# Flash Player Update Service causing crashes **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598 "2012-07-18T05:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/1 "2012-07-18T05:12:51Z")
I’ve been getting Flash Player Update Service, exe. Application Error Also The instruction at “0x00766204” referenced memory at 0x0095830f The memory could not be “written”. Click on OK to terminate the program Click on cancel to debug the program Adobe Flash Player Update Service 11.3 r300 has encountered a problem and needs to close. How do I get rid of this? It suddenly crashes the computer. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/2 "2012-07-18T13:26:29Z")
Nothing? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/3 "2012-07-18T13:44:22Z")
Would [http://theblogoftech.net/?p=4071](http://theblogoftech.net/?p=4071) help? Also, another strike against automatic updates. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/4 "2012-07-18T13:52:56Z")
Any chance of restoring a previous OS version and negating the update? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/5 "2012-07-18T14:59:59Z")
Start in safe mode. Run msconfig.exe. Look for the flash service and turn it off under the startup tab. Restart. Go to add/remove programs, uninstall flash. Then go to the Flash site and download and reinstall flash. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/6 "2012-07-18T16:15:28Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Start in safe mode. Run msconfig.exe… Excellent advice, but why in safe mode? Are you postulating there is malware involved? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/7 "2012-07-18T17:25:53Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Excellent advice, but why in safe mode? Are you postulating there is malware involved? No, I was under the impression couldn’t get the computer to start w/o crashing. So if the crashing is coming from a service, start in a mode where the service isn’t running and nuke the service. FWIW my brother just texted me and told me he is having this very issue on his laptop and his desktop. Both running XP. He says the Flash thing is not IN his startup items…hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/8 "2012-07-18T19:08:04Z")
I’m having the same crash. It doesn’t take the system down, or even really slow anything down. I think Mangosteen can probably just uninstall and reinstall the app. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/9 "2012-07-19T00:19:42Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Start in safe mode. Run msconfig.exe. Look for the flash service and turn it off under the startup tab. Restart. Go to add/remove programs, uninstall flash. Then go to the Flash site and download and reinstall flash. Tried to use regular start up. Ran msconfig.exe went to Services ( not start up ) and found Adobe Flash Player Update. It was “Stopped”. Clicked on it to erase the check symbol. Hit Apply. Window appeared, “An access denied error was returned while attempting to change service. You may need to to log on using an Administrator account to make special changes.” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/10 "2012-07-19T00:41:36Z")
Can you get to add/remove programs? Just go uninstall it. Or log in as admin. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/11 "2012-07-19T02:51:39Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Tried to use regular start up. Ran msconfig.exe went to Services ( not start up ) and found Adobe Flash Player Update. It was “Stopped”. Clicked on it to erase the check symbol. Hit Apply. Window appeared, “An access denied error was returned while attempting to change service. You may need to to log on using an Administrator account to make special changes.” Never use MSConfig to deal with services. Use services.msc–just type it into the start menu or Run dialog box. And, yes, you’ll have to be an administrator. Programs and Features (what Add/Remove Programs is now called in Windows 7’s Control Panel) also won’t work if you aren’t an administrator. Despite technically not being necessary, Flash has always required Administrator privileges. This is a big reason why I don’t like forced automatic updates. Sure, you need to update, but they should tell you why and let you choose whether it’s worth it to risk bugs like this, or just wait a bit and see how things shake out. The security hole has been there for a while, a couple more weeks won’t hurt. Particularly with a company like Adobe with their abysmal track record on these things. They aren’t Google, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/12 "2012-07-19T03:20:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Never use MSConfig to deal with services. Use services.msc–just type it into the start menu or Run dialog box. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/13 "2012-07-19T03:26:46Z")
This was happening to me with a recent update. Flash would either crash or the Update service would give the error message you posted. However, the recent update 11.3.300.265 fixed the problem. See what version you have and if it isn’t 11.3.300.265, update from "Step 4"and see if that fixes the problem. No need to uninstall or do msconfig. [Find Adobe Flash Version](http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/find-version-flash-player.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/14 "2012-07-19T04:01:06Z")
I updated to Firefox 14.0 and it seems to have solved the problem. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![jamiedb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@jamiedb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jamiedb)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/15 "2012-07-21T04:12:55Z")
Many people running XP SP3 are seeing recurring crashes of the latest FlashPlayer updater. Until Adobe fixes this, here’s a simple workaround that works great: [http://iphuture.com/2012/07/18/how-to-fix-adobe-flash-update-service-problem-for-build-11-3-300-265/](http://iphuture.com/2012/07/18/how-to-fix-adobe-flash-update-service-problem-for-build-11-3-300-265/) ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-player-update-service-causing-crashes/628598/16 "2012-07-21T06:06:00Z")
I just went to restore computer to earlier date, before I installed the new adobe flash and that worked. When adobe asked to install new update I declined.