Patch Lady – saying goodbye to Flash

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https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4577586/update-for-removal-of-adobe-flash-player Saying unofficial goodbye to Flash.  Note this is on the cat
[See the full post at: Patch Lady – saying goodbye to Flash]

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Microsoft writes:

We are releasing this removal update in advance of end of support to help customers test and validate their environments for any impact that might occur by the removal of Adobe Flash Player.

Where/how would one look for a resulting impact? In operational terms, what kind of environments would one test and validate?

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From the KB article:

If another security update for Adobe Flash Player is released, customers who take this removal update will still be offered the security update.

But if I take the removal update, Flash is supposed to be removed.  Why would I be offered a security update if the software is no longer installed?

And why is MS using a Windows update to remove Flash?  Can’t I do that myself?  Does MS generally remove third-party software via a Windows update?

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davefox wrote:

And why is MS using a Windows update to remove Flash?

Because it’s built-in to Microsoft Edge and removing it is not straightforward.

cheers, Paul

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davefox wrote:

Does MS generally remove third-party software via a Windows update?

Flash is removed for security reasons.

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Travasaurus

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davefox wrote:

Does MS generally remove third-party software via a Windows update?

Yes, look at the issues W8/7 users had when they updated to W10.

cheers, Paul

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Is anyone else getting the feeling that the universal uninstall of Flash is going to cause more problems than Y2K did?

We did a preliminary test of disabling Flash for everyone a few months in advance and were surprised at how many help desk calls we received asking to have it re-enabled because some vendors, training sites, and even banks are still using it today. Some people are asking us what happens if someone demands access to Flash after the eol date?

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Pagrus, Travasaurus

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AngryJohnny75 wrote:

We did a preliminary test of disabling Flash for everyone a few months in advance and were surprised at how many help desk calls we received asking to have it re-enabled because some vendors, training sites, and even banks are still using it today.

Adobe announced Flash player EOL in July of 2017.  I’d be far more concerned about the security attitude of those vendors, training sites and banks.

Win 11 home - 24H2
Attitude is a choice...Choose wisely

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Read here for further information:
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/about-that-flash-zapping-patch-kb-4577586-one-leeetle-problem-it-doesnt-remove-flash/

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So Microsoft in its recent Windows 10 update has entirely eliminated Adobe’s flash software.  Flash has for several years served as an entry point for malicious software generally downloaded through internet connections.  In fact most browsers have eliminated or restricted flash coding for some time now because of this.So why am I complaining?
Well here is what that means for me (and others in similar positions): I have been using Quicken for many years – currently on version Quicken 2016.  Quicken has moved to a subscription service for some years, but I continued to use Quicken 2016 because I did not need their online service features.
Now Quicken 2016 still loads and (mostly) operates as before.  Except it has certain functions that use a bit of flash coding – in my case the ability to do a Search (or Find) across the entire Quicken database of my financial records.If I invoke the function by clicking on “Find” Quicken tries to bring up the box to enter the search terms but it is flash based, and fails to load.  This completely locks up Quicken and I have to CTRL+ALT+DEL to close the ap.
Note: I can still use Quicken to enter and view data as long as I stay away from the Find function (at least that is the only flash function I have found so far, there may be others).  This is a serious omission as Find is a very handy function to have in any database application.
I cannot find fault with Quicken who no longer supports old versions of its software.  Microsoft offers work arounds that require users to go back to  previous updates to Windows 10 – but such actions are short lived if you want to keep updated versions of Windows 10.
There may be other software that rely on parts of Flash coding that will similarly fail now either in part or entirely meaning this may be an ongoing issue for many users.
Could this be a way that software vendors force users to update software??

Who cares about users?

Moderator Note: Edited for HTML. Please use Text tab for copy/paste

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lcohen10500 wrote:

This completely locks up Quicken

If you can run a virtual machine on your PC, you could run W7 unpatched and not networked, and install Quicken on that. Or you could spend $1 per week (or less).

cheers, Paul

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lcohen10500 wrote:

Could this be a way that software vendors force users to update software??

Removing flash has nothing to do with vendors and their software forcing users… It has to do with security, stability and the world moving to html5.
Apple never supported flash on iPhone/iPads/Macs for the reasons of security and stability.

Removing/disabling flash is tough luck for those that still depend (software, sites..) on it. They had 3 years to prepare for the inevitable.

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If someone asked me if quicken had any reliance on flash I would of just laughed and said how could it. Guess I saved my self some embarrassment there!
Did quicken give a warning before failure? Not a fan of Intuit but am still using Quicken 2010. I need to try a search to see if that has a problem.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Quicken 2016 gave no warning – just hangs if I try to click on “Find” which is supposed to bring up a widget to put in the search parameters.

I have been told that Quicken 2013 (and I would surmise earlier versions) does not have a problem so I assume it does not use flash code.

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wavy

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AngryJohnny75 wrote:

what happens if someone demands access to Flash after the eol date?

If they stay in business at all, they won’t be nearly as busy.  Your problem is how badly do you need them.

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lcohen10500 wrote:

Quicken 2016

If I recall, Quicken supports a version for 3 years, so Quicken 2016 passed its end-of-support on the date that Quicken 2020 was released.  The same in spades for Quicken 2010, which another poster is using.

