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matavaiFlag for New Zealand

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Adobe Flash Player won't run in IE or Firefox but will in Chrome

I'm running Windows 7 in a Domain environment & have IE 11, Firefox & Chrome all installed.  Sometime back Adobe Flash player stopped working so I reinstalled it under the Administrator login & all was good using Flash in IE, but when I log in as a regular user it keeps insisting that Flash Player isn't installed.  Further investigation showed that it works fine for all Administrator browsers, but for Regular user it only works in Chrome.  I do have Active Scripting enabled in IE.  Is this an access rights problem, or a setting in IE & Firefox, any ideas?
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John
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Flash works just fine in Windows 7 with IE 10 or 11.

Go to Control Panel and uninstall Flash. Once uninstalled, restart the computer, log on with an admin ID, open IE 11, go to www.adobe.com , go to the Flash menu lower right, click on Flash and install it.

Now test. Does it work?  Then test in a regular user. Does it still work?
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ASKER

Same problem as before I'm afraid.  I followed your instructions to the letter (except for unticking installing Google Chrome & Goole Toolbar) & it still works in IE under the Administrator, but not under my login.  And it still works ok in Chrome.
You may have a problem with the operating system.

Uninstall Flash from the control panel.

Open cmd.exe with Run as Administrator and run SFC /SCANNOW. Allow to complete and when done restart the computer.

Now try installing Flash again from Adobe.   (I always untick the two settings you mention).
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ASKER

The good news is that the scan came back clear "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations", the bad news is that it hasn't made any difference.  Is there any equivalent scan for just IE?
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Don't know about the problem with the other browsers but Chrome has Flash built into it.  IE and Firefox use two different versions of Flash.
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ASKER

Interesting.  I tried Firefox & got told to download the plug-in, did so & now the screen still doesn't run the function I want, but is also no longer asking me to download the plug.  So it seems to know it has Flash Player, just can't or won't use it.  IE hasn't changed, it still shows a little black square with a white X in it instead of running the player.  

I tried another PC of similar age & build, though still running IE 10, & it works fine.  I vaguely recall that it was when I had to upgrade to IE 11 for something else, that that was when the Flash Player problems began, likewise when I began having problems with changing Printer Option in PDF documents opened with Adobe Reader.
Note that you have to download the Flash for IE with IE so it will give you the correct one.  Likewise, you have to download Flash for Firefox with Firefox to get the right one.  They are two different versions of flash.
You should not be downloading Flash, but rather just installing it from the browser you want.

You might try removing IE and re-adding it.  First, uninstall Flash again.

Go to Control Panel, Programs and Features, Windows Features and uncheck IE. Restart (you will have to).   Now go back to the same place and  check IE (enable it). Restart again (you will have to).

Now go to IE, Adobe.com and try to install Flash again.
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ASKER

I can't get to that PC today, but will have another try tomorrow morning.  Meanwhile, I've just noticed that the version of Flash I downloaded yesterday is install_flashplayer17x32ax_gtbd_chrd_dn_aaa_aih.exe, does that mean there's a 64 bit version too?  When you say 'not downloading' Flash John, I just mean that my habit is to download software & save it to a central location, then run the .exe file so that when I have to install it on another PC I don't have to download again ( I have tried just running from the download screen, it doesn't make any difference).  But I am always doing the download from the browser I have the problem with.
At this point, you should only use Flash 32-bit even on 64-bit computers.

