MSI deployment problem/previous MSI Versions or Uninstaller?

[D_Todd_Robinson]

I'm attempting to deploy the latest Flash Player 11.3.300.265 MSI but almost every installation is failing.  If I try to deploy the MSI manually on a problem workstation, I'm prompted for previous versions of the MSI.  Apparently the older copy of the MSI we have on our file server doesn't match what's on some of the desktops, so I receive error 1714 and the installation fails.  On workstations that have the same MSI version as what's on our file server installed, the new MSI installs properly as it's locating the previous MSI it needs.  Apparently the newer MSI packages are dependent upon whatever existing MSI is currently loaded. So my solutions appear to be:

1. Obtain each previous MSI package from version 10 and up and rotate the version stored on our network file share. Each workstation will then eventually see the old version it's looking for to faciliate a successful installation of the new MSI.
2. Find an automated way to uninstall the current version of Flash Player and run this task ahead of the new Flash Player MSI deployment task.

Option 1 would require me to obtain each previous version we may have deployed.  Is there such a file repository available?

Option 2 is something I've tried working on but have not been successful.  The Flash Player uninstaller does not seem to work correctly.  After running it I'm still prompted for the previous MSI at the original location it was deployed from.  The Player is not listed in Programs and Features/Add-Remove Programs and the Flash directories in the Windows system folders only have the Flash log file and nothing else.

Any suggestions?  Thanks!

[naimc]

Hi Todd

There is a "universal flash player installer" you can get it here  :  from http://download.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/support/uninstall_flash_player.exe. 

This uninstaller gets updated with each flash player release. You also need to get the current copy to  uninstall the latest version of the flash players.

here are some notes I've placed in my script

	REM WARNING a new copy of uninstall_flash_player.exe must always be used for every new Flash version.
	REM from http://download.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/support/uninstall_flash_player.exe
	REM After downloading remove the "unblock" stream from uninstall_flash_player.exe
	REM

This will get ride of all prevous version.

uninstall_flash_player.exe -uninstall

after this you can install the current version with the msi files.

Good luck.

Naim.

[D_Todd_Robinson]

Thanks a lot for the tips.

We have two options for deploying MSI packages, AD and Novell Zenworks.  We prefer to use Zenworks as it allows you to run executable files with switches before the MSI is deployed and also gives us feedback on whether the installation was successful or not (with AD, I assumed the installations were working but they were not).  I tried using Zenworks to run an uninstaller I found and didn't have success, nor did it appear to work when I ran it by itself.  I'll try your link.  I could have been an older version of it.

I did also manually remove Flash Player by using Programs and Features...still the installation asks me for the previous installation media, which is what lead me to think I'll have to provide previous versions on the file server for the installations to see.  Hopefully this uninstaller will remove whatever is left causing the problem.

[D_Todd_Robinson]

So after running the uninstaller with the -uninstall switch I'm still not able to get the MSI to successfully install.  It begins the installation and presents this dialog: "The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable."  It prompts for the source and is prefilled with the location of the previous version's MSI.  We do not have the older versions but boy do I wish I would have kept them.  Cancelling this prompt brings up Error 1714 warning that the old version cannot be removed.

Is there any other way to clean up whatever is left behind from the old installations?  It's not listed in my list of programs. Also, I can deploy these MSI packages to other machines with no Flash Player software installed and can even make it work if the machine has the version currently on the file share.  The problem is the 100+ target machines have different versions of the player installed...

...and I have a big mess I can't seem to clean up!

[Guest]

Although this is rather old post, I have came across it while searching for asnwer for my exact same trouble. It seems my Adobe FlashPlayer ActiveX 14 has failed and the update to Adobe FlashPlayer ActiveX 16 has failed to remove previous version (14) and kept on failing.

Long story short, I was able to resolve this issue using MSIZap, the oldschool Microsoft app. Removing the orphaned FlashPlayer ActiveX 14 entries from the installer dbs did the trick.

[_maria_]

Hi mig79,

We are aware of the issue you are reporting and are working on a fix.  There is a more current thread on this issue here, Re: "The version of the Player that you are trying to install is lower than what is currently instal....  Please note that the bug record posted at the bottom of this thread is not accurate to the thread and actually describes a different issue that we are also working on.

--

Maria

[_maria_]

Hi mig79,

Rereading through the thread, I made a mistake in thinking it was the same as the thread I refer to.  Do you have install logs for the failed install you can share (How to share a document?

--

Maria

[stevenb93178225]

I would like to add my recent experience with this issue.

I uninstalled 18.0.0.203 via Add/remove Programs.  I deleted the content of the four folders (C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash, C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash, %appdata%\Adobe\Flash Player, %appdata%\Macromedia\Flash Player).  I ran the Flash uninstall tool (before and after emptying folders).  I searched and did not find in the registry the GUIDs of the following versions:  18.0.0.203 or 10.3.183.5.

When I ran the 18.0.0.209 stand-alone installer, it asked to locate flashplayer1031835.msi (which it said is for Flash Player 10 Active X) and then when I closed that window and canceled the locate window, it says: "Error 1714. The older version of Adobe Flash Player 18 ActiveX cannot be removed".

So then I found this thread regarding a similar issue with Acroread and tried the Microsoft Fixit tool suggested (does run on Win7).  I selected the options for "Let me choose the fixes to apply" and then the option for "Problems with Uninstall".  The tool then found three instances of Adobe Flash Player

ActiveX.

After these three were "fixed" (the tool will only fix one at a time, so it is necessary to run the tool once for each entry to be

fixed), I was then able to install 18.0.0.209.

This obviously isn't a solution for a mass deployment, but may help in individual cases.

[pwillener]

D Todd Robinson wrote:

I'm attempting to deploy the latest Flash Player 11.3.300.265 ...

Just curious: why are you trying to deploy an "older" version, when 11.3.300.268 has several bugs fixed?

[Prosper87]

Question: What is the latest version of FP for Firefox? Is it 11.3.300.268 as I find on the Adobe Website or is it 11.3.300.270 as it shows in my installed programs. The latter version installed itself on August 3.

[pwillener]

See http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1043626

[D_Todd_Robinson]

Pat, that was the latest version I could find when I was originally attempting to deploy this.  Nice to know there's another update.  I will download this one for deployment.

[alexr28016220]

Hi everyone,

Try deploying these MSI installers using Total Software Deployment. Guys from Softivnentive fixed a few deployment errors in the latest version of the program (1.1.2).

This software helps me deploying Adobe and Java products without problem lately.