Installing Flash Player

I’ve installed flash player updates many times before, but am unable to install an update this time. Clicking on the “Install now” button brings up a window displaying an option to save “install_flashplayer16x32_mssa_aaa_aih.exe”. I can save it to my computer, but that doesn’t update it. If I try to run it using the Start<Run option, it’s not recognized by my computer.

By the way, where has the Straight Dope Computer and Technical forum gone to?

Flash is now deprecated in favor of HTML5. Which is a good thing too as Adobe Flash is a serious security hazard and unstable and a resource hog.

I’d suggest removing the Flash player(s) completely and installing a web browser with good HTML5 extensions such as Google Chrome. With that you can still view youtube.

If you are still desperate for your flash ‘fix’ then Google Chrome can also provide a non Adobe Flash player extension in addition to HTML5

I quite agree with all this, but there are many web authors who still haven’t gotten around to coding in HTML5. And sometimes you need to access their websites. (But fewer & fewer any more, especially commercial sites – for them, i just find a competitor who uses HTML5.)

So sometimes you’re stuck using Flash. But i think both Chrome & Firefox offer build-in non-Flash code that will display Flash content.

You have to double-click the .exe file and install the program. Download the most recent version that corresponds to your OS. Make sure you downloaded it from adobe.com. You really don’t want to run random .exe files from untrusted sites. When you install it, uncheck the boxes that ask if you want to install whatever AskJeeves toolbars and antivirus programs it offers. You really don’t want those either.

Exactly, get Flash from https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ (and you can only trust this link because this is a moderated forum and presumably other posters will vet it.)

If that won’t install either, try right-clicking on the .exe and pick Run as Administrator.

And yes, be sure to dodge the toolbars and other stuff it throws in. Really disappointing that reputable companies are including this shit.

You’ll need that Flash extension if you want the capability to view all YouTube videos. A lot of them still aren’t viewable with HTML5.