If you have problems with current Shockwave Flash plugin versions then check this:

• see if there are updates for your graphics drivers

https://support.mozilla.org/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration

• disable protected mode in the Flash plugin (Flash 11.3+ on Windows Vista and later)

https://forums.adobe.com/message/4468493#TemporaryWorkaround

• disable hardware acceleration in the Flash plugin

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/891337 See also:

• http://kb.mozillazine.org/Flash#Troubleshooting

I'm glad to see others are fighting this battle. My graphics are up to date, so I've tried installing prior versions of Flash on my Windows 7 to no avail. I've tried versions 21 and 11.2, plus 18 so far. I still get this fast flash of a "not responding" window. Makes it more difficult since this freeze makes FF think it's still running.

Anyone have a clue to the Flash version that works?

And for the record, yes I used the Adobe Flash uninstall tool, plus tried refreshing my FF.

Is there any success in using the prior version of FF and the latest version of Flash?

I tried all the fixes suggested above, but nothing worked. I was resolved to switching to Chrome when the problem spontaneously resolved for me this afternoon. I'm assuming that either Adobe or Mozilla fixed whatever the incompatibilty was.

Based on your hopeful news, I did another uninstall, and reinstalled Flash 22.0.0.192. (My Shockwave player is 12.2,4r194 which appears to be the latest version). My problems remain the same. No way I'll go to Chrome. I just revert back to my XP deskstop, which isn't having any problems. So I will be beholding if someone comes up with something else I can do Running out of options here....

Update, if anyone else is as desperate as I was. I went in to about:config (gasp), searched for plugin or flash. I toggled dom.ipc.plugins.flash.disable-protected-mode; from false to true, and that seems to be working. Now I guess some of the IT types might let me know if I've opened myself up to a threat ball of wax?

Cailmonty said

the problem spontaneously resolved for me this afternoon.

It could have been a corrupt file that was overwritten.

Please flag your last post as Solved Problem so others will know.

Update to the update... toggling the flash plugin disable protected mode worked for about 2 minutes, and now back to the same problem. So unfortunately, not solved.

Hi TerriF, to see whether this might be a conflict among add-ons, could you test in Firefox's Safe Mode? In Safe Mode, Firefox temporarily deactivates extensions, hardware acceleration, and some other advanced features to help you assess whether these are causing the problem.

If Firefox is not running: Hold down the Shift key when starting Firefox.

If Firefox is running: You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using either:

• "3-bar" menu button > "?" button > Restart with Add-ons Disabled
• Help menu > Restart with Add-ons Disabled

and OK the restart.

Both scenarios: A small dialog should appear. Click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Refresh).

Any improvement? (More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode)

Hello jscher. For your troubleshooting feedback, and my apparent solution. And I have two computers, one with XP and a laptop with Windows 7, so I did both. The problems exists in safe mode as well.

Window 7: Flash/Shockwave 22 add on settings, and behavior:

Setting: Always activate, Flash enable protect on Behavior: FF 47 freezes and an "unresponsive flash script" flashes only for 2-3 seconds. Can't even click on "stop plugin". The only way out is to end task via Task Manager.

Watching the task manager activity, and with Flash enable on, FF continues to hang, endlessly flashing the 2-3 second unresponsive error I have to restart the computer to release FF.

Setting: Ask to Activate, Flash enable protect on Behavior: As long as I make sure to hit the "Continue to Block" pop up command, it mostly works. If I hit allow, the cycle starts, again I have to restart because of endless cycling of the error message.

Setting: Setting Ask to Activate, flash enable protect unchecked Behavior: Problem goes away and I have no problem unless I click on "allow" instead of "continue to block". If I say "allow", with the flash enable protect unchecked, I still have to use end task via the task manager, but it only seems to hang FF for 1-2 minutes with the recycling of the error message. At least it's not in perpetuity.

Windows XP.

Pretty much the same as above, except that I can leave the flash enable protect checked, but still need to hit the "continue to block" option. Otherwise I'm dead meat. So all in all, XP is friendlier to the flash protect enabler than Windows 7.

I guess I have a "solution", albeit somewhat cumbersome as I have to keep an eye on that pop up (unless I want to say "never activate" and bypass any flash enable protection) - so if someone wants to tell me how to flag my response as "solved", I'll be happy to do so. But I hope the FF IT gurus can find a solution that is more friendly at least to the flash enable protection.

Thank you.

.

Hi TerriF, thank you for the detailed analysis.

Just as a footnote, you never need to click Continue Blocking. You can just ignore the notification bar if you don't mind losing the space it consumes.

I'm hoping Adobe is working on this over the weekend and we'll learn something new soon.

Thanks for that tip of "ignore".... it's distracting having to keep a wary eye on the pop up. If there is a solution, I certainly hope that someone posts it to this thread so I don't miss it.

And thanks to you, personally, as well. Some of your responses have solved problems for me in the past, tho I didn't post a comment.

I wonder whether there is some other factor, such as a particular brand of security software, or a particular Windows update, that causes this problem to occur for some users and not others?

If you want to include AV/security software, I use Trend Micro AV, Window 7 is the Home Premium, Service Pack 1. My XP is Media Edition, Service Pack 3, just FYI.

Hi TerriF, I think Trend Micro software was mentioned in another thread.

I use the "business" version of the software, which seems to be fine, so it could be something additional in the "home" version -- something that affects browsers specifically, perhaps.

Or maybe the pattern (signature) file needs an update?? Can you find a way in the software to trigger an update in case that makes any difference?

My Trend Micro is the consumer version As of now, it has the latest updates, and is Version: 10.0.1265 - USAD200004.3242 on both computers. Yes, you can force check for updates, tho mine is set for auto updates.

OP here - the problem resolved spontaneously on my computer last night; I hadn't had time to do any more steps to fix it. FYI, I have Trend Micro.