Flash player installation has been plaguing me for years

[lkmscjhbkuwsbxikjqnuwy]

Flash Player installation has been plaguing me for years.  New updates remove the old player before attempting to install the update.  The update often fails to install leaving me with no Flash Player at all.  The support help for failure to register is less than worthless.  All it does is show about 20 lines of the registry with no instructions of what to do.  Why don't you fix this?

[C_F_McBlob]

If you download the Adobe Flash Player installer directly by clicking one of the following links:

Flash Player for ActiveX (Internet Explorer)

Flash Player Plug-in (All other browsers)

Does it install and work?

[pwillener]

lkmscjhbkuwsbxikjqnuwy wrote:

Why don't you fix this?

Because there is nothing for Adobe to fix; the problem is a permission issue in your Windows registry.

Have you tried the instructions in http://forums.adobe.com/thread/987370 ?

[lkmscjhbkuwsbxikjqnuwy]

First of all, based on my research of this problem - by the way I have tried hundreds of suggestions, none of which have ever worked - thousands of people are affected by this.  I am using a stand alone Windows XP computer with IE8.  There is only one login, which is as administrator.  Why would there be a permission problem?

I have installed dozens of programs over the years.  Why did none of these have a permission issue?  Apparently, the programmers of these programs are smarter than those at Adobe.

[C_F_McBlob]

lkmscjhbkuwsbxikjqnuwy wrote:

First of all, based on my research of this problem - by the way I have tried hundreds of suggestions, none of which have ever worked - thousands of people are affected by this.  I am using a stand alone Windows XP computer with IE8.  There is only one login, which is as administrator.  Why would there be a permission problem?

I have installed dozens of programs over the years.  Why did none of these have a permission issue?  Apparently, the programmers of these programs are smarter than those at Adobe.

BILLIONS of systems use Flash Player - Windows, Mac Linux, Citrix... Are you suggesting that Adobe change something that works on all of those systems for the benefit of a few thousand worldwide?

I've seen permissions errors on systems I installed, where there was ONLY one account and it was the administrator account I CREATED, so it CAN and DOES happen.

There's an uninstaller for Flash Player that will completely remove it. Run it and then run one (or both) of the offline installers I posted in my first reply. If that doesn't work:

You seem alittle more savvy than most PC users, so I'll give you a Registry tweak that'll eliminate any permissions issues for you going forward.

Copy the following (bold) text into a new document in Notepad (not Wordpad or Word - they'll add formatting and at screws it all up)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]

@="Take Ownership"

"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas\command]

@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"

"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]

@="Take Ownership"

"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas\command]

@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"

"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"

Save it to your desktop under "all file types" as "ownit.reg"

Double click it and click OK when it asks if you want to change the registry, Click OK when it tells you it has been added.

You will now be able to take ownership of any and ALL files and folders on your hard drive (or the entire drive for that matter) with a right click and the selection of "Take ownership" from the contextual menu. Take ownership of your Program Files folder and then run the offline installer.

If you ever want or need to remove the ownership ability, simply follow the earlier steps with THIS text:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]

Saving it as "disown.reg"

[lkmscjhbkuwsbxikjqnuwy]

First let me say I really appreciate you trying to help me.  I tried uninstalling and reinstalling from your link.  It did not work.

Then, I created the "ownit.reg" file and ran it.  I then took ownership of the Programs Folder and tried again to install Flash - no luck.  I then took ownership of the Windows Folder and tried again - again no luck.

Any other ideas?  Thanks.

[C_F_McBlob]

Tyr creating a new user account (admin) and run the installer under it. The Flash Player plugin for Firefox won't work after switching user accounts back to yours because it stores the plugins in individual profiles, but the IE plugin installs into the app, so it WILL work on your account if you can install it under another.

[lkmscjhbkuwsbxikjqnuwy]

Established new administrative user account.  Started IE, but could not see it.  Opened task manager and saw iexplore running as a process, but it was nowhere to be found on the screen or in the applications tab.  Switched back to other user account and downloaded Adobe Flash installation exe.  Switched back to new user account and tried to install.  Once again failed to register. 

[C_F_McBlob]

Don't know how you feel about open source software, but

http://www.gavick.com/magazine/alternative-to-the-flash-player-lightspark-now-also-on-windows.html

I found that just a little bit ago.  Haven't tried it yet, but it may be something to look at.

[pwillener]

Did you run SubInACL as I have suggested?

[pwillener]

P.S. permissions have nothing to do with you being Administrator or not.  If the permissions are not right, then they are not right.  You need to either repair the permissions, or reinstall Windows.

[eusch]

Flash failed to register!  Windows 7 - IE 8 and 9. I ran uninstaller, deleted flash folder under macromedia. Download active X installer, right click and select troubleshoot compatabilty  and let it run under XP SP2. Got me past failed to register issue then Installed full verison of shock wave. Tested. Was only way I got to work after 2 days and multiple solutions. Hope it works.