# Why can't I have Shockwave??!! Why? Why? Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 1999, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-have-shockwave-why-why-why/4339 "1999-10-30T10:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-have-shockwave-why-why-why/4339/1 "1999-10-30T10:38:00Z")
I wanted my daughter to play some of the games from the Blue’s Clues and Dr. Seuss site. It appears I have a shockwave player installed on the computer, but whenever I try to use it, I get an error message and they send me to the shockwave site and I’m told to check my Internet connection, over and over and over. This is a new computer…and I had installed shockwave on my piece of crap 75 mHz packard bell. Is there a site I could go to that will fix my shockwave program? * * * –Gail “Predictable, really I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place.” --John Cleese ---
**Author:** ![SterlingNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SterlingNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SterlingNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-have-shockwave-why-why-why/4339/2 "1999-10-30T12:18:00Z")
You may not have Shockwave _Director_, but instead rather Shockwave _Flash._ The latter only plays animations, the former allows for interactivity. Games for example. Did you download Shockwave, or did it come preinstalled with the browser. If it’s the latter, then, you’d probably only have Flash, and you’d need to download and install Director. * * * It is by the fortune of God that, in this country, we have three benefits: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never to use either. —_Mark Twain_ ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-have-shockwave-why-why-why/4339/3 "1999-10-30T12:19:00Z")
- - - [Shockwave.com](http://Shockwave.com) changed their site recently. I ain’t sure, but I think they have it set up to detect if you already have it or not. If you already have it (in some detectable form) on your system, it doesn’t bother to send you to the screen to download it again- instead it brings up a presentation that you need to use Shockwave(.exe) to view at all. - On your computer, its file could have somehow become damaged but still detectable. I would try deleting it from your machine entirely, and then revisiting the site to see if you can re-download it again. - MC ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-have-shockwave-why-why-why/4339/4 "1999-10-30T12:22:00Z")
- - - And by the by, as I understood it, you only needed Director if you wanted to create your own animations yourself. I needed it for a college class site - the site has interactive labs but all I needed was to download Shockwave.exe and Flash. - MC ---
**Author:** ![SterlingNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@SterlingNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SterlingNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 1999, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-i-have-shockwave-why-why-why/4339/5 "1999-10-30T13:56:00Z")
No, **MC** , it’s two separate programs. I made a mistake of calling the full program _Shockwave Director._ From the website, Macromedia calls it _ **Shockwave 7.0.2 & Flash 4 Players.** _ They are two separate programs. Even though they don’t offer a download called simple _ **Shockwave 7.0.2** _, while they allow the _ **Flash 4** _ player to be downloaded separately (or be bundled with the browser itself. It is still my contention that s/he only has _ **Flash** _, which while it allows you to view animations, doesn’t have the advanced features of _ **Shockwave 7.0.2** _ (i.e. the ability to play games). Unfortunately, Gail we both agree on one thing. You need to download the plug-in, or forgo _Blue’s Clues._ * * * It is by the fortune of God that, in this country, we have three benefits: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never to use either. —_Mark Twain_