Unable to Install Latest Flash Player - Failed to Initialize

Could you try downloading and installing the installers located in this FAQ post?

Where can I find direct downloads of Flash Player for Windows or Macintosh?

Thanks,

Chris

Hi, I have a problem too, I don't know what failed to initialize means exactly.  When I try to install the programe freezes,

in task manager I can see the process that seems to replicate itself  indefinitely install_reader10_en_air_gtbd_aih_1_1_1_1_ ........  exe

and I can't delete it, I need to restart the computer.

I'm sorry, what I show it the task manager is for Reader but I have the same problem for Flash.

What I did, I de installed Reader to see it that could help the Flash installation but it did not.  Then I realized that I could'nt install Reader 10, so I tried to installed Reader 9 and it works, I de-installed it and installed Reader 10 with succes. I tried installing Flash and it stills fails.

Chris,  using this link I was able to install it !

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Jonesy24H wrote:

 

Don't know what's going on here or where Chris located the two links in that FAQ

The direct download links are originally published here http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/

I experienced the same problem, it is a bug of the installer itself, regardless you're trying to install Flash or Reader (I am posting this also as a reply to the other question of yours concerning Reader). In my case, it triggers when the user environment variable TMP starts with the disk selector in lower case (it was 'c:\temp' for me). A working workaround was to change it to 'C:\temp'. Just to add - with precisely the same value for TMP in Windows XP SP3, the bug doesn't appear.

I filed the bug, so they can correct it soon as the problem is quite pinpointed. Let's see if the Company is worth something ... I am a bit angry on them as they have such bugs in the sole way of installing all their free stuff (which they managed to have sort of monopoly of and we users have to use it liking it or not), sorry!

To chris.campbell: the links are to Flash 10, the current version is 11 ... as it seems to me, full installers are no longer available for the recent versions of Adobe free software. I recommended them to offer them again after seeing this bug though ;-)

Sorry, my mistake: the question about Adobe Reader is not by you, but Leventfou ...

Last update (new here ;-):

1. I hope I actually didn't confuse Leventfou's case with yours completely ... sorry. So, my problem was that after running the installer, about a dozen of seconds it tried to do something silently, deleted itself in the course, and finally quit with no message at all. I experienced the same behavior for both the installers for Flash and Reader (they appear to be only slight modifications of the same program) and noticed leftover files install_reader10_en_air_gtbd_aih_1_1_1_1_ ........exe (or 'flashplayer11x32' instead of 'reader10', respectively) in the temporary folder, actually just copies of the original installer. This led me to the cause (at least in my case) as I knew I redirected all the temporary folders from within the depths of user profile and Windows installation folder out to a common directory 'c:\temp' precisely by editing TMP and TEMP variables (both user and system ones).

As I see it - the installer would start by moving itself to a standard temp folder (it uses user TMP to get it) and then run. However, most probably they have a bug in their code regarding file and path names and the moving phase fails when the temp folder path/name is of particular form.

2. the bug is at https://bugbase.adobe.com/index.cfm?event=bug&id=2993268

You can download offline installers from the links in...

• Flash Player 10: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/889580
• Flash Player 11: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/909550

P.S. moving this topic to the Installation section of the forum.

I'm having problems with this upgrade as well. Everything was fine until the upgrade a few days ago and then Poof - no Flash.

The new download is getting all the way to the end of the installation - and then it tells me "it failed" to install - the end.

bcr8tive2: you need to provide more information:

• what is your operating system, version & edition?
• what is your web browser?
• what is the name of the installer you downloaded?

I read someone say that the executable mysteriously deleted itself and I

also experienced that.

Windows 7 up to date - using Firefox - I didn't memorize the name of the

installer - just the one that is on Adobe's site when it prompted me to

upgrade.

I've now run the uninstaller and removed it completely,

When the issue began 2 days ago, every time I tried to view a video on

Youtube it crashed.

Download the installer(s)

• for Windows 7, 64-bit
  • for Internet Explorer: http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_playe r_11_active_x_64bit.exe
  • for other browsers: http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_playe r_11_plugin_64bit.exe
• for Windows 7, 32-bit
  • for Internet Explorer: http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_playe r_11_active_x_32bit.exe
  • for other browsers: http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_playe r_11_plugin_32bit.exe

bcr8tive2 wrote:

 

I read someone say that the executable mysteriously deleted itself and I

also experienced that.

It actually moves itself to the Windows temp folder, deletes itself from wherever you ran it, and then deletes itself from the temp folder when it's done -- even when it fails to install.  It's very bad behavior regardless.  With the installer problems yesterday, I made about 20 copies so I wouldn't have to keep downloading it again when it failed.

Quatrix0 wrote:

 

bcr8tive2 wrote:

 

I read someone say that the executable mysteriously deleted itself and I

also experienced that.

