I agree with JM_fab. It warmed my cockles to discover so many people wanting to help but I'm not going to try and poke around (see, I know the technical term) in directories and whatnot. Adobe should have an update available that works on Win2K etc. I have now given up so thanks again for all replies but I still don't understand what I'm supposed to do? Thank you also to Ortwin for adding an English version, I am sure it will be beneficial to others but sadly, not me! Ps, Ortwin, I hope you're feeling better!

Official Adobe Archives for Flash Player

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/archived-flash-player-versions. html#main_Archived_versions

andyross63 wrote:

Personally, I have always downloaded the stand-alone installers, and put them in an archive directory. Since they always use the same name, I have to use subdirectories with the version numbers. I do that with alot of software, and it's made it easier to backtrack when a newer version has problems.

 

 

I just copy the version # before downloading and paste it into the filename box on the download so they're already identifiable w/o subdirectories.

i just wanted to add to this thread... i did go over to the bugs entry and voted even though it has been closed, withdrawn and set as a featureremoval... i also followed J's post from over there about using the wrapper... it works well and i have just updated one of my w2k machines from whatever it was that broke before to 11.2.202.233 as can be seen in the attached photo...

i also wanted to add that from my reading, the wrapper package by old cigarrette was an inspiration to that used in the KDW package that J Fortune found and used... i like that there are wrapper dlls like these that handle the new calls and pass on to the old calls when necessary... excellent work to those involved and a big thanks... one can see my comments in the bug entry, too... there are some there that i've not made here

notbebe,

Thank you for your workaround!  You are a SUPER GENIUS!  Even better than Wile E. Coyote!

Mrs. Clift, are you still reading this thread?  Doing the workaround suggested by notbebe is as easy as editing a long text document using a word processor, searching for something in it like "I have a gray dog." and then changing that text to something similar like "I miss my old cat."  After changing the text, you save the changes and you're done.

The only differences are that you're not using a word processor (you're using a very simple "hex editor" like "HxD") and it's not a text document you're editing (it's the latest Flash Player installer program).

I'll try to provide instructions that should be easy to follow.  Here we go!

Do a google search for HxD (that's capital H, small x, capital D) and download and install that program.  The link to the pertinent website I have from my installed copy of this free program (Version 1.7.7.0) is:  http://www.mh-nexus.de

Tell it to put a shortcut on your desktop when it asks.  The shortcut's icon will look like a green capital letter H, a black small letter x, and a white capital letter D on an orange background.

Then download the (latest) Adobe Flash updater program you'd like to install.

For Flash Player 11 for Internet Explorer, use the following link:

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/completion/?installer=Flash_Player_11 _for_Internet_Explorer_(32_bit)

For Flash Player 11 for other browsers (like Firefox or Opera), use the following link:

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/completion/?installer=Flash_Player_11 _for_Other_Browsers_(32_bit)

Now you have the Flash program(s) that give you that crazy-looking error mentioned at the top of this thread when you try to run them on your Windows 2000 pc on which you haven't felt ready to go through the various steps (explained in earlier postings) needed to apply the "wrapper" patches.

Never fear -- you can now EDIT those files so they WILL run on your Windows 2000 pc's as they are!

Let's assume that you've downloaded the file to apply the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player to your Internet Explorer web browser.  That file would be named:   install_flash_player_ax_32bit.exe

Open the HxD editor you've installed and do (only) the following after it opens:

Click on File, Open (or press Ctrl+O on your keyboard, if you prefer) and browse to the folder containing the install_flash_player_ax_32bit.exe file.  Double-click that file in the Open dialog box to open it.  You'll see a funky screen with blue numbers along the left and across the top, 16 columns of "base 16" numbers (that's what hexadecimal means, hence a "hex" editor), and lots of "gibberish" in another 16-characters-wide section on the right.  Don't be intimidated by any of this.  It's like opening your car and looking at the engine and all the gizmos under the hood.  If all we want to do is check the oil and leave the other stuff alone, we'll be fine.  :-)   So that's what we're going to do.

We are going to search for the "SetDllDirectoryW" text and change it to "GetModuleHandleW" and then we are going to save this change and quit.  That's all.  Just like the text example I cited above.  Simple.

