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Always have to reinstall adobe flash

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  • 1 has this problem
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  • Last reply by gcivic5

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Hey guys I need help. Every time I go to a page with flash media on it, I would have to install or reinstall adobe flash or it would just be a black square where the video would be at. No error message at all. After I reinstall the flash player it would work ok. But If I reboot or restart the computer I would have to reinstall it again. I have tried everything, uninstalling and reinstalling firefox. What can I do to fix it?

Hey guys I need help. Every time I go to a page with flash media on it, I would have to install or reinstall adobe flash or it would just be a black square where the video would be at. No error message at all. After I reinstall the flash player it would work ok. But If I reboot or restart the computer I would have to reinstall it again. I have tried everything, uninstalling and reinstalling firefox. What can I do to fix it?

All Replies (4)

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Is the Shockwave Flash plugin still installed after a reboot if you check that?

You can find the Flash plugin file (NPSWF32_##_X_XXX_XXX.dll) in this folder:

  • 32 bit Windows: C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\
  • 64 bit Windows: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\

If the plugin is still there then there might be a problem with the Windows Registry or with the pluginreg.dat file in the Firefox profile folder.

Try to delete the pluginreg.dat file in the Firefox Profile Folder and maybe addons.sqlite as well to reset the plugin registry databases.

See Re-initializing the plugins database:

You can use this button to go to the current Firefox profile folder:

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I did all that, the computer does have flash installed because I can use chrome and explorer to view the same page that firefox has problems with just fine. I deleted the plugin.dat file and resetted the windows 7 registry and still have the same problem.

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Both Google Chrome and IE use their own version of the Shockwave Flash plugin and not the NPAPI version that Firefox uses.

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I figured it out after hours of effort on weekends when I'm free. I tried everything firefox suggested and even adobe. Doing total complete uninstalls, disabling addons and a lot of restarts. It turns out that Adobe and firefox has a history of putting out new versions that are not compatible with each other. I removed firefox and reinstalled an older version of when the problem started back in January and it was fixed. There was never a problem with chrome and explorer just firefox, refusing to display videos. But can youtube can still work.