Having problems installing Flash Player 18 on Windows 7

[mattgaltress]

Hi,

I always update Flash Player when prompted, and I am trying to install Flash Player 18 on my Windows 7 PC following a prompt to update it, but I am having problems.

I click the ‘update’ button and then click ‘run’ when prompted. I then get a message telling me to close some applications, which is not something I’ve ever encountered before; previously the update has just happened. It asks me to close Internet Explorer, which I do, and also to close ‘flashplayer18axau_be_install.’ I don’t know what this is, but I then follow the instructions in the help topic to load Windows Task Manager and find it under ‘Processes.’ This tab then shows me ‘flashplayer18axau_be_install.exe *32’, and I then click to ‘end process’ as the topic says. The installation process then subsequently closes; it looks to me like it wants me to close the update process in order to continue the update process!

Can you tell me what you think the issue might be here, and how I can resolve it?

Thanks in advance.

[pwillener]

I suggest you try the following

1. download the installers and save them to your local disk:
   • Flash Player for Internet Explorer - ActiveX
   • Flash Player for Firefox - NPAPI
2. close all browser windows(*), then run the downloaded installers

*) plus everything that uses Flash Player, e.g. Skype etc.

[_maria_]

Hi mattgaltress,

We recently removed the requirement to close open applications during installation for certain installation types (e.g. when Flash is not installed, or during an upgrade).  However, when re-installing the same version, open applications that use Flash need to be closed.  It appears that is what's happening.

flashplayer18axau_be_install.exe is the online installer.  If you're terminating this in Task Manager, then you're terminating the installer.

--

Maria