Flash 11.3 crashes

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  • Revision id: 26195
  • Created:
  • Creator: Michael Verdi
  • Comment: Windows only - instructions to update first, then downgrade if that doesn't work
  • Reviewed: Yes
  • Reviewed:
  • Reviewed by: Matt_G
  • Is approved? Yes
  • Is current revision? No
  • Ready for localization: Yes
  • Readied for localization:
  • Readied for localization by: Matt_G
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Some users have reported that a recent version of Flash 11.3 is crashing more frequently than previous versions of Flash. If you are experiencing excess crashes, please try updating to the latest version of Flash. If that doesn't help, downgrading to Flash 10.3 or Flash 11.2 has been reported to work.

Adobe has recently updated Flash to version 11.3. Some users have reported that this version of Flash is crashing more frequently than previous versions of Flash. If you are experiencing excess crashes, please downgrade to Flash 10.3 or Flash 11.2.

Note: This article only applies to Windows and Mac.
Note: This article is specifically for crashes with Flash 11.3. If you are experiencing issues with Flash 11.3 such as video appearing black, white or grey and never playing, please see Flash 11.3 doesn't load video in Firefox.

Solution 1: Update to Flash 11.3.300.262 (released June 21)

Adobe has just released an update that they believe fixes this issue. To update Flash, follow these instructions:

  1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page and download the Flash installer.
    Caution: Adobe's download page may include a checkbox for optional software (such as Google Chrome or McAfee Security Scan) that is selected by default. If you do not clear the checkbox before downloading, that software will be installed on your computer when you open the Flash installer.
  2. When the download has finished, close Firefox. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open the Flash installer file you downloaded and follow the instructions.
Note: If you are having problems with the Flash installer from Adobe's download page, you can use this Flash Player installer link to directly download the full installer.
  1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page and download the Flash installer.
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open the file you downloaded (i.e. install_flash_player_osx_intel.dmg).
  4. In the Finder, open the Install Adobe Flash Player.app to run the installer, then follow the installer's instructions.
  1. Go to Adobe's Flash Player download page.
  2. When prompted, save the file (i.e. install_flash_player_"version"_linux."processor".tar.gz).
  3. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  4. Open a Terminal window (in Gnome, click on the Applications menu, select Accessories, and then select Terminal.)
  5. In the Terminal window, change to the directory where you saved the file you downloaded (e.g. cd /home/user/Downloads).
  6. Extract libflashplayer.so from the file you downloaded with the command tar -zxvf install_flash_player_"version"_linux."processor".tar.gz.
  7. As the super user, copy the extracted file, libflashplayer.so, to your Firefox installation directory's plugins sub-directory. For example, if Firefox is installed in /usr/lib/mozilla, use the command sudo cp libflashplayer.so /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins and then enter your super user password when prompted.

    0a85171f1802a3b0d9f46ffb997ddc02-1260326970-447-1.png

Solution 2: Downgrade to an earlier version of Flash

Step 1: Uninstall Flash 11.3

To uninstall Flash 11.3 on Windows, you will need to use the uninstaller provided by Adobe.

Note: You may want to write down these steps or print them out as you will have to close Firefox during this process.
  1. Download the uninstaller program from Adobe - uninstall_flash_player.exe (671 KB)
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Run the uninstall Flash program that you download and follow the prompts.
  4. When you are finished, start Firefox again and continue with the next section.

See the Adobe help article Uninstalling Flash Player on Windows for more details.

Step 2: Install Flash 10.3 or 11.2

Important: If you install Flash 10.3, you will get a player with all known security patches applied but without all of the features of Flash 11.2. If you install Flash 11.2, your player might not have all of the known security updates applied.

The following instructions will show you how to download and install Flash 10.3. If you wish to install Flash 11.2 instead, you can get it from the Flash Player Archive page. For more information about installing Flash 11.2, please see How do I revert to a previous version of Flash Player? on the Adobe forum.

Note: You may want to write down these steps or print them out as you will have to close Firefox during this process.
  1. Download Flash 10.3 from the Adobe site - install_flash_player_10_plugin.exe
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open your downloads folder and double-click the file named install_flash_player_10_plugin.exe to start the installation.
  4. Follow the instructions in the installer. When the installation is complete you can open Firefox again.
Important: It will be important to install the update that fixes this issues as using the latest version of Flash is critical to keeping your computer safe.

Step 1: Uninstall Flash 11.3

To uninstall Flash 11.3 on Mac OSX, you will need to use the uninstaller provided by Adobe.

Note: You may want to write down these steps or print them out as you will have to close Firefox during this process.
  1. Download the uninstaller program from Adobe:
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Double-click the .dmg file that you downloaded to open a folder with the uninstall Flash program.
  4. Double-click the uninstall Flash program and follow the prompts.
  5. When you are finished, start Firefox again and continue with the next section.

See the Adobe help article Uninstalling Flash Player on Mac OS for more details.

Step 2: Install Flash 10.3 or 11.2

Important: If you install Flash 10.3, you will get a player with all known security patches applied but without all of the features of Flash 11.2. If you install Flash 11.2, your player might not have all of the known security updates applied.

The following instructions will show you how to download and install Flash 10.3. If you wish to install Flash 11.2 instead, you can get it from the Flash Player Archive page. For more information about installing Flash 11.2, please see How do I revert to a previous version of Flash Player? on the Adobe forum.

Note: You may want to write down these steps or print them out as you will have to close Firefox during this process.
  1. Download Flash 10.3 from the Adobe site - install_flash_player_10_osx.dmg
  2. Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Exit.Click the Firefox menu at the top of the screen and select Quit Firefox.Click the Firefox menu Fx89menuButton and select Quit.
  3. Open your downloads folder and double-click the file named install_flash_player_10_osx.dmg to open a folder with the Flash 10.3 install program.
  4. Double-click the Flash 10.3 installer to start the installation.
  5. Follow the instructions in the installer. When the installation is complete you can open Firefox again.
Important: It will be important to install the update that fixes this issues as using the latest version of Flash is critical to keeping your computer safe.