Flash and win7

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
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Ever since I got windows 7 flash has been nothing but a huge headache. Any time a flash object is loaded it has a chance of completely locking up the browser for several seconds. This is driving me up the wall. I am browsing with it disabled and only enable it as needed but it's just such a pain in the ass. There's got to be an easier way.

I never had this issue in XP, it's only in 7 that I started getting this issue. What could be causing this? I tried browser/flash reinstall several times I just don't know what to try anymore short of running my browser off a Citrix server or something. It does it in all browsers, so it's not browser specific. It's something with flash.

I disabled hardware acceleration, it still does it. I just don't know what to do anymore. It's driving me insane. I cannot have a simple web browsing session without these random lockups.
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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Just install FlashBlock so that you have to click to activate it. That way it's disabled 99% of the time so there's no freezing but you can still easily use it when necessary.
 

Hugh Jass

Golden Member
Nov 17, 2011
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The issue I am having has been determined to be a known bug in the latest Flash and Firefox 13...supposedly they are working on it.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
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Is it normal that it does it in all browsers though? It does it in Opera too. I did not use chrome or IE long enough to determine for sure if it does it in those too though.

This is a brand new install, so everything like the drivers is up to date.

Worse case scenario I could use flashblock but it would be nice to fix the issue so when I do use flash I don't have to put up with it. Then again it does stop me from wasting countless hours on youtube since I just get pissed off and go do something else. :p
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
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That's hit and miss though, lot of the videos still don't use it.

And there are still things that require flash, as much as I hate it. I just realized Pandora uses it for the graphs, which is really unfortunate. I almost want to switch to Nagios or something just on that fact alone. I don't get why anyone even still uses flash now. HTML 5 is actually easier to code for. Coding a graph would be super easy using canvas, as opposed to some complex app in flash that requires specialized software that you have to pay for.
 

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
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Let us know when they fix this and release an update because that sounds super annoying. I haven't seen any issues yet but am keeping a close watch on it.
 

Hugh Jass

Golden Member
Nov 17, 2011
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Is it normal that it does it in all browsers though? It does it in Opera too. I did not use chrome or IE long enough to determine for sure if it does it in those too though.

I use Firefox as my main browser and that's the only one I've seen with reported problems with the most current Flash update and the only one I've had issues with.

I did try out IE 9 yesterday after updating Flash and it didn't seem to happen then so for me it's looking like just a problem with Firefox 13 and the Flash 11.3.300.257 update.
 
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Hugh Jass

Golden Member
Nov 17, 2011
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In Firefox they are recommending that people turn off Protected Mode in Flash...which essentially means disabling the new security "enhancement" put into the new Flash update...which kind of defeats part of the purpose of the update altogether.

Here's a walk through for how to do it for those who want to go that route (look for last resort at the bottom):

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1018071?tstart=0
 

Hugh Jass

Golden Member
Nov 17, 2011
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I was prompted to update Flash again today and did so...no real change...anytime the Flash plugin loads in Firefox everything slows to a crawl and after a while I get a crash.

This is getting ridiculous...why can't everything just move to HTML5 already?
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,599
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I wonder if Flash is responsible for this, too: Every so often, Firefox loses focus. I saw it mentioned on Tumblr somewhere too, someone else was losing focus every few minutes in some other application.

I also notice the appearance of two instances of "FlashPlayerPlugin_11_3_300_257.exe" in Task Manager. Ending either one of them automatically closes both.

Let's give a big hand to Adobe and their Flash beta test team, which is evidently enjoying a lengthy vacation somewhere in Antarctica. (Or else management is trying to make each person do 35 hours of work a day. Been there.)
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
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Just had it happen on my XP machine at work. It never did it to my XP machine at home so I'm suspecting this is a fairly new bug. Unfortunately I don't think I have an older installer for flash so I can roll back.
 

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
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Let us know when they fix this and release an update because that sounds super annoying. I haven't seen any issues yet but am keeping a close watch on it.

No issues either with my Opera 12 /Win7 x64 and Flash,wonder if the issue could be by something simple like anti-virus or overclock?
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,468
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Chrome has it's own built-in Flash player that is updated automatically. It also runs in a sandbox so it's harder for anything to get the OS.

Does that accomplish anything over using a plugin? Flash is Flash. It's still made by Adobe, and has all the issues Adobe bundles with their software. Having it bundled means you're stuck with it whether you want it or not.
 

(sic)Klown12

Senior member
Nov 27, 2010
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Does that accomplish anything over using a plugin? Flash is Flash. It's still made by Adobe, and has all the issues Adobe bundles with their software. Having it bundled means you're stuck with it whether you want it or not.

As soon as their is an update, Chrome forces the user to get it. This removes that problem that most Flash users don't ever update and helps minimizes the number of people who are using older versions with known exploits and bugs. It's by no means perfect, but until Flash use is completely gone it's a better solution than forcing end users to update on their own.
 
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Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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As soon as their is an update, Chrome forces the user to get it. This removes that problem that most Flash users don't ever update and helps minimizes the number of people who are using older versions with known exploits and bugs. It's by no means perfect, but until Flash use is completely gone it's a better solution than forcing end users to update on their own.

The last update to the Flash plugin also included an auto-update mechanism, which sadly is redundant since MS won't let 3rd parties hook into WU for automatic updates but it works I suppose.
 

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
10,812
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Is this the same issue that prevents you from resizing a Firefox session if Flash is running?

I cannot manually resize my Firefox window when flash is running. As soon as I shut it down, I can then resize it...