Installation Problems for Flash Player -- WinXP

[bramweiser]

Hello,

I currently have Flash Player v21.0.0.242 installed in Firefox on my WinXP SP2 PC, but, though I can download v22, it won't launch in order for me to install it.

I saw an item (#8) here: Installation problems | Flash Player | Windows 7 and earlier, but, though it leads to a place at Microsoft Support to get a supposedly-needed file update for SHA-256 certificates, that is only for Windows Vista & Windows Server 2008, NOT Windows XP.

Also, another thread in this Forum deals with WinXP 64-bit versions, but mine is 32-bit.

Lastly, I'd heard about some recent software installers being configured in a way that WinXP can't read in order to launch them but I'm hoping that's not true here, or that there's a suitable workaround for that.

Can you please assist me with this?

Thanks so much,

Bram Weiser

[_maria_]

XP SP2 doesn't support sha256 certificates, which the online installer uses.  You can try using the offline installer posted at the bottom of the Installation problems | Flash Player | Windows 7 and earlier page in the 'Still having problems' but there is no guarantee that those will work.

[bramweiser]

Thanks, m_vargas.

Yes, I'd heard something about that before, but the link in that other place, which led me to a place at Microsoft's Support site and included a patch for Windows Vista SP2 & Server 2008 SP2 led me to think there MIGHT be a similar solution for XP SP2 as well.  Any insight into that, please?

Also, I think I did try downloading an offline installer before posting my original note here, but that it, too, wouldn't launch, perhaps for the same reason.

Is it necessary that this and future updates to Flash Player come with this kind of certificate which, for some of us at least, is unusable?  Doing so makes the update impossible to do, and leads to persistent notifications about Flash Player being out-of-date, sometimes (it seems) from the same pages for which we'd already said to "Allow and Remember" to use the version that's currently installed, instead of updating.

Any further thoughts/ideas, please?

Thanks again,

Bram Weiser

[_maria_ · Accepted solution]

I can't speak as to why the update isn't eligible for your Vista system.  That would be a Microsoft question.

I don't see Adobe moving backwards to a less secure signing certificate as we're moving to sha256, which is the latest most secure signing technologies. Microsoft has also announced (a while back) they are dropping support for the old version, sha1.  You're going to see this more and more, not with just installers, but with websites as well (sites that use HTTPS instead of HTTP).  If a HTTPS website uses a certificate that is still sha1 Microsoft will show the broken lock when visiting that page, instead of the secure lock.

You can try opting into Background Updates to see if that works.  To do so, go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Flash Player > Updates tab > select 'Allow Adobe to Install Updates (recommended)'

[bramweiser]

Thanks again, m_vargas, but please note that my system is XP SP2, and NOT Vista...that's why I was (briefly) glad to see that Microsoft had a patch...that is, until I realized that it wasn't for my system.

As such, could you please restate the Control Panel path I should look for because i don't think it's correct for XP (which I don't think has "All Control Panel Items").

Also, if that Background Updates idea doesn't work, then what else, aside from, say, undergoing the drastic step of upgrading to XP SP3 or buying a brand-new computer with a more modern OS, could I do?

Thanks again,

Bram Weiser

[_maria_]

Sorry about the OS mix up.  Since Microsoft no longer supports XP they don't have an update for that.

In the Control Panel, you want to select 'Classic View', not 'Category View'.  Flash Player item doesn't show up in Category View.  Of course, this will only show up if you have Flash Player installed.  Since you indicate you have version 21.0.0.242 installed, it should be there.

If Background Updates don't work I'm not sure what the alternative is, aside from upgrading your system.  At minimum to XP Service Pack 3.  Although Microsoft no longer supports it I've read that Service Pack 3 download is still available, although you might have to search around for it.

[bramweiser]

It's OK, m_vargas.  I wanted to be sure of what would apply to XP, so I'm glad (sort of 😉 ) that you clarified that.

I found the Flash Player entry in my Control Panel, and changed its Updates setting from "Notify..." to "Allow..." but the first thing it did after I clicked on "Check Now" was to launch the same Adobe.com page I visited earlier when trying to manually download/install the Flash Player update.  Hopefully, it will try again in background in the near future (though I didn't see an option that specifically said "Background").

FWIW, I do have SP3 on CD, but am reluctant to go through a complete reformat, reinstallation and reconfiguration of all of my software.  Hopefully I won't have to.

