Error on Flash install/uninstall "no program associated"

[matt.glaze]

I'm working on a deployment for Flash for the community college where I work.  I've noticed that on some systems, when we attempt to run either the installer or uninstaller, the application will proceed as though everything is fine and then when the progress bar gets to the end, I get an error that states, "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action."  The file it references is "C:\users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp\{GUID}\InstallFlashPlayer.exe".  When I click on OK, the progress bar rewinds and that's it.  I'm not finding errors in the installation logs or in the event viewer.  I'm running the offline installer for Flash 11.7.224.  Same version for the uninstaller.

The application appears to have installed on the PC the first time ok, but then after that, if I want to do an uninstall and re-install, this is what happens.  Could there be some remnants of the application left over in a folder somewhere that simply need to be cleaned out?

[pwillener]

How exactly are you deploying the installation; run the offline installer directly on each system?

Can you try the MSI installer instead?

ActiveX: download.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_player_11_active_x.msi

Plugin: download.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_player_11_plugin.msi

[matt.glaze]

I'm using VBscript and group policy to deploy the software.  Because we've had many issues using the MSI to successfully clean out old versions and then install the latest, the script executes the flash uninstaller "uninstall_flash_player.exe" before running the installer (we currently are using "install_flash_player_ax.exe").  At this point, the computers won't even run the uninstaller. 

UPDATE:

I took one of the systems that is failing, rebuilt the OS from scratch, and the first deployment went great.  As I was testing different deployment scenarios, I ran the script to repeat the uninstallation and reinstallation process.  If I manually run the uninstaller, I get the uninstallation program to come up.  Click on UNINSTALL, then watch the install bar slide from right to left.  When it gets to zero, I receive the message, "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action."  Please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel."

If I then run the installer manually, I get the program to come up.  I can click to agree to terms, then click on INSTALL.  The progress bar slides all the way from left to right.  When it gets to 100%, I receive the same error.  When I click OK to the error, the installation program says that Flash 11.7 installation is complete.  It looks like the installation actually happens, but since I'm using silent installation methods, the error keeps the script from moving forward.  So if the uninstaller is erroring and the script won't move forward, it won't then run the installer.

I just tried using the MSI file that you linked to.  If I run "msiexec.exe /i install _flash_player_11_active_x.msi" to launch the installation, everything starts out fine.  When the installation gets halfway through the status bar, I receive the same error as mentioned previously with the EXE installers.

Let me know what other info I can offer to help understand the issue.

[matt.glaze]

Just to add to this... we are a community college district with 5 campuses and probably about 3000 PC's in total.  We are beginning to see this issue on more and more PC's.  Need to find a solution quickly.  Sorry for the rush order!

[pwillener]

This needs to be addressed by an Adobe Flash Player team member.

You do know about the Flash Player Admin Guide http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/flash_player_admin_guide.html ?

[matt.glaze]

I'm familiar with the Flash Player Admin Guide and have scoured it for any information that might help in this matter.  You mentioned that this needs to be addressed by an Adobe Flash Player team member.  Do I need to contact someone to make that happen?  As I mentioned, we are hoping to find a solution soon so I'm anxious to begin moving forward.  Thank you!

[pwillener]

I have alerted Chris Campbell from the Flash Player team; hopefully someone will take this up tomorrow.

[matt.glaze]

Thank you!

[matt.glaze]

Hi, any help on this?  Have not heard a respons and we are still waiting.  It has been over a month without any substantive response.

[chris.campbell]

Sorry for the delay Matt.  Could you post or send me an installer log from one of the effected machines?  Also, is there a reason you're uninstalling?  Will this still occur on a machine if the uninstaller is never used?

Thanks,

Chris

[chris.campbell]

Sorry, forgot to mention my email is ccampbel@adobe.com.

