Problem with Flash Player and Firefox

[danielr77645172]

Hi - in the last month I've suddenly had problems with playing any Flash-supported video online while browsing with Firefox. Has anyone had the same problem? My cursor pulses and my browser freezes. The problem does not persist with Microsoft Explorer. It is not a firewall problem: I have disabled Kaspersky and the problem persists. I have tried disabling and removing every trace I can find of Adobe products, including Adobe Updater deep in the guts of my computer. But the moment I reinstall Flash player, video playback on YouTube and all sorts of other sites freezes up.

Another note: on the Adobe site itself, after I've installed Flash Player, the page that says, "Here are other Adobe products you might enjoy:" is blank. Nothing to click on.

Help, anyone, please?

Thank you.

Daniel

[jeromiec83223024]

To give you any useful advice, I'm going to need to know more about your computer and browser:

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1195540

[danielr77645172]

Hi, Jeromie - it's really kind of you to offer to help. Here's some info for you: OS is Windows 7 (64-bit). Browser is Firefox 37.0.1. Flash player version: various, all and any; I've tried every version I can find, directly from the Adobe site as well as via the Mozilla extensions and add-ons manager. I'll now explain the problem again as clearly as I can:

Everything used to work just fine on this computer, but sometime in the last month I suddenly couldn't play Flash-supported video on Firefox. I don't remember when, exactly, and can't recall if it happened after installing some new software program, but I don't think so. Weird thing is, it works fine on the Microsoft Explorer browser. So, for a while I couldn't get any Flash video to play at all, and I uninstalled Firefox and reinstalled it, trying one add-on at a time to see if there was any conflict with Ghostery or AdBlock Plus or what-have-you. No luck. Right now I have the YouTube HD extension, but no Flash Player at all, not even as a plugin, yet I recently started being able to play video on YouTube again, which I hadn't been able to before. But if I try to access Flash-supported video anywhere else on the web, I get a "Plug-in needed" message. Note that if do install the basic Flash Player itself, then YouTube doesn't function; my cursor pulses in what looks like groups of three, and hangs forever, locking up the browser and slowing everything else down on my computer. A couple more details that may help you understand this problem: after I download and install Flash directly from the site, it tells me it's installed and then says there are other Adobe products I might like, but the page is blank! (Meanwhile, the General tab in my Firefox Options is blank, but I don't know if that's got anything to do with it.)

If you really need screenshots of any of this, I can provide them, but that'll mean installing Flash again screwing everything up again. Right now I'm surviving but simply not watching video!

I really appreciate your help. Thank you.

Daniel

[jeromiec83223024]

Ghostery and AdBlock Plus are probably going to break Adobe's website.  I'm thinking that if you did the install with those things disabled, things would work as expected.  That said, it doesn't really matter.  The install completed successfully before those pages load.

I've never seen the symptoms you're describing, which is pretty unique in and of itself.  I'm headed down the road of some lower level problem.

I'd recommend that you do the following:

1.) Check your hard disk for errors - Windows 7

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2641432

If you find and repair problems, try again.

2.) Run a scan for viruses and malware.

http://www.malwarebytes.org is free and well respected

3.) Perform a Clean install of Flash Player on Windows:

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/928315

If you're still stuck, it might be time to either Reset or perform a clean install of Firefox.

Reset Firefox - reset add-ons and settings:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings

Alternatively, you could spin up a new Windows user to confirm whether or not the problem persists with a clean Firefox profile.

[danielr77645172]

Hi again, Jeromie. So, I did as you recommended, then tried the Adobe Test, which gave me the typical screen message I get whenever trying to play video on Firefox:

So I tried reinstalling Flash 17,0,0,169. After downloading the .exe file, the same strange error occurred on the following "new products" screen. It promises new products, but reveals none:

Well, perhaps there aren't any in the first place. Onwards!

After reinstalling Flash, I first experienced a blank screen on YouTube:

But a little while later it started working! So far, so good...

Accessing other sites with video have yielded mixed results. CNN fails:

Of possible interest: I couldn't capture this with my Snip Tool, but if I hover my mouse over the screen I get a "Block..." option from AdBlock at the top right hand corner of the blank screen.

Similarly, if I try Adobe's diagnostic tool, it ask me to click on a panel... which is blank!

However, BBC works, and several others I tried were successful as well. Woo-hoo!

So, over the next couple of weeks, as I browse, I'll keep a log of what works and what doesn't, and if it proves debilitating I'll get back to you then, if that's OK.

In the meantime, I thank you very much for helping me thus far.

Best regards,

Daniel

[jeromiec83223024]

What happens when you disable AdBlock?

[danielr77645172]

I disabled AdBlock and CNN works! I swear this never happened before!

So I added an exception filter rule to AdBlock, re-enabled it, and lo! Behold! There is video.

I will take this course of action with future roadblocks and if there's another impasse I'll let you know.

Thank you so much.

Daniel