Except for developer product, there is NO way to download Flash and that may be the source of your issue. Let IE work with Adobe to install Flash.
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ASKER

Interestingly, I thought I'd try a couple of other IE11 PCs, both of which are 64 bit (whereas the original problem is with a 32 bit PC), I downloaded what Adobe offered me, a different file (& its only the 1Mb starter file, not the full install), & it worked fine when logged in as Joe Bloggs user.  So I tried another 64 bit machine, exactly the same process, & whilst it now actually shows the object the flash player is trying to run, the object doesn't actually run.  If it helps, this is an example of what I'm using to test Flash Player - http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/quizzes/daily-quizzes/11531669/Daily-trivia-quiz-April-14 .  On the 32 bit PC I get a blank box with a tiny black square with a cross in it, the first 64 bit machine runs the quiz, the second one I tried shows the blue quiz frame but none of the quiz questions come up.   This is very frustrating.   I will return to comparing apples with apples & find another 32 bit PC to compare with.  And I will try un-installing IE & re-installing it tomorrow morning, thank you for your patience & persistence John.
matavai
other simple things you can try, with internet explorer go to tools/internet options> advanced>use software rendering instead of GPU, untick to change whatever it using.
You could also use the reset IE .

With flash screen rightclick it if possible /Global settings>ask me before allowing new sites to save to this computer is unticked as a test then delete all then click on updates and have it set to automatic. These settings should also be available in control panel.
I also find a lot of flash problems are overcome when shockwave player is installed
 shockwave player
To test your shockwave player use internet explorer please
https://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/
https://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/
downloaded what Adobe offered me, a different file (& its only the 1Mb starter file, not the full install), & it worked fine

Adobe does not allow you to download the full install file and has not for some years. Only third party sites offer downloads and the results are questionable.

I tried the quiz on my Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit machine and on my Windows 7 Pro 64-bir and it worked on both machines.

I do not have any 32-bit machines - my own and clients are all 64-bit.

I will try un-installing IE & re-installing it tomorrow morning, thank you for your patience & persistence   <-- Follow the Adobe approach. Do not download, access Flash and click on Run when you get to the point of install. Untick the free toolbar offerings.

Please let us know.
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ASKER

Thanks for the many suggestions, I'll try & get access to the PC tomorrow, but more likely I won't get full time use until Monday again, sorry to take so long when you've been so helpful.
In the meantime, I've tested another 32-bit PC, installed IE 11 & it automatically asked if I wanted to upgrade Flash Player, which I did, & everything works fine.  So as you say, there is no incompatibility, its just a matter of finding out what's wrong with this particular PC.  I appreciate all suggestions, which must be hard to make when there are so many unknown variables involved.
We have focused on installed Flash and you know lots of computers use Flash just fine. It appears to be this one problem computer.

We already suggested running SFC above.

The next step is a Windows 7 Repair Install. You need a working recovery partition or the Windows 7 DVD to do this. Here is a Seven Forums tutorial to assist.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

And ultimately, if nothing works, back up and reinstall Windows
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ASKER

I tried the un-install & re-install of IE, doing the same with Flash at the same time, but sadly no improvement.   Also tried un-ticking "Use software rendering..."' but no difference.  And installed Shockwave, also to no avail.  The only suggestion I didn't get to was "With flash screen rightclick it if possible /Global settings>ask me before allowing new sites to save to this computer " presumably I'd have to do that under the Admin login where Flash is actually working?

My only argument against it being a Windows corruption is that it does work fine under the Admin login, just not for standard users.  Am I correct in assuming that setting changes under Internet Options apply to all users, so when I change things under one login, it changes under others as well, it appears so to me, but I haven't checked all settings under Admin to see if it has anything the standard users don't.  The other thing I need to retry is installing flash under the user login, but my impression from past attempts at this is that the login doesn't have the authority to install, but I will re-try.
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Dave Baldwin
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ASKER

Thanks Dave, I'll try that on Monday when I'm next using that PC, but again I'm dubious that its a wrong version problem because it works fine under the Admin login, but not under the standard user, so its like its an access rights or user-specific setting problem.
You may also have a permissions problem but that is the correct way to install Flash in the browsers.
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ASKER

That web page had a really handy section about checking to see if Flash Player was enabled & how to enable it if necessary, bingo!  Hence why it worked ok for the Administrator but not for me.  D'oh!