Flash Player is simply not working!

Windows 7 64bit Home Premium; Internet Explorer 8 - I have uninstalled/reinstalled Flash Player several times; I have used the Flash Player removal tool from Adobe; I have deleted the Macromed folder from Windows\SysWOW64 and from Windows\System32. I tried using Revo to uninstall Flash Player. I have read many, MANY threads here at MajorGeeks and tried just about everything in those threads w/o any luck. Here's the symptoms: when I go to a site with Flash animation, there's no animation, and on sites like YouTube, I'm told that I need to upgrade to the latest version of Flash Player, but I have installed the newest one available from Adobe. I've tried both the online & offline installers with the same negative result. Flash Player works fine in Chrome (I haven't tried Firefox as it's not installed and the PC belongs to a client so I'm trying to avoid installing extra software). The PC has Avira's free antivirus and paid MalwareBytes - I tried turning these off just to see if it makes a difference and of course it didn't. If it were my PC, I'd simply use Chrome (or I'd install Firefox or PaleMoon), but the user is an elderly man and he's a bit resistant to change, so using a different browser than Internet Explorer is out.

:banghead HELP! :cry :crybaby

 

I have also reset the Security and Privacy settings in IE; I have used the Reset Advanced Settings button, and I've used the Reset button to 'restore' IE to defaults - still no luck.

 

Is active x shut off? Did you try turning it on in the Internet Options or upgrading your browser to Internet Explorer 9?

 

:celebrate :dood PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Here's what I did: I used the Flash Player Removal Tool to remove the installed version; I rebooted; I ran the tool again; I went to Windows\SysWOW64 and deleted the Macromed folder; I rebooted; I ran CCleaner on the HD and registry; I went to Internet Options, used the two buttons under the Advanced tab to reset everything; I set all Security and Privacy settings to default; and here's what I think did the trick: I installed an older version of Flash Player 10; I went to YouTube and got the same prompt to update to a newer version; I clicked on the "Download from Adobe" link and used the online installer; and now BAM!!! it works!!!

Now I just have to reboot and pray that it survives the restart! LOL

(@ grabacontroller: Yes - ActiveX has been turned on the whole time, it was one of the first things that I checked in the Internet Options menus)

 

Ah Ok. Great. You should install IE9 for him. I like the way it looks. You probably would too and it's more secure. So, he probably will get less viruses from it.

Edit: I had a feeling that you had it on after I re-read it and you said that the options were reset.

 

Nice work, dlb - was getting ready to jump onboard with a similar problem/solution. Seems like lately the uninstall/reinstall an earlier version routine has become common - hopefully, Adobe will get their s**t together soon.