New Flash update makes Firefox unuseable
I updated Adobe Flash today, and now when I try to go to a page that uses this, I constantly get the popup that says the plugin has become unresponsive. It doesn't matter if I check to let it continue or to stop it; the browser hangs/freezes, and the popup continues to pop up. I go into Task Manager to try to stop the Flash plugin but it keeps restarting itself, plus the plugin container or whatever it is that gives Firefox so much trouble keeps restarting as well as long as the page is open. I have to use the Task Manager to close the entire browser, then manually close both instances of Flash which are running. (It starts up two at a time for some reason.)
When I try to reopen the browser, it doesn't even take me to my homepage, it takes me back to the unresponsive page, and it starts all over again! I had to restart my computer the first time and that seemed to fix the problem, I was even able to use the Flash site. But after shutting down and turning my computer back on for other Firefox slowness/freezing issues which haven't been resolved yet (I clear my cache constantly--no longer helps), the Flash issue has returned.
I downloaded Google Chrome just so I can come here and post this. (I don't like it, it's very slow and non-customizable.) I'm getting so frustrated with all the issues I've been having with Firefox since an update some months back (lost track when), there's lots of lockups, freezing, unresponsiveness, issues with Flash, and now for the past three mornings straight, the browser becomes nonfunctional after about an hour and only shutting the computer down fixes it (like I said--clearing the cache no longer works), and now whatever this is.
Is there any way to fix this?
Sorry I can't add troubleshooting info since I can't use the Firefox browser. Clearing the cache does not help anymore.
All Replies (6)
Now Google Chrome has become completely unuseable and unresponsive. I uninstalled and reinstalled it and it still doesn't respond. I've uninstalled Adobe Flash and will try installing it again. If this doesn't work, I literally have no idea what to do. How am I going to pay bills on my sites that require Flash?
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:
Type about:addons<enter> in the address bar to open the Add-ons Manager. Hot key; <Control>(Mac=<Command>) <Shift> A)
On the left side of the page, select Plugins. Find Shockwave Flash, and press the Options button. Uncheck Enable Adobe Flash Protected Mode.
I don't understand most of those instructions. :(
All I could understand was disabling Flash protected mode...which I tried.
It makes no difference.
I even went to see if I could download the previous version of Flash, and I don't understand any of the instructions.
I wish I'd never updated this program.
Adobe has an older version of Flash called the Extended Support Release. It still gets security updates so is safe to roll back to. However, the installer might not be willing to go backwards in version numbers, so in that case you might need to use Adobe's uninstaller first.
ESR Release about 50% of the way down this page: https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html (either the EXE or MSI installer should work equally well)
If needed: https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html
Does that version work any better?
I looked into reinstalling an older version of Flash, but I'm afraid the instructions (such as unzipping the file into the 64-bit directory or whatever, and all the typed commands for the uninstall) are too complicated for me.
I've been to the Adobe forums ( https://forums.adobe.com/community/flashplayer/using_flashplayer ) and it looks like several other people are having the same issue, making it seem like the problem is with Flash Player 22. No solutions provided by Adobe yet, though.
You shouldn't need to do any unzipping. The EXE and MSI files are standard Windows installers, just double-click and they run.
Or you could disable Flash on the Add-ons page and monitor for news from Adobe. In case you need the steps for that:
Open the Add-ons page using either:
- Ctrl+Shift+a
- "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Add-ons
In the left column, click Plugins. Look for "Shockwave Flash" on the right side and change "Always Activate" to "Never Activate".