[matt.glaze]

Hey Chris, thanks for getting back to me.  So to answer your questions... first, we have found that if we just run the installer without first running the uninstaller, previous versions don't get cleaned out adequately and we end up with corrupted Flash.  So after much trial and error, we determined the only way to cleanly deploy a newer version of Flash to workstations was to uninstall, then reinstall.

As of now, both the uninstaller and installer generate the error at the end of the process.  On the systems I was testing with, the process would actually complete, but error at the end.  One of my other senior analysts at another campus experiences systems with brand new OS installs that won't complete the installation, even when no prior version has been installed.

I can send you screen captures of what happens so you can see for yourself.  We consistently experience this problem with all of the computers on our network now.

[matt.glaze]

Here is the log from attempting to do an installation today:

=O====== M/11.7.700.224 2013-06-26+16-40-47.510 ========

0000 00000010 "c:\managedApps\C_Software_Adobe-Flash_v11.7_YCC\uninstall_flash_player.exe" -force  -uninstall -force

0001 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/PlayerPath 2

0002 00001018

0003 00001037 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\SafeVersions/ 2

0004 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe Flash Player ActiveX/ 2

0005 00001019

0006 00001020

0007 00001037 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce/FlashPlayerUpdate 2

0008 00001037 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/ 2

0009 00001037 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer/FlashPlayerVersion 2

0010 00001037 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer/SwfInstall 2

0011 00001037 Software\Microsoft\Code Store Database\Distribution Units\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000}/ 2

0012 00001021

0013 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/PlayerPath 2

0014 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerPlugin/PlayerPath 2

0015 00001037 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Extended Properties\System.ControlPanel.Category/C:\Windows\SysWOW64\FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl 2

0016 00001048

0017 00000020 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl

0018 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/PlayerPath 2

0019 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerPlugin/PlayerPath 2

0020 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\\FlashPlayerApp.exe/ 2

0021 00001037 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Extended Properties\System.ControlPanel.Category/C:\Windows\SysWOW64\FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl 2

0022 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/PlayerPath 2

0023 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerPlugin/PlayerPath 2

0024 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerPlugin/PlayerPath 2

0025 00001018

0026 00001036 SOFTWARE\MozillaPlugins\@adobe.com/FlashPlayer/ 2

0027 00001037 SOFTWARE\MozillaPlugins\@adobe.com/FlashPlayer/ 2

0028 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe Flash Player Plugin/ 2

0029 00001019

0030 00001020

0031 00001037 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce/FlashPlayerUpdate 2

0032 00001037 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerPlugin/ 2

0033 00001037 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer/FlashPlayerVersion 2

0034 00001037 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer/SwfInstall 2

0035 00001021

0036 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/PlayerPath 2

0037 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerPlugin/PlayerPath 2

0038 00001037 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Extended Properties\System.ControlPanel.Category/C:\Windows\SysWOW64\FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl 2

0039 00001048

0040 00000020 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl

0041 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/PlayerPath 2

0042 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerPlugin/PlayerPath 2

0043 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\\FlashPlayerApp.exe/ 2

0044 00001037 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Extended Properties\System.ControlPanel.Category/C:\Windows\SysWOW64\FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl 2

0045 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/PlayerPath 2

0046 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerPlugin/PlayerPath 2

0047 00001036 Software\Opera Software/Last CommandLine 2

0048 00001036 Software\Opera Software/Last CommandLine 2

0049 00001036 Software\Opera Software/Plugin Path 2

0050 00001036 Software\Opera Software/Plugin Path 2

0051 00000011 1

=X====== M/11.7.700.224 2013-06-26+16-40-51.096 ========

=O====== M/11.7.700.224 2013-06-26+16-40-51.217 ========

0000 00000010 "c:\managedApps\C_Software_Adobe-Flash_v11.7_YCC\install_flash_player_ax.exe" -install

0001 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayer\SafeVersions/11.0 2

