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D Todd Robinson
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MSI deployment problem/previous MSI Versions or Uninstaller?

Jul 23, 2012 1:48 PM

Tags: #version #msi #uninstaller #previous #flash_player_11 #flash_player_10

I'm attempting to deploy the latest Flash Player 11.3.300.265 MSI but almost every installation is failing.  If I try to deploy the MSI manually on a problem workstation, I'm prompted for previous versions of the MSI.  Apparently the older copy of the MSI we have on our file server doesn't match what's on some of the desktops, so I receive error 1714 and the installation fails.  On workstations that have the same MSI version as what's on our file server installed, the new MSI installs properly as it's locating the previous MSI it needs.  Apparently the newer MSI packages are dependent upon whatever existing MSI is currently loaded. So my solutions appear to be:

 

  1. Obtain each previous MSI package from version 10 and up and rotate the version stored on our network file share. Each workstation will then eventually see the old version it's looking for to faciliate a successful installation of the new MSI.
  2. Find an automated way to uninstall the current version of Flash Player and run this task ahead of the new Flash Player MSI deployment task.

 

Option 1 would require me to obtain each previous version we may have deployed.  Is there such a file repository available?

 

Option 2 is something I've tried working on but have not been successful.  The Flash Player uninstaller does not seem to work correctly.  After running it I'm still prompted for the previous MSI at the original location it was deployed from.  The Player is not listed in Programs and Features/Add-Remove Programs and the Flash directories in the Windows system folders only have the Flash log file and nothing else.

 

Any suggestions?  Thanks!

2242 Views   7 Replies   Latest reply: D Todd Robinson, Aug 7, 2012 10:05 AM
 
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  • naimc@
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    1. naimc@,
    Aug 3, 2012 1:04 PM   in reply to D Todd Robinson
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    Hi Todd

     

    There is a "universal flash player installer" you can get it here  :  from http://download.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/support/uninsta ll_flash_player.exe. 

     

    This uninstaller gets updated with each flash player release. You also need to get the current copy to  uninstall the latest version of the flash players.

     

    here are some notes I've placed in my script

     

    REM WARNING a new copy of uninstall_flash_player.exe must always be used for every new Flash version.
    REM from http://download.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/support/uninsta ll_flash_player.exe
    REM After downloading remove the "unblock" stream from uninstall_flash_player.exe
    REM

     

    This will get ride of all prevous version.


    		uninstall_flash_player.exe -uninstall

     

    after this you can install the current version with the msi files.

     

    Good luck.

     

    Naim.

     
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  • Pat Willener
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    2. Pat Willener,
    Aug 3, 2012 8:49 PM   in reply to D Todd Robinson
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    D Todd Robinson wrote:

     

    I'm attempting to deploy the latest Flash Player 11.3.300.265 ...

    Just curious: why are you trying to deploy an "older" version, when 11.3.300.268 has several bugs fixed?

     
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  • Prosper87
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    3. Prosper87,
    Aug 4, 2012 9:34 AM   in reply to Pat Willener
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    Question: What is the latest version of FP for Firefox? Is it 11.3.300.268 as I find on the Adobe Website or is it 11.3.300.270 as it shows in my installed programs. The latter version installed itself on August 3.

     
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  • Pat Willener
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    4. Pat Willener,
    Aug 4, 2012 7:28 PM   in reply to Prosper87
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    See http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1043626

     
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  • D Todd Robinson
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    5. D Todd Robinson,
    Aug 7, 2012 7:02 AM   in reply to Pat Willener
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    Pat, that was the latest version I could find when I was originally attempting to deploy this.  Nice to know there's another update.  I will download this one for deployment.

     
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  • D Todd Robinson
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    6. D Todd Robinson,
    Aug 7, 2012 7:09 AM   in reply to naimc@
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    Thanks a lot for the tips.

     

    We have two options for deploying MSI packages, AD and Novell Zenworks.  We prefer to use Zenworks as it allows you to run executable files with switches before the MSI is deployed and also gives us feedback on whether the installation was successful or not (with AD, I assumed the installations were working but they were not).  I tried using Zenworks to run an uninstaller I found and didn't have success, nor did it appear to work when I ran it by itself.  I'll try your link.  I could have been an older version of it.

     

    I did also manually remove Flash Player by using Programs and Features...still the installation asks me for the previous installation media, which is what lead me to think I'll have to provide previous versions on the file server for the installations to see.  Hopefully this uninstaller will remove whatever is left causing the problem.

     
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  • D Todd Robinson
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    7. D Todd Robinson,
    Aug 7, 2012 10:05 AM   in reply to D Todd Robinson
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    So after running the uninstaller with the -uninstall switch I'm still not able to get the MSI to successfully install.  It begins the installation and presents this dialog: "The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable."  It prompts for the source and is prefilled with the location of the previous version's MSI.  We do not have the older versions but boy do I wish I would have kept them.  Cancelling this prompt brings up Error 1714 warning that the old version cannot be removed.

     

    Is there any other way to clean up whatever is left behind from the old installations?  It's not listed in my list of programs. Also, I can deploy these MSI packages to other machines with no Flash Player software installed and can even make it work if the machine has the version currently on the file share.  The problem is the 100+ target machines have different versions of the player installed...

     

    ...and I have a big mess I can't seem to clean up!

     
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