It actually moves itself to the Windows temp folder, deletes itself from wherever you ran it, and then deletes itself from the temp folder when it's done -- even when it fails to install.  It's very bad behavior regardless.  With the installer problems yesterday, I made about 20 copies so I wouldn't have to keep downloading it again when it failed.

The reason it deletes itself is because it's a helper file, not the main installer. Your system downloads the latter after you run the helper.

If you want to retain the full installer locally, download that instead. Here's the link: Download Flash Player full installer

The fact remains that once it deletes itself (even when the installation fails), the installer is gone and has to be downloaded again.

Quatrix0 wrote:

 

The fact remains that once it deletes itself (even when the installation fails), the installer is gone and has to be downloaded again.

Respectfully, you're missing the point. When you download the helper file to your own machine, the size of the file is 780KB. The full installer is currently 3.94MB. I've attached a screenshot for you to show the difference between the two. The naming convention also differs.

Since the helper file only initiates a download of the full installer, it's no longer needed and therefore it deletes itself. The full installer doesn't do that and will remain on your machine after the installation completes. 

I already checked thoroughly before I posted yesterday, and it deleted itself (including the full installer) from both my download folder AND the Windows temp folder.  The full installer did NOT remain anywhere on my computer.

Quatrix0 wrote:

 

I already checked thoroughly before I posted yesterday, and it deleted itself (including the full installer) from both my download folder AND the Windows temp folder.  The full installer did NOT remain anywhere on my computer.

The only circumstances in which that could occur is if you're getting the same "failed to initialize" error. In that particular case, what's happening is that your antivirus is flagging both installers as infected and is subsequently quarantining the files. If that's happening (check your AV logs), then it's because you DAT files aren't up to date. If you think they are OK, then contact your AV vendor for advice because once a security app quaranties a file in this way, every download with the same signature will be treated as infected and quarantined also.

Quatrix0 wrote:

 

I already checked thoroughly before I posted yesterday, and it deleted itself (including the full installer) from both my download folder AND the Windows temp folder.  The full installer did NOT remain anywhere on my computer.

I have never seen this happening; if you saved the full installer(s) to disk, e.g. the Downloads folder, then it will remain there until you delete it.

If that is not the case on your system, then something else (malware, antivirus) removes the file.

Ok today I tried to install a new version of flash and got the failed to initalize error. I use Windows XP and seriously this is pissing me off.

why do you put out a product that is buggy? One of the sites I frequent is heavy flash dependent and now I cant even see anything on that site except their "you need to update flash". Tis annoying.

Archsgurl wrote:

 

Ok today I tried to install a new version of flash and got the failed to initalize error. I use Windows XP and seriously this is pissing me off.

 

why do you put out a product that is buggy? One of the sites I frequent is heavy flash dependent and now I cant even see anything on that site except their "you need to update flash". Tis annoying.

Read post here: http://forums.adobe.com/message/4297585#4297585#4297585

Message was edited by: Xircal

i have the same problem like Jonesy24H what can i do help me

Have you tried the solution that I posted on March 28 in this topic?

I'm sorry... Adobe, could you please explain why the place to which you direct everyone to update the program HAS BEEN BUSTED... FOR MONTHS???

Is it really not possible for you to fix this?

Thank you.

because i tried to download the latest version it is not loading a now i cant even use anything that requires adobe flash player!! how do i fix this cause it is really pissing me off!!!

dmulliganx wrote:

 

I'm sorry... Adobe, could you please explain why the place to which you direct everyone to update the program HAS BEEN BUSTED... FOR MONTHS???

 

Is it really not possible for you to fix this?

 

Thank you.

When you check a link on a forum. you need to look at the date it was posted. The original download links in this particular thread refer to the download link to the Flash player which was available at that particular time.

We're now one year on from that date and the download links has changed.

If you want to run the web installer go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

If you want to run the full installers, go here instead: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html

If you decide to run the full installers, be sure to uninstall the current installation first. You can download the uninstaller from here: http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html

With regard to the "Failed to initialize" error, there can be any number of reasons why that appears and here are some of them.

• Trying to install Flash with a non-administrative account. Solution: login with an administrative account.
• Flagged by antivirus as 'Infected' and quarantined. Every subsequent attempt will be treated the same way. Solution: Add Flash player installation file to the AV's whitelist.
• Blocked by firewall. Firewalls also function to protect system integrity. Solution: view the firewall's Event Log first. If found to be blocking Flash, add to the "Trusted Application" list.

If you see a "Failed to initialize" error in Windows at least, the first place to check is Event Viewer. See this Microsoft article on how to use it: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427

This topic is one year old, and any new posts to this topic have no relevance to the original post (regarding Flash Player 10).

This topic is now closed.