0002 00001036 Software\Macromedia\FlashPlayerActiveX/PlayerPath 2

0003 00000011 1

0004 00000020 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl

0005 00001037 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Adobe Flash Player ActiveX/ 2

0006 00000013 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\Flash32_11_7_700_224.ocx

0007 00000015 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil32_11_7_700_224_ActiveX.exe

0008 00000016 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil32_11_7_700_224_ActiveX.dll

0009 00000023 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\activex.vch

0010 00000019 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\FlashPlayerCPLApp.cpl

0011 00000021 C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashPlayerUpdateService.exe

=X====== M/11.7.700.224 2013-06-26+16-40-55.720 ========

[matt.glaze]

And here is the error message that pops up when you attempt to run either the uninstaller or the installer.

[matt.glaze]

Below is a video showing the process and error results.

[matt.glaze]

We have yet to get moving on this issue.  Last post was a week ago (with no response) and the discussion originally began almost a month and a half ago.  We desperately need a response so our issues can be resolved.  Thank you.

[matt.glaze]

I have not and will not forget about this issue.  Chris, are you going to help us?  If you're unable to even have the courtesy to respond, would you at least forward this to a colleague who would be interested in helping?

[chris.campbell]

Sorry Matt.  The US offices of Adobe were shut down last week.  We're back at work now and trying to catch up.  I'll forward this to our installer team to see what they say.  By chance, have you created a bug report on this at bugbase.adobe.com?

[matt.glaze]

Hey Chris, thanks for getting back. I am leaving today and will be gone

the rest of the week so I will follow up next Monday.

[chris.campbell]

Thanks Matt.  With regards to your post on the 17th, you said:

I took one of the systems that is failing, rebuilt the OS from scratch, and the first deployment went great.  As I was testing different deployment scenarios, I ran the script to repeat the uninstallation and reinstallation process.  If I manually run the uninstaller, I get the uninstallation program to come up.  Click on UNINSTALL, then watch the install bar slide from right to left.  When it gets to zero, I receive the message, "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action."  Please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the Default Programs control panel."

When you get back, can you please let us know what testing scenarios were executed?  If the first install was fine, but then it failed after executing a bunch of different scenarios, we'll need to know what these scenarios were and the various results.

I think we'll also want to have your install scripts and whatever steps are necessary to try and reproduce this internally.  I would recommend opening a new bug report with these files/steps attached at bugbase.adobe.com. Once added, please let me know the bug number.

Thanks,

Chris

[chris.campbell]

One more request from the installer team:

We noticed in the video that there are two entries in his Add/Remove Programs:

Adobe Flash Player 11 ActiveX         - Installed on 6/26/2013

Adobe Flash Player 11 ActiveX 64-bit  - Installed on 6/17/2013

This is odd on a couple of fronts. First, there should only be one entry for the ActiveX Player in Add/Remove Programs. Second, the “64-bit” should not appear in our entries in Add/Remove Programs. This is because the 32-bit installer passes a special parameter to the 64-bit installer telling it not to add an entry to Add/Remove Programs.

Please have him give us the 64-bit install log from one of his impacted systems (he only gave us his 32-bit installation log). It’s in:

C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash

[Corebound]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but we're having the exact same error with the latest Flash Player 15 (15.0.0.239). The installer throws the same error 'the file does not have a program associated with it...' on install and uninstall. It appears to finish fine regardless.

Furthermore the same installer fails to install silently throwing the error 'The installation package could not be opened...' when running it manually or using the /qb switch. See the installation package could not be opened... for reference. The target machines have v13 (13.0.0.214) on them currently. To further complicate matters it appears to be hanging the MSIEXEC process (C:\Windows\system32\msiexec.exe /V) in task manager and causes any further installs to error 1618 until we kill the process.

[_maria_]

Hello,

There's a new version of Flash Player released today, 16.0.0.235.  Can you please try the new version and see if it resolves the behaviour you are experiencing?

Thank you.

--

Maria