Thanks again for your help,

Bram Weiser

[_maria_]

The 'Check Now' button doesn't invoke the background update workflow (the workflow used when selecting 'allow Adobe to install updates), which is why it launched the page.

[bramweiser]

Thanks again, m_vargas.

Yes, that makes sense, though, in the moment, I thought it MIGHT trigger it.  Now, though, I'll need to see if it effectively "self-updates", or tries to send me back to Adobe.com again, or what...we'll see what happens.

Thanks again,

Bram Weiser

[bramweiser]

Hi, again, m_vargas,

I wanted to follow up with you again because, soon after our last conversation, I selected the "Allow Adobe Flash Player to update automatically" option.  However, though it's been a week(!) since I did that, I still(!) get messages in Firefox asking me if the browser should be allowed to use Flash Player on a particular site...then asked the same thing again on yet another site, and so on, and so on...

Why is it taking so long to update Flash Player...and why did I see a message soon after making the above-noted selection saying it might take 45(!) days (1.5 months) for an automatic update to happen?

Thanks again,

Bram Weiser

[_maria_]

Hi,

If you have version 21.0.0.242 and opted into background updates over a week ago Flash Player should have already been updated.  You most likely don't have background update verbose logging enabled in your system.  To do so, please do the following:

1. Open mms.cfg file, saved at C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash directory in a text editor
2. Add the following to the file: SilentAutoUpdateVerboseLogging=1
3. Due to the Background Update frequency, wait a couple of days to gather data
4. After a couple of days, upload the C:\WIndows\System32\Macromed\Flash\FlashInstall.log file to cloud.acrobat.com/send using the instructions at How to share a document​
5. Post the link to the uploaded file in your reply.

Note: Since mms.cfg file is saved in the System directory it requires Admin rights to edit.  The easiest way to edit it is to drag it to the desktop, open it in Notepad, made the edit, save the file and drag it back to the C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash directory.

The note about 45 days to update Flash Player in the background is very much outdated.  I have escalated it to have the text updated.  Not sure when that will happen.

--

Maria

[bramweiser]

Hi, again, Maria, and thanks for responding to my most-recent post.

Here's what I can tell you:

* The Flash Player entry in my Control Panel DID, under the Updates tab, have "Allow Adobe to install updates" chosen.

* I found mms.cfg (date/time-stamped on 6/27/16 -- the same date as my above post about making the change to let Adobe install updates) and inserted the line you suggested.  Now I wait the few days you asked for, after which I'll proceed further.

* Once I reach the point of uploading that file, I'll re-post here with the URL, just as you asked.

Thanks for your continued assistance with this,

Bram

[bramweiser]

Hi, again, Maria, and my apologies for the delay in following up.

Apparently, Flash Player STILL hasn't updated itself in my Firefox (though it did prompt me in a way that led me to Adobe's download site for Flash Player -- not an effective method because, if that would've worked, then none of our conversation here would have been necessary) because I STILL get those messages asking me to "Allow and Remember" its use on a given site.

As you asked, though, here's the URL for my FlashInstall.log file that I just uploaded to the Adobe Cloud:

Shared Files - Acrobat.com

If this doesn't work, please let me know and I'll try again.

Nonetheless, please let me know your further thoughts about this, and thanks again,

Bram Weiser

[_maria_]

Hi,

Thank you for sending me the private message.  I was on vacation when you posted on Aug 1 and I didn't see your post upon my return.

The log file does have errors for the Background Update service, relating to the SSL certificate.  I have heard of some XP SP2 systems having sha-2 support, but it sounds like yours doesn't, which is why I recommended the background update optin.  Since background update also failed, at this time the best recommendation is to update the OS to a supported OS version, or at minimum to XP Service Pack 3 (which does have sha-2 support), if you can find a SP3 install file.  To stop the update notifications, go to the Control Panel Flash Player item and select the 'Do not notify me of updates' option.

[bramweiser]

Thanks for writing back, Maria.

(I tried the PM after some time had passed since I'd posted the file here on Aug1 because I remember your telling me that you'd set your notifications to see such posts, so I'm {pleasantly} surprised to hear that you missed this one's notification so that I COULD PM you about it. 🙂 )

I COULD attempt an upgrade to SP3 (I have a Microsoft CD for it) but don't know if my computer can support anything later than that (e.g., Win7, etc.)

I wish there was a way to stop Firefox from prompting me to "Allow and Remember" my v43 when I visit a site for the first time.  Do you know of something for that?

Thanks again for all of your help with this.  If you learn of something else that could assist me, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Bram Weiser