remove macromedia version of flash player?

Hi, all:

The Secunia Software Inspector -- http://secunia.com/software_inspector -- reports that I have Macromedia Flash Player v 6.0.79.0 installed on my pc at C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Macromed\Flash\flash.ocx.

It also reports three instances of Adobe Flash Player 9.0.45.0, at C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Macromed\Flash\Flash9c.ocx, at C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Macromed\Flash\NPSWF32.dll, and at C:\Program Files\InternetTools\Firefox\plugins\NPSWF32.dll.

While I won't be surprised to learn that there's no problem with the three reports of the Adobe version, I would like to get rid of the Macromedia version, but the Control Panel's "Add or remove programs" utility doesn't list it (as far as I can tell -- maybe it's somewhere other than under "M" for "Macromedia" and I'm missing it?).

What to do? Just delete C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Macromed\Flash\flash.ocx, or what?

Thanks!

 

You don't state what OS you are using and what version of IE. These instructions are known to work with Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows 2000. They may require slight modification on other versions of IE or Windows.


1. Set Internet Explorer to prompt you before installing any ActiveX controls (plug-ins):

a. Close all Internet Explorer windows.
b. Open the Internet Options control panel.
c. In the Security tab, click Internet, then click Custom Level.
d. Make sure that Download SIGNED ActiveX controls is set to Prompt, and that Download UNSIGNED ActiveX controls is set to Prompt or Disable.
e. Click OK to save the security settings.

2. Remove Flash:

a. Open the Internet Options control panel, if it isn't already open.
b. In the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files, click Settings, then click View Objects.
c. Right-click on the Macromedia Flash icon and select Remove.
d. Close the Downloaded Program Files window.
e. Click OK to close the Settings window.

3. Clear the Internet Explorer cache:

a. Open the Internet Options control panel, if it isn't already open.
b. In the General tab, under Temporary Internet Files, click Delete Files.
c. Click OK to close the Internet Properties window.

If you stop now, Flash ads will not appear, but IE will pop up a dialog box every time you view a page containing a Flash ad. You can prevent this from happening 99% of the time by continuing to the next step.

4. Prevent Internet Explorer from prompting you to install Flash:

a. Click Start, then Run, and enter this command:

notepad %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

A Notepad window should appear with a file in which most of the lines begin with "#".
b. At the bottom of the file, add the following line:

0.0.0.0 download.macromedia.com activex.microsoft.com active.macromedia.com

c. Close the Notepad window and click Yes to save changes.

This last step will prevent your computer from ever accessing the Internet addresses where the Flash plugin is normally found. If you later find that you need to access one of those addresses, just remove it from the hosts file.