I had to install Windows when a virus bricked my previous installation, and I am trying to get by with as little software as possible for security reason. Every time a site tries to load an ad I get a nag screen about installing Flash. How big of a risk is it to just install it.
Also what’s a "SM Bus controller, and how to I find the appropriate driver for it. Sony doesn’t seem to have one and that’s the only exclamation point left on my device manager.
On a scale of threats, I’d rate Flash a medium-low. There have been attacks using it, but it’s usually patched pretty quick, and browser plugin attacks are relatively hard to execute, in that they require getting people to browse to malicious websites (either directly or through advertising banners, which are also policed pretty well on reputable sites).
The biggest issues with Flash are around stability, not security – a very high percentage of application crashes have Flash in the stack, for example. Crashes can be exploited for attacks, but again, it’s challenging and not common for Flash.
That said; the era of the browser plugin is largely over now, and the iPad, Android, and other mobile devices are causing many companies to produce Flash-free versions of their web sites. If you don’t actually need Flash, there’s no point in opening up even the relatively small risk. This will be a personal thing – I had my newest PC for a couple of months before I was even prompted to install Flash; my wife’s Mac needed it within an hour of being turned on. It just depends what sorts of sites you visit and what sort of stuff you do on the web.
(SM Bus is usually power and temperature management - things like fans, reset buttons, and the lid-closed detector on laptops. If those things are working without the driver, I wouldn’t worry about it.)