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Firefox won't use latest version of flash.

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I've downloaded and installed the latest version of flash. The problem is that Firefox refuses to use it, and instead decides to tell me to upgrade every time I go to a site that uses flash. It uses an outdated version...

I've downloaded and installed the latest version of flash. The problem is that Firefox refuses to use it, and instead decides to tell me to upgrade every time I go to a site that uses flash. It uses an outdated version...

Chosen solution

Do you now see the correct Flash player 10.2 version in Tools > Add-ons > Plugins ?

Which version is reported on the Adobe test page?

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All Replies (10)

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You show Shockwave Flash 9.0 r28 as being installed for Firefox. Un-install that through the Control Panel.

1.Download the Flash setup file from here, to get the one for Firefox:
Adobe Flash - Plugin version.
Save it to your Desktop.

2. Close Firefox using File > Exit
then check the Task Manager > Processes tab to make sure firefox.exe is closed,
{XP: Ctrl+Alt+Del, Vista: Shift+Ctrl+ESC = Processes tab}

3. Then run the Flash setup file from your Desktop.

  • On Vista and Windows 7 you may need to run the plugin installer as Administrator by starting the installer via the right-click context menu if you do not get an UAC prompt to ask for permission to continue (i.e nothing seems to happen).

See this:
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/run_as_administrator.htm

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I can't find Shockwave Flash 9.0 r28 anywhere in the "uninstall a program list" The only one I see is the current version.

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You can find the old Flash plugin file NPSWF32.DLL in the plugins folder within the Firefox program folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins\) and remove that file.

Also remove the flashplayer.xpt file in the components folder, if present.

See also:

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For some reason, my Firefox doesn't have a plugins folder.

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Firefox 4 doesn't have that plugins folder anymore, but older Flash 9 versions used to be installed in that folder.

You can do a search for the file NPSWF32.DLL and make sure that you search in all locations, including system files.

C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\
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After deleting that file, and reinstalling the flash update for the 9th time, it still says that I need to upgrade and Firefox is using an outdated version.

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Chosen Solution

Do you now see the correct Flash player 10.2 version in Tools > Add-ons > Plugins ?

Which version is reported on the Adobe test page?

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Ah, some how Firefox was trying to run both versions. I disabled the outdated one. Thanks for helping me!

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You're welcome.

You still need to locate and find that older version on your computer.

You can re-enable that older Flash version and use this method to locate that older version:

If you set the pref plugin.expose_full_path to true on the about:config page then you see the full path of plugins on the about:plugins page.
It is best not to leave that pref set to true as it exposes that full path to web servers, so reset that pref to false after you are done with the about:plugins page.

You can open about:plugins and about:config via the location bar, like you open a website (about: is a special protocol to access some build-in pages).
If you get a warning when opening the about:config page then you can confirm that you want to continue.

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Another useful tool to find obsolete software on your PC is Secunia PSI. It is only free for home use.

http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

Usually if you expand each of the vulnerable or end-of-life items, it lists the full path to the folder where that file is stored.