The issue seems to occur after Flash calls some audio-related components of Windows. I'm not very familiar with audio issues, but can you think of any software changes recently that might have affected those bits?

If it is audio-related, the following might be irrelevant, but I'll mention it just in case. This is some standard guidance that addresses the most common issues with the Flash Player plugin.

(1) If you have any recorders/downloaders that interact with Flash media make sure they are as up-to-date as possible, or disable them temporarily.

(2) Disable hardware graphics acceleration in Firefox and in Flash

(A) In Firefox, un-check the box here and restart:

"3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options > Advanced > General > "Use hardware acceleration when available"

(B) In Flash, see this support article from Adobe: http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/video-playback-issues.html#main_Solve_video_playback_issues

(3) Disable the protected mode feature of the Flash plugin. That feature has security benefits, but is not compatible with all systems for some reason.

You can disable it by creating or editing a settings file. The following pages/posts provide different approaches:

• Adobe support article under the heading "Last Resort": Adobe Forums: How do I troubleshoot Flash Player's protected mode for Firefox?

• Manual steps: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/968190?page=5#answer-509209

• Batch file to automate the manual steps: https://support.mozilla.org/questions/982093#answer-518078 (alternate version of Carm's batch file with a few changes by me: https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=f7d304d92388737d&id=F7D304D9238...)

Any improvement?

The audio thing is a good lead actually, I'll try updating all my software and see if that helps. The protective mode fix and accelerated hardware fix both have proved ineffective.

I notice that there are also Flash plugin container processes shown in other threads if I click Show/hide other threads.

You can try to boot the computer in Windows Safe Mode with network support (press F8 on the boot screen) as a test.

• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/how-to-start-windows-in-safe-mode/

[01]: bp-ff411382-f4eb-44c8-b6df-7ec722141231 Dec 31, 2014 [02]: bp-39eedb51-1e81-4823-ad12-09e412141230 Dec 30, 2014 [03]: bp-385dacb0-d9d2-4e77-992d-33c462141230 Dec 30, 2014 [04]: bp-01f99a30-f4c5-4ba7-93be-47ed12141230 Dec 30, 2014 [05]: bp-810439a5-b159-4291-97d6-560292141230 Dec 30, 2014 [06]: bp-2535cfa0-e7ac-433c-a104-167352141230 Dec 30, 2014 [07]: bp-a0a91b5f-ec36-4a5f-9502-eee682141230 Dec 30, 2014

UPDATE: I found a graphics driver that had to be updated and bought myself five minutes of it not crashing, but it has since then become broken once more. All my other drivers, including the ones for audio, are up to date so if that is the problem there has to be an inconsistency between a version of them and flash.

I'll try that as a next step cor-el.

Try to clear the Flash local storage and settings.

• Windows Control Panel > Flash Player > Storage: Local Storage Settings
  • Remove a specific domain: Local Storage Settings by site
  • Remove all domains: Delete All and Delete Data

Flash Website Storage Settings panel:

• http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html

Global Storage Settings Panel:

• http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager03.html

Try to uninstall and reinstall Flash.

• http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html

You can find the latest Flash player versions for Firefox on this page:

• http://www.adobe.com/special/products/flashplayer/fp_distribution3.html

I did as you suggested and it still didn't work. I think it is something wrong with the update itself.

You could try the "extended support release" of Flash 13 which is a few tables down on this page: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html

Most likely you would need to uninstall Flash 16 first or the downgrade may be rejected. http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html