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Is there an alternative to Adobe Flash?
Is there a way to determine if a site used requires Adobe Flash to work?

Thanks.

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Byteman wrote:

Is there an alternative to Adobe Flash?
Is there a way to determine if a site used requires Adobe Flash to work?

Thanks.

The alternative to Flash is HTML5.

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Firefox 84 will be the last version with NPAPI plugin support

Mozilla plans to remove support for so-called NPAPI plugins in Firefox 85 according to a post by Jim Mathies, Senior Engineering Manager, to the Mozilla Dev Platform group.

Mozilla dropped support for all NPAPI plugins except for Adobe Flash when it released Firefox 52 in March 2017. NPAPI allowed the browser to integrate plugins to add support for content such as Silverlight or Java to the Firefox web browser….Mozilla will remove support for Adobe Flash in Firefox 85, and start the removal of NPAPI in Firefox 85 as well. There won’t be an option to restore Flash plugin support in Firefox 84 or newer.

Firefox 84 Stable will be released on December 15, 2020, and Firefox 85 Stable on January 26, 2021.

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No promises but these may be of assistance:
https://www.howtogeek.com/563875/how-to-play-old-flash-games-in-2020-and-beyond/

https://www.howtogeek.com/438141/how-to-play-adobe-flash-swf-files-outside-your-web-browser/

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Filed under nothing in Windows 10 is ever easy

Win 10 Pro 1909.

I uninstalled Flash today. Since there seem to be multiple ways tpo do that from Control Panel, Windows Patch, Apps, Adobe Uninstaller….I chose to reboot my computer and use the pop-up I have being seeing for some time proclaiming end of life and affering Unistallation. I did.

Now BOTH macromed folders with Flash are still in system32 and syswow64. There are suggestions to remove manually from some (I think) including Adobe and warnings not to on Win 8.1 or 10..

There are also %appdata% folders for flash under macromedia not removed.

What is the best guidance for these? Leave them? Manually remove? Use the patch even though I have already used the uninstaller?

Appreciate some council here.

Thanks.

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Read here for further information and remnants are left:

About that Flash-zapping patch, KB 4577586? One leeetle problem. It doesn’t remove Flash.

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Thanks. Just read that. Does not address the folders I  still have after Adobe’s uninstall. Hoping for accurate direction in what to do with those. In the old days (hah!) I KNOW they could just be deleted. Now, not so sure…

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If you have uninstalled Flash you don’t need to clean up anything else.
Your browser(s) will prevent Flash content attempting to run and you can’t run anything locally without Flash installed.

Relax and spend more time playing that game / going for a walk / chatting with us here.

cheers, Paul

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Hah! Thanks, Paul.

I find it interesting how much conflicting info out there. For example, at least 3 or 4 ways to uninstall Flash right now. Conflicting advice on what to remove or not manually after doing that. And different users with different results of which method removes what. There are still .exe’s in the left behinds.

I’ll look into this a little more and report if anything pops up as interesting.

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Paul T wrote:

If you have uninstalled Flash you don’t need to clean up anything else.
Your browser(s) will prevent Flash content attempting to run and you can’t run anything locally without Flash installed.

Relax and spend more time playing that game / going for a walk / chatting with us here.

cheers, Paul

@Paul T

that is assuming the latest versions of browsers like Firefox and Chrome are installed, which disable flash usage by default. some older browser versions may still allow running flash.

the next version of Chrome (version 88 which I’m beta testing and is scheduled to be released to the public in Jan. 2021) is the first flash-free version and will remove all flash dependencies

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Just wanted to note that the Adobe Uninstaller worked flawlessly in Windows 7 removing the folders, etc. Very clean. It did not do the same in Windows 10 leaving lots behind that Adobe warns not to manually remove in Windows 8.1 or 10. So I left them. Likely because of the tighter weave with browsers that they remain and they may an may not be deleted over time. But, I think I am done with Flash now.

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[EP]

on Win8.x & Win10, the ActiveX versions of Flash are embedded/integrated with IE & legacy Edge and cannot be removed with the adobe flash uninstaller

on the other hand, the NPAPI and PPAPI versions of flash can be removed with the uninstaller tool on Win8.x/Win10

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by EP.

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EP wrote:

that is assuming the latest versions of browsers

If you are running (very) old browsers you can remove Flash from within the browser – it’s only a plug-in.

cheers, Paul

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Anyone run across the Flash files in \Windows\system32\macromed\*.* that won’t delete?

I ran Adobe’s Flash Uninstaller and rebooted without difficulties. However, the …Macromed\Flash\ folder and content files will not delete even after I took ownership and removed the RO attribute.

Anyone experience this and were you able to resolve the issue?

 

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Further up this thread is the information you seek.

#2318352

cheers, Paul

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Run the uninstaller and have faith that it worked even though the folder and files remain including the .EXE… That is asking a lot even at this time of year. It’ll have to do for now.

Happy Holidays

 

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wavy wrote:

Did quicken give a warning before failure? Not a fan of Intuit but am still using Quicken 2010. I need to try a search to see if that has a problem.

Did you try the ‘Find’ function in your Quicken 2010 to see if it still works after removal of Flash?

Also, if you don’t mind my asking, are you running Quicken 2010 on Windows 10, and if so, which build?

Thanks!

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