13 Replies Latest reply: May 13, 2011 11:27 PM by pwillener RSS

    Flash removed by non-administrator accounts

    brian.hart Community Member

      Here is a perennial problem that I have as a network administrator:

       

      All users in my domain have no greater rights to the local computers (mostly Windows XP) than Power Users, and in many cases, only Users. This is to keep them from installing all their favorite games and wasting my time trying to remove all the junk. I keep Flash relatively current by updating it across the network periodically (perhaps twice per year or as I get notification of new versions).

       

      However, Flash insists on notifying these non-administrators when an update is available. When the user accepts the update, it uninstalls the current version but cannot install the new version because he does not have administrative rights. Now he has no Flash. When he then attempts to access Flash content, he gets a message indicating that he needs to update his Flash, which prompts him to send me an e-mail telling me he is unable to access the site until he updates his Flash.

       

      These are not users that are going to the Adobe website to manually update; they are just accepting the stock in-your-face update notifications. I have tested this under a non-administrative account. Sure enough, when I accept an update, it removes the current version (i.e. it is no longer listed in Add/Remove Programs) but cannot install the new one, leaving me with none until I log on administratively and install it.

       

      This is beginning to consume more time for me because it takes extra time dealing with all the users who think they should just accept every update that comes along. I do instruct users to cancel any offered updates, but they regularly ignore my instruction because they always think it won't hurt to try.

       

      It is as though Flash was written without any consideration for mixed-security environments. The program insists on advertising updates, allows anyone to remove the old version, but requires administrative rights to install the new one. One would think that it should require administrative rights for removal. I am guessing that there is probably a way to turn off advertisement of new versions to users; however, I suspect that is a lot of administrative overhead for one little program on many computers, and I would also guess that I would have to reset the "do not offer updates to users" after every update.

       

      Any ideas (other than making everyone local administrators and spending all my time cleaning off all their games & other junk)?

        • 1. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
          KALTechWriter Community Member

          Hi brian.hart,

           

          The Update notification can be suppressed via the mms.cfg file. This is described in the Flash Player Administrator’s Guide, chapter 4 (User-configured settings), located here: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/flash_player_admin_guide.html. The setting in question is AutoUdpateDisable, discussed on page 26.

           

          Hope this helps.

          Karen Leeburg

          • 2. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
            370H55V Community Member

            You could send a memo out company wide (go through HR just to be safe) that anyone who downloads or attempts to install any software on a company PC will be billed for the "repair" at the standard industry rate, and it will be automatically deducted from their next paycheck.

             

            Even if you don't have the authority or intention to actually do it, it will prove to be a pretty successful deterrent to anyone attempting to update software they don't have the rights to do. There will be some who choose to ignore it, but the majority will no longer screw up their (your) systems like this.

            • 3. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
              brian.hart Community Member

              That is, in not quite such drastic terms, the path I have chosen to pursue.

              My original post, however, was really more a complaint about an application

              that:

               

              1. Forces updates on users (technically, it does not force them, but it

              makes itself enough of a pest to qualify as such).

              2. Allows non-admin users to remove it.

              3. Requires administrative rights to update.

               

              Most users heed my warnings about not updating applications and stay away

              from Windows update, etc., but this little pesky update notification is

              simply too obvious & persistent, and none of them seem to be able to read

              the "do not show me this again" notice--only the "I accept"...

              • 4. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                brian.hart Community Member

                That is what I was hoping for, and that is what I was afraid of. That is, it

                means that I can manage Flash as an application and it also means that I

                must take the time to manage Flash as an application--all because the update

                process can remove the current version without administrative rights without

                being able to replace it with the new version.

                 

                This would not be so major of this was in one network, but I have to

                duplicate my efforts for each of the 150 computers I manage across six or

                seven different client networks just to avoid the complications brought on

                by one little (and necessary) application.

                 

                Thank you.

                • 5. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                  370H55V Community Member

                  Can you firewall adobe.com and keep the end users from ever getting to the downloads in the first place? They did that to us @ Intuit. No Windows updates, no Adobe Updates.

                  • 6. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                    brian.hart Community Member

                    I know I can do all that, but keep in mind this is not one network--I am the

                    outsourced IT manager for seven or eight medium-sized clients. I mainly

                    posted to gripe about a program that advertises updates, does not require

                    admin rights for removal, but does require admin access for installation. It

                    is truly not a huge problem, but it does require an inordinate amount of

                    administration compared to the size and importance of the application.

                     

                    Thanks,

                     

                    Brian

                    • 7. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                      370H55V Community Member

                      I can relate. The last time I did a admin stint it was a small office with five systems, and the business owner's daughter was running Limewire all day and downloading Facebook Apps on her workstation. She did more damage in one hour than I could clean up in a weekend, and that's when I had to go in and clean it up.

                       

                      Good luck whatever you decide to go with.

                      • 8. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                        pwillener CommunityMVP

                        brian.hart wrote:

                         

                        I mainly posted to gripe about a program that advertises updates, does not require

                        admin rights for removal, but does require admin access for installation.

                        There is really not much point doing this in the user forum, if you have no intention to implement the suggested solutions (especially mms.cfg).

                         

                        If you want to report a bug to Adobe: https://bugs.adobe.com/flashplayer/

                        • 9. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                          KALTechWriter Community Member

                          Hi brian.hart,

                          I would very much appreciate it if you would be willing to take the time to report this as a bug here (https://bugs.adobe.com/flashplayer/), as Pat suggests. You have done an excellent job of articulating the impact of this situation on administrators like yourself, and logging a bug is by far the most effective way to escalate this issue so that the right folks within Adobe have it on their radar.

                           

                          Thank you,

                          KALTechWriter

                          Adobe Community Help and Learning

                          • 10. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                            brian.hart Community Member

                            Let me be more exact. Although the config file option is a sound management

                            strategy in a single-network scenario, it is not very workable with 150

                            individual computers across eight disparate networks owned by different

                            clients. I am just spending an inordinate amount of time on managing one

                            little application.

                             

                            It would likely cost my clients more to have me proactively manage this one

                            application than to clean up after a few users in the cases where it is a

                            problem. I will report this as a bug; I just find it a little surprising

                            that the issue has persisted over the last several releases of Flash. I

                            guess I have just been expecting that someone would have reported it and

                            have been waiting for the behavior to change while I have been entirely

                            buried in larger projects.

                            • 11. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                              brian.hart Community Member

                              I will report it as a bug. I just figured somebody might have experienced it

                              before and maybe a fix was already in the works.

                              • 12. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                                pwillener CommunityMVP

                                Actually I did not know that the uninstaller was able to successfully run on limited accounts.  This really is a stupid bug!

                                • 13. Re: Flash removed by non-administrator accounts
                                  pwillener CommunityMVP

                                  P.S. after you file the bug report you may want to send a PM to Chris Campbell, with a link to the bug report and this topic; it may speed up things.