Just like checking the oil in a car, only not as messy.  :-)

Press the F3 key.  This is the "Find again" shortcut in the HxD editor.  Since this is the FIRST TIME you're doing this, it won't "remember" anything to find from before.  This is where you (very carefully, because it will "remember" and you won't have to type the whole thing again anymore) type into the "Search for" box the text for which you want to search, i.e., type:  SetDllDirectoryW

You should read that as "set dee el el directory double you"  (DLL is geek speak for something called a Dynamic Link Library.)  I don't know if "case" matters -- I just typed it the way notbebe gave it above.

It should look something like this (I'm showing the text highlighted):

Then click on the "OK" button (or press the "Enter" key on your keyboard).

You should then see something like this:

Crazy at it may seem, those hexadecimal numbers (53, 65, 74, 44, 6C, 6C...) actually correspond to the letters we understand a little better (SetDll...).  Here is where you will very carefully edit them.  Remember -- we're only changing SetDllDirectoryW to GetModuleHandleW (and nothing else).  Some of the letters in these 16-character groups are the same, and some are different.  The ones that you will change will be shown in red where they differ from the originals.

VERY CAREFULLY click your mouse in the "section on the right" where you can see the "SetDllDirectoryW" letters.  Try to click just before the capital letter "S" when you do this.

Then VERY CAREFULLY type ONLY:  GetModuleHandleW so that those 16 characters replace the 16 characters in SetDllDirectoryW.  You don't even have to type the final "W" since it's the same.

When you've typed those "replacement letters," it should look like this:

See how the changed letters (and their hexadecimal "counterparts") are shown in red?  Check to make sure you didn't mistype anything.  YAY -- you're done typing!  (If you happen to make a mistake, you should be able to easily correct it.  If for whatever reason things ever look like they're totally out of hand, you can always quit (without saving changes) and start over.)  Now all you have to do is save your changes!  Let's save the changes the following way to keep it simple:

Close out the HxD program by clicking on its "close button" -- the "X" in the far upper right corner -- the one "on top of" the other one.   When it asks if you want to save the changes, click Yes.

HxD is such a nice hex editor that it AUTOMATICALLY saves a BACKUP of the ORIGINAL file in case anything went wrong!  (That backup has a file suffix that ends in ".bak" so you can easily tell.)

Not only that, but now anytime you edit one of these Adobe Flash installation programs again and need to make the same change, all you'll have to do (since you did it properly the first time as I wrote above) after opening the file for editing is to press the following three keys to do the search:

F3                    (Again, that is the F3 key, NOT the letter F followed by the numeral 3)

Down-arrow       (Yes, the arrow on your keyboard that points down.)

Enter

All you have to remember is to type GetModuleHandleW as the replacement text (and save the changes).  Now you can download the Flash installer, tweak it, and run it without any problem on your pristine Windows 2000 pc, and you'll be up-to-date!  (Say it over and over to yourself to memorize it:  "Get module handle double you"  (or just copy it to a text file so you remember what it is).

This should work well for you.  Have a nice day.  Please say a prayer for me and my family.  (My uncle died last month and the named executor of the will is currently being kind of nasty to the rest of us.)

Sincerely,

AcroNot

nice catch... odd that something so simple would cause so many problems.

I already have the "wrapper" set up and am using it, but I will keep this in the toolbox..

@Acro.. thanks for the detailed write up for those who need it. On a side note, sorry to hear about your uncle. I hope everything works out OK.

I am having the same problem on my client's very old W2K SP4 machine. Please fix it, Adobe!

Pat Willener wrote:

 

AntD00d wrote:

 

Please fix it, Adobe!

This topic has enough instructions for you to fix it yourself.

Are those workarounds even supported by Adobe? They look like hacks to me.

Pat Willener wrote:

 

As I wrote in the other topic, Windows 2000 is no longer supported.

 

It is a hack, making the installer look for an entry point that exists in W2K.

Interesting. So even the latest v10.3 is unsupported for W2K SP4? Wow.

What's the latest version that will install and work in Windows 2000 SP4 that doesn't require hacking then? V10.3, downloaded from Adobe's web site, doesn't install in it.

Technically, Win2K is NOT supported for Flash 11.x, and never was. We were just lucky that it did work.

The real issue is not with Flash itself, but the installer.

That's the really stupid problem. When they updated 10.x (which is still supported by Adobe) for the latest security issues, they also updated the installer.