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Flash Player Problems With Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a very capable, safe, and secure web browser. It was also the first web browser to help completely reshape how we navigated the internet- things like tabbed browsing and one-click downloads completely changed the way we played the game.
However, upon launch Firefox was known to have a host of Flash player issues. Everything from Flash simply not loading to a complete installation failure. Unfortunately, though the majority of the Flash errors have been resolved, Firefox is still occasionally prone to an error or two every now and again.
Common Flash Player Problems with Firefox:
The majority of Flash problems that happen in Firefox stem from a seemingly incompatible software combination: Firefox 3 and Windows XP. These errors stemmed back as far as 2007, so if you have not updated to the latest version of Flash and completed your Windows XP system updates you are likely going to have problems. The only solution in this situation is to update your software.
The most common problems with Firefox/Flash are:
- Browser freezing - The Flash applet fails to load, locking the browser and forcing you to initiate a "kill process" (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC) in order to close the browser.
- Flash media fails to load - The browser still functions, but Flash applets will not load or display. They may not render at all in the browser (simply not appear), or they may render as black boxes.
- The Flash media is inoperable - The Flash media will load and play, but you are unable to control the media in any way. You can not stop/pause, close the media, etc.
- You are unable to interact with the Flash media - Interactive Flash media, such as games or music players, can not be operated as the media doesn't register your mouse clicks/commands.
Resolving Flash player problems with Firefox
As always, a simple uninstallation and reinstallation of Flash typically solves most problems. This will remove and repair any corrupt files, as well as clean up any errant registry entries. To uninstall and reinstall Flash simply follow the steps below:
- Uninstall Flash via the Adobe uninstall tool - Found here (http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/141/tn_14157.html), this tool is the only way to completely remove Macromedia Flash from your system. Choose the version that is appropriate for your operating system, download, and then run the program.
Once the program has run it will have completely removed Flash from your computer. You can verify this by trying to visit any Flash-enabled website.
- Reinstall Flash - Once Flash has been completely uninstalled, reinstall Flash by visiting the Adobe Flash website (http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/). Be sure to download the latest version (as of this writing it was version 10).
Uninstalling Flash by any other means aside from Adobe's uninstall application will not completely remove Flash- registry entries and shared files will still be present and may cause conflicts if not removed properly.
If Flash Player Errors with Firefox Persist
If uninstalling and then reinstalling Flash don't solve the problem then you can assume that something on your computer is causing the errors or that the particular Flash file you are trying to view has not been programmed correctly. Try the fixes below, as they solve most Flash player errors.
- Clear your browsing history/cache - Clearing your browsing history/cache will remove files that are saved for quick-access, forcing your computer to redownload them. If the files were corrupt, and the source of your errors as a result, this will fix the errors.
- Ensure that no spyware/malware/viruses are causing the errors - Download a good antivirus and antispyware application and perform a full system scan. Make sure that every file is scanned, and delete/quarantine any infections that are found. Aside from causing errors with running applications, such as Macromedia Flash, spyware/malware/viruses also slow down your computer.