I use Google Chrome as my browser because my computer has obsolete versions of Windows and IE. Recently Chrome updated its integral Adobe Flash player and now I can’t view anything- CPU usage shoots up to 100% and still has choppy sound and freeze-frame video. For a while I was able to use an external plugin, but then Chrome updated the plugin version, and now that doesn’t work. :mad: I’ve tried installing archived older versions of Flash but Google Chrome either won’t accept them or they won’t work properly with the current version. I basically can’t view YouTube anymore and a page with embedded Flash animation slows my computer to a crawl. Apparently a lot of other people have had problems like this. What can I do about this?
Some tech specs:
upgrade versions: last working version of Flash was 12.0.0.38. All 12.0.0.4x versions and latest 12.0.0.70 choke. Integral version is PepperFlash, plugin is NPSWF32_
What version of Windows are you using? I’m running Chrome 32.0.1700.107 (Beta channel), with the 12.0.0.70 Flash plugin, on Windows 7 with no issues. It could be that the most recent Flash update isn’t playing well with Windows; just how ‘obsolete’ is it?
You should be able to install the old Flash plugin. Grab the most recent version of Flash 11 from the Flash Player archives (11.7.700.269 as of the last I checked). Don’t get the Playerglobal.swc by mistake, BTW.
You’ll get a zip file that will contain multiple installers. The one you want to use will start with “flashplayer_” and end with “_win.exe” and will not be in the debug folder. Go ahead and let it automatically update, as 11.7 will probably be supported for quite a while. (The last extended support version lasted nearly 3 years.)
After installing, you’ll need to disable the version that comes with Chrome. Type [noparse]“about:plugins”[/noparse] in your URL bar and press enter. Disable the Flash 12 plugin (usually at the top of the list), then restart Chrome just to be sure. Try another flash-based website and see if it works.
If it still hangs up, you can try disabling the sandbox. I do that on even my fastest computers, as otherwise I get hangs.
I thought the embedded Flash player in Chrome was preferred and should not be manually overwritten or disabled. For what it’s worth, here’s Adobe’s advice on the Chrome player problems:
If that doesn’t work, the only other thing I can think of is to completely remove Chrome (saving your bookmarks first, of course) and start over from a clean installation. I’ve only recently begun using Chrome regularly, and am on Windows 7 besides, but I’ve never had a problem with Flash. Currently I’m using Chrome Version 33.0.1750.117 with Flash 12,0,0,70 installed.
Well, of course they are going to say that. The embedded version was designed for Chrome and is thus safer. But that’s no help for a guy having problems.
You are right that I should have recommended a complete reinstall of Chrome first, though. But I was in a mood to just provide the OP with exactly what he asked for, which seemed to be a way to use an older version of Flash without compatibility problems.
If I had to do it over, I’d recommend the following, stopping when one works:
[ol]
[li]Make sure YouTube is actually using Flash. Make sure HTML5 is disabled using this page.[/li][li]Toggle all Flash plugins on and off in about:plugins(disabled and enabled).[/li][li]Restart Chrome.[/li][li]Restart your computer.[/li][li]Disable the NPAPI plugin for Flash in about:plugins, (making sure the PPAPI (embeded) version is enabled and then restart Chrome.[/li][li]Reenable the NPAPI plugin and disable the PPAPI (embeded) version.[/li][li]Reinstall Chrome on top of your current installation.[/li][li]Try resetting Chrome to its old settings.[/li][li]Try uninstalling and reinstalling Chrome.[/li][li]Try installing the extended release version of Flash (aka, what my previous post said)[/li][li]Use a different web browser. (Firefox would be the most likely to work.)[/li][/ol]
Then I would have pointed out that, if you are in a hurry, try the first two or three options and then skip right to the last option until you have time to sort things out.
I’m trying this but there are problems. The first problem is, when I try to launch the installation file (flashplayer_11_7r700_269_win is the one I assume you were referring to) it doesn’t let me. I get the message: “The version… you are trying to install is not the most current… please visit… to get the correct version” and I can only click “quit”.
So I figure I’ll just try a different file, like, perhaps, oh this one: flashplayer_11_7r700_269_winax (I mean it’s almost the same size and could it be all that different?) This does actually seem to install. But I don’t see it on the chrome plugins page. So if it is installed anywhere, I guess Chrome doesn’t know it.
There are 2 files at the top of the list, both Adobe Flash Player files:
C:\Documents and Settings\moe\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\33.0.1750.117\PepperFlash\pepflashplayer.dll
And then at the bottom is Adobe Shockwave Player
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Adobe\Director
p32dsw.dll
Last time I was motivated to tackle this problem I did some googling and I think I read the recommendation to disable the pepperflash plugin, which I did. But it didn’t help.
So any ideas about why I’m maxing out my CPU immediately whenever I play any online videos?
Sorry I didn’t get back to you on this. I should have mentioned that you have to uninstall any current versions of Flash, first. Otherwise you’ll be told that the version is too old.
Also, the winax version is for Internet Explorer. The AX part stands for ActiveX, which is the name for the IE plugin system. It’s not going to do anything for Chrome.
That said, if you’re upgrading your OS, you’ll probably eliminate whatever was causing the problem (even if it had nothing to do with Windows XP) so go ahead and try Chome again in Windows 7.
If you do have problems in Windows 7, I’d start to wonder if you’re actually having hardware problems, like maybe with your graphics card.