Repair Site

Troubleshooting Flash Player Error 2044

Flash player error 2044 is typically a result of incorrect coding by the Flash programmer.  If you are experiencing this error as a user there is nothing that you are able to do to correct it.  If you are completely sure that the website in question works correctly, try removing and then reinstalling Flash.

• 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).

If you are a developer you can learn more about the Flash player error 2044 below.

Background Information about Flash Player Error 2044:

Specific error name: Error #2044: Unhandled IOErrorEvent

The error is caused by an error associated with permissions/security violations.  For security reasons, Flash player does not allow a movie from one domain to reference, modify, or ready properties on another domain.  Doing so would most likely allow Flash to be used for a whole host of security violations and exploits.

Fixing Flash Player Error 2044:

That being said, there are ways around this issue.  Specifically, you can allow Flash via certain strings of code to allow modifications to the properties of another domain via the movie you are attempting to load.  The code string that will enable this is:

Security.allowDomain() - This string of code must be present in the Flash file you are attempting to reference.  This is essentially telling Flash that you have given it specific permission to control/modify the file.

For example:

• Your main Flash file is located at http://www.mydomain.com, and your are attemping to load a SWF located on the domain http://www.notmydomain.com". 

• In order for this to operate properly you must modify the first frame of the loading SWF with the following code:
  
  Security.allowDomain("www.mydomain.com")
  
  This is granting permission to http://www.mydomain.com to modify or ready properties on http://www.notmydomain.com. 

• Note that cross-domain permissions are asymmetrical.  This means that if you grant http://www.mydomain.com to modify the permissions on http://www.notmydomain.com that it will have the permission to do so, but http://www.notmydomain.com will not have the ability to modify the permissions on http://www.mydomain.com.

If that doesn't solve your problem another issue that may be arising is old, outdated code.  Remember that Flash is updated constantly, and that programming for an older version of Flash may result in incompatibilities and/or a complete lack of functioning.  One thing to look out for specifically when programming for your Flash player is the version that you are programming for.

If you are programming for a v4.x player, using v2.x or v3.x variables in your code will likely result in mass incompatibilities and errors.  This has been known to cause Flash player error 2044 to appear, as the newer version of the Flash player isn't too sure what to do with the outdated code.

• Be sure you're using the latest version of your Flash player.
  
  
• Ensure that your code is completely compatible and compliant with your Flash player - Don't use code designed for v3.x Flash player if you are trying to use v4.x.