

please assist, did not quite understand what needs to be done to resolve this issue?

thank you,

[Bookem_Danno]

Don't know if you are doing this in a home- or work-environment, but if you are using some sort of filtering program or hardware (like the one I mentioned we use by M86 Security), you may need to check settings relating to ActiveX content.  In my case, I had to disable a setting called "Pattern Blocking", which was preventing ActiveX-based Flash content from loading properly in Internet Explorer.

[aless34844211]

I have same problem where flash plugin is working but content is not displayed and when i right click on content it say "Movie not loaded..." and "About Adobe Flash Player 19...". Other thing is that when i go to FaceBook and open game it works fine (and yes it uses flash) but most of other pages (and some other FaceBook games) that use flash are bugging out or not loading... Can someone help please?