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Is there a Flash ActiveX registry cleaner?

May 18, 2012 7:04 AM

Tags: #delete #add/remove #registry #keys #installax.exe

Recently it has come to our attention that one of the version 10 Flash Player ActiveX releases caused registry problems that prevented successful upgrades even after the deployment has shown a successful installation via SCCM. The bad version caused a series of registry artifacts, and bad entries in Add/Remove Programs (as many as 8 bad entries from previous upgrades). This is now causing some complaints among users, and investigation has revealed an alarming number of computers with broken Flash Player ActiveX installations.

 

The error we see on these computers is "Error 2753. The File 'InstallAX.exe' is not marked for installation."

Removing the registry entries by product GUID works, however there seems to be sporadic GUIDs, and missing even one of them will fail to solve the problem. Research based on this error has shown very spotty resolutions.

 

Is there a known-good script or program out there to fix this problem?

 

Thank you!

 
Replies
  • Chris Campbell
    8,532 posts
    May 4, 2010
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    May 18, 2012 5:04 PM   in reply to EthanAD

    Does it help if you run themost recent stand alone uninstaller first?

     

    Chris

     
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  • Chris Campbell
    8,532 posts
    May 4, 2010
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    May 22, 2012 3:10 PM   in reply to EthanAD

    I'm pinging our installer team for their input.  I'll let you know what they say.

     
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  • Chris Campbell
    8,532 posts
    May 4, 2010
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    May 23, 2012 3:43 PM   in reply to Chris Campbell

    Ok, we've got a few more questions for you.  Can we get:

     

    1. What are the exact registry paths which still exist in the registry after running the uninstaller?

    2. The FlashInstall.log from the following locations on a system that exhibits this issue?

    C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\

    C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\

     

    If you'd prefer sending me the files, please feel free to contact me directly at ccampbel@adobe.com

     

    Thanks,

    Chris

     
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  • Chris Campbell
    8,532 posts
    May 4, 2010
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    May 25, 2012 12:23 PM   in reply to EthanAD

    Thanks again for sending the information along to us.  Here's what I've heard back.

    We're not familiar with any of the registry entries or GUIDs (they don’t appear to be product GUIDs), although it’s possible that they are somehow related to our older MSI installer.

     

    The entries appear to be part of the Microsoft installation sub-system and are not directly managed by Adobe.

     

    I have heard of corruption issues that can occur on Windows which impact MSI upgrades/uninstalls, but such issues are beyond our control. We recommend investigate a fix on Microsoft’s support site.

     

    I'm curious if running the Windows installer Fix-It and doing an uninstall via that would help.  It might be worth a try.

     

    Microsoft Install and Uninstall Fix It

     
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  • Chris Campbell
    8,532 posts
    May 4, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    Aug 23, 2012 5:36 PM   in reply to Chris Campbell

    We're in the process of investigating this error but need help from community members.  If you're encountering the "...is not marked for installation" issue and would be willing to generate debug logs for us, please see the instructions below:

     

    Perform the following steps on an impacted system

     

    1. Download the appropriate "Debugging Tools for Windows" MSI installer which is available from:

    ** For 32 Bit systems: http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols/debuggers/dbg_x86_6.11.1.40 4.msi

    ** For 64 Bit systems: http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols/debuggers/dbg_amd64_6.11.1. 404.msi

     

    Click on Run

    Click on Next

    Click on "I agree" for the EULA

    Click on Next

    Select the radio button for "Custom"

    Click on Browse and change the default install path to C:\DEBUGGERS

    Click on Next

    Click on Install

    Click on Finish

     

    2. Download the appropriate TTTSetup MSI installer:

    ** For 32 Bit systems: https://sendnow.acrobat.com/?i=7gBp4PSAtP9lB8UrdqBr6Q

    ** For 64 Bit systems: https://sendnow.acrobat.com/?i=9SfayRdL7gGV50TeYOpkTg

     

    3. Copy the appropriate TTTSetup MSI installer to c:\debuggers

     

    Double click on the MSI installer to execute

    Click on "Next"

    Click on "I accept" for the EULA

    Click on "Next"

    Ensure the install location reads C:\Debuggers\ttt\

    Click on "Next"

    Click on "Install"

     

    4. Launch task manager and ensure that there are no running instances of msiexec.exe. If there are, end the running instances. This will help us isolate the msiexec.exe process(es) that are associated with the Flash Player MSI.

    5. Launch the Flash Player 11 MSI installer but do not click on the Install button just yet.

    6. Locate the msiexec.exe process(es) that appear in task manager after launching the Flash Player MSI. Take note of the PID(s) for msiexec.exe (you will need it later)

    - If you do not see a PID column in Task Manager, you can add it from the task manager View pulldown menu (View->Select Columns)

    7. Create the following folder C:\iDNAtrace

    8. Open a command prompt and navigate to C:\Debuggers\ttt (cd C:\Debuggers\ttt)

    - If you have two running instances of msiexec.exe, you will need to perform steps 8 - 10 in two separate command prompts in order to capture all MSI activity (one for each PID).

    - If you are on Windows 7, you will need to launch the command prompt with the "Run As Administrator" command. To do this, click on Start, type cmd in the search field, right click on cmd.exe.

    9. Type "TTtracer.exe -Initialize" without the quotation marks and then Press Enter.

    10. Type "TTtracer.exe –dumpfull –maxfile 1024 –ring –out c:\iDNAtrace –attach PID” without the quotation marks, Press Enter. <Replace "PID" with the process ID for msiexec.exe from step 5 above>

    11. click on the Flash Player 11 MSI Install button. When the Flash Player 11 MSI displays the error message, click on "Exit App" on the iDNA window on the desktop. This will create the .out and .run trace files in the C:\iDNAtrace folder

     

    Please send the .run and .out files to ccampbel@adobe.com for further analysis.

     
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Nov 27, 2012 8:39 AM   in reply to Chris Campbell

    The Fixit seems to work, but isn't a very good option for my organization that has 300+ machines choaking on Flash right now. Since this thread went dark in August has there been any solutions to this problem that can be automated across our network?

     
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  • Chris Campbell
    8,532 posts
    May 4, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    Nov 29, 2012 3:45 PM   in reply to EthanAD

    We're looking into making a script that will clean these but I'm attaching a complete list of product codes in case someone gets to it before we do.

    Attachments:
     
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