patb77909504

[Guest]

Yesterday, I got a notification to update the Adobe flash player.  I did so and it infected my computer with malware.  I had to go into safe mode, delete temporary files, run a virus scan and a malware scan and back up to the last restore date to get rid of the malware.  This left me having to update the flash player again.  Today, I tried to update the flash player again and had the same problem.  I had to delete, scan and scan again, and restore to the last restore date.  I am reluctant to try again for fear of permanently damaging my computer.  I know I can only over-ride the old flash player version for so long before I won't be able to anymore.  How can I install the flash player update without infecting my computer?  I have Windows 7.

[_maria_]

Hi,

Please post a screenshot of the notification you are getting to install Flash Player.  From where (what website) are you downloading the Flash Player update from? 

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Maria

[Guest]

Hi Maria: Thank you for responding to my request. I actually haven't seen the request since the second time I cleaned out all the malware so I can't take a screen-shot at this time. It was a pop-up request waiting for me when I logged on that morning and looked like all the other Adobe notification pop-ups that have appeared over the years, since I have the instructions set to notify me of updates rather than install them automatically. It had a grey background, with black, white, and red design and a rectangular link to update. I did not question it because I am getting blocked out of videos that require flash player on all sorts of websites so I know an update is due. Some allow me to over-ride and use the old flash player, some do not. I know from experience that eventually none of them will let me override anymore so I do want to get the situation corrected. I am somewhat reluctant to download directly from the Adobe website because, when I went to the website to look for help, "Adchoices" came up in the footer. Adchoices and Macafee were part of the malware that infected my computer and prevented me from using it. Would downloading directly from the Adobe website be my best option? Thanks, Pat

[_maria_]

Hi,

The official Flash Player Update Notifications looks like this:

If it looked like this, it's legitimate, however, it would have downloaded/installed Flash Player without any add-ons/malware as notification updates downloads ONLY Flash Player by itself.

If you go to get.adobe.com/flashplayer to download Flash Player, there are third-party offers on the the page, either McAfee or Google, depending on browser, but AdChoices is not one of the third-party offers offered with the Flash Player.  If you have ad-blockers you won't see the offer and could potentially download McAfee or Google due to this.  Again, AdChoices is not a third-party offer.

If you're concerned about not installing third-party offers, and want to ensure Flash Player is always update to date the best option is to opt into Background Updates.  Background Updates continuously checks for an update and when one is available it's downloaded silently, in the background, within 24 hours of a Flash Player release.

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Maria

[Guest]

Hi Maria: I followed the link and downloaded, then followed up with virus and malware scans. It seems to have worked. Thank you for your help. Pat.

[_maria_]

Great.  I'm glad you've been able to successfully upgrade Flash Player.

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Maria