This looks for software in "non-default locations".
Still, to get a full accounting, I suggest running a "thorough system inspection" - it's a checkbox under the blue Start button. In response to a communication from me, Secunia recently changed their search pattern for the Flash player and they are now more likely to find all live copies. By default, it only checks software installed in the standard or official location. This free service from Secunia runs as a Java applet and scans your computer looking for software (not just Flash) with known security vulnerabilities. One way to get an inventory of old copies of the Flash player that may still be floating around your computer is the online Secunia Software Inspector.* Since they are not helping you, you need to help yourself. The latest version, with these two problems, is dated December 3, 2007.Īdobe is hurting their reputation by failing to reliably un-install their own software. Since then, they have not released a new version of their un-installer. I first reported this to Adobe roughly a month ago. I documented two instances where the Adobe uninstaller left behind an old buggy copy of the Flash player (see Problems updating the Flash player in Firefox? Here's Help). On top of this, the Adobe Flash player un-installer is incomplete.
Brian Krebs at mentioned both the needed upgrade and the un-installer, but only mentioned the un-installer in passing. Neither did Good Morning Silicon Valley or InfoWorld.ĬomputerWorld mentioned the need to upgrade, but said nothing about un-installing old versions. Lockergnome also doesn't seem to have mentioned this. Richards, to my mind, Adobe hasn't done enough to publicize either the non-standard uninstall process or the need to upgrade to version 9.0.115.0 in the first place.įor example, a search on CNET's own for "flash player" turns up my previous blogs, but nothing in the news section about the need to upgrade the Flash player. The just-released January 24th edition warned about the Flash security problems and the need to upgrade to version 9.0.115.0, but it didn't mention Adobe's Flash Player un-installer program. No one told Ian "Gizmo" Richards, the man behind the Support Alert newsletter. How would someone know this? It seems a techie has to tell you. Another one of their TechNotes says "Due to recent enhancements to the Adobe Flash Player installers, you can now remove the player only by using the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller." The official way to remove the Flash player is with an un-installer program that you can downloadfrom Adobe. The downloadable Flash uninstaller, dated Decemdid remove the Flash player. The computer was using Flash version 9,0,45,0 which is fairly recent. February 4, 2008: On a Windows XP machine running IE7, I was not able to remove the Adobe Flash Player 9 ActiveX using the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. If your browser(s) continue to use an old version of Flash after removing it via the Control Panel, then try the un-installer. This will work for recent versions of the Flash player, but not for older versions. January 30, 2008: According to Adobe, removing the Flash player via the Windows Control Panel should be the first approach. And, it may not tell you that it didn't work.
Thus, there may be a slew of old, buggy copies of the Flash player on your computer.Īlthough the Flash player appears in the list of installed software in the Windows Control Panel "Add or Remove Programs" list, removing it from there doesn't always work.
Over the years, the Flash installer has not un-installed old versions.
I say this both because removing software with known security bugs is a good thing in general and because Adobe recommends it in one of their TechNotes which says "Before you install Flash Player for any Windows browser, uninstall all previous versions" (see ). Before installing a new version of Flash you should uninstall the old version(s).