Flash installed, but computer doesn't show it and sites don't recognize it

[Guest]

I have an iMac, running Mac OSX 10.6.8, Safari browser.  Have repeatedly tried to download Flash player over the last month or so - when I do, it seems to download, but then I can't find it on the computer anywhere and when I try to play videos that require Flash player, they don't show up and I see a message to download Flash Player.  So today I looked on the Adobe website and ran the Flash Player uninstaller for my version of OSX, then downloaded the latest Flash Player.  Same problem.  When I go to the page on this site to see if I have Flash Player installed, it shows that I have the latest (11.5.whatever it is today).  When I click on the link, I see the little video.  I've gone down that page - everything is enabled that should be enabled.  But I still can't play videos requiring Flash Player!  The videos simply don't load; there is blank space and a message saying I need to install Adobe Flash Player.  And I still can't find any mention of it on my computer.

I'm at my wit's end; can you all think of what else I should try?  Thank you very much.

By the way, I'm having the same problem with my Macbook Pro, running an older version of OSX (maybe 10.4?  Don't have it here in front of me.)  So it is not just this computer with the problem.

[chris.campbell]

What pages are you having problems viewing video on?  Can you see either of these two videos?

• HTML5 video
  
• Non-HTML5 video

Chris

[Guest]

Hi Chris - I can see both videos. Perhaps it's just Flash Player videos

embedded in blog posts that I can't see - could that be it? For example, I

can't see the embedded video on the following page. I just see black space

with purple lettering telling me I need to download Flash Player:

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/11/16/Pelosi-Displays-Frightening-Lack-of-Knowleg-on-Amendments-of-the-Constitution.

Doing a quick search on youtube, I would bet this is the same video (or a

portion of it), and I can see this on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2SC7yXKFBI.

Can you tell me where on my computer files I can find the installation of

Flash Player? I just don't see it anywhere, yet obviously I've got it

somehow, since I can see the videos you sent, but then again I can't access

embedded videos . . . .

Thanks,

~Melanie

[chris.campbell]

Hi Melanie,

You can find Flash Player on the Mac in your /Library/Internet Plug-ins/ folder (look for Flash Player.plugin).  That's odd that it's effecting embedded videos.  Can you try clearing your browser and flash player cache?  You might also want to give a different browser (like Chrome or Firefox) a try to see if they are impacted too.

Thanks,

Chris

[Guest]

Hi Chris -

Found the Flash Player plugin; thanks. Cleared Safari browser and still

couldn't see embedded video. Then I tried with Firefox, and I could see

the embedded video. Weird that I can't see it with Safari though - it used

to work, once upon a time (like a couple of months ago). How do I clear

the flash player cache?

Thanks for all the help,

~Melanie

[chris.campbell]

Hi Melanie,

You should be able to do this through the Flash Player control panel in your system preferences.  Here's a FAQ that describes the process.

How do I clear my Flash Player cache and settings?

While the screenshots here show Windows, it's also applicable to the Mac.

Chris

[Guest]

Thanks, Chris. Just cleared the Flash Player cache and still can't see the

embedded video with Safari. I hate to have you waste any more time on this

and really appreciate the help you've given me so far. I'll just use

Firefox and not worry about the Safari, although it still puzzles me!

Thanks again for your help; I really appreciate it. And have a happy

Thanksgiving.

~Melanie