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how do I fix the "shockwave flash" error, causing firefox to lock up, slow, or crash?

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  • Last reply by dustymojave

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continous errors about "shockwave flash", "script has stopped working" etc, causing numerous slowdowns, lock-ups, and crashes. have tried several fixes, but none have worked.....please advise

continous errors about "shockwave flash", "script has stopped working" etc, causing numerous slowdowns, lock-ups, and crashes. have tried several fixes, but none have worked.....please advise

All Replies (20)

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What fixes did you try?

If you have not done so already, I recommend disabling the protected mode feature of the Flash Player plugin. The steps to do that are in this support article from Adobe under the heading "Last Resort": Adobe Forums: How do I troubleshoot Flash Player's protected mode for Firefox?

You probably need to exit Firefox, or at least close all pages using Flash, before this takes effect.

Does the problem continue?


When the Flash plugin crashes, Firefox usually records information about what was happening at that moment. You can submit that data to Mozilla and share it with forum volunteers to see whether it points to the solution. Please check the support article "Firefox Crashes" (especially the last section) for steps to get those crash IDs, and then post some of the recent ones here.

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it would not allow me to open the mms config file, so could not add the disable line......any suggestions?

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Is it a permissions problem? Here's another way.

(1) In a My Computer or Windows Explorer window, open this folder:

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash

If that folder does not exist, then you are using 32-bit Windows, and you can open the following folder instead:

C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash

(Note: This folder exists on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, but on 64-bit Windows Firefox uses the Flash player in the SysWOW64 folder instead.)

(2) Check for a file named mms.cfg:

(A) If mms.cfg exists, drag it to your Documents folder where you can edit it without being bothered about administrator privileges

(B) If mms.cfg does not exist, open your Documents folder, right-click > New > Text File and name the new file mms.cfg

(3) Open mms.cfg from Documents into a text editor such as Notepad. Add this on its own line (I put it last):

ProtectedMode=0

Save the file and close Notepad.

(4) Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the mms.cfg file back to the Flash folder to make a copy there, keeping the original in Documents

This change should take effect the next time you restart Firefox.

Hopefully that works around the permission issue.

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Thank you. If this works, am I supposed to manually enable the protection mode?

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No, this feature of the Flash Player plugin is just buggy, so if this solves the problem, I would leave it disabled and not try to turn it on again for at least a few months.

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Apparently it did not work. I just received the "shockwave player/plugin has stopped working........etc" again...........please advise.

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Could you check whether Firefox is recording crash data for the Flash crashes? In that case, you can submit that data to Mozilla and share it with forum volunteers to see whether it points to the solution. Please check the support article "Firefox Crashes" (especially the last section) for steps to get those crash IDs, and then post some of the recent ones here.

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whenever firefox crashes, it says it's reporting the problem. I have looked at several forums, and tried various fixes, but no luck. There has to be a solution....please advise.

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Hi mgenoves, the crash reports aren't cross-referenced to your username, so we need your help to find them. Can you post some crash IDs? The steps are in the last section of this article: Troubleshoot Firefox crashes (closing or quitting unexpectedly). Thanks.

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I followed the instructions, and the most recent crash report on 11-4-13 has processed, but I don't know if it's listed under my username. What do I do to make sure you can see it?

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Hi mgenoves, if the most recent report is two weeks old, it probably isn't so relevant at this point, but still worth a look. On the about:crashes screen you should see a code number starting with bp- . Copy that number and paste it into a reply.

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bp932-bcbef-4028-4a90-8bd6-7d5-c72131104

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Unfortunately, that ID isn't found. It doesn't seem to be formatted correctly.

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would the "UUID" # be acceptable?

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If you click through the ID and get to the report on the crash-stats server, the address of that page would be good.

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That first link is an out-of-memory error from Oct. 2, 2013 where "system memory usage" apparently was 94%. I'm not sure what caused so much memory use; this is probably too long ago to have any memory of what you were doing at the time of the crash.

The second link isn't an individual crash report.


Reviewing your original description, perhaps you aren't getting true crashes: instead, Flash is hanging the browser for a period of time, and then you get the script continue/stop dialog. When I had those symptoms, disabling protected mode fixed it instantly. Apparently that isn't working for you.


Could you also try Firefox's Safe Mode? That's a standard diagnostic tool to bypass interference by extensions (and some custom settings). More info: Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode.

You can restart Firefox in Safe Mode using

Help > Restart with Add-ons Disabled (Flash and other plugins are not disabled)

In the dialog, click "Start in Safe Mode" (not Reset)

Any difference?

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I will try this for a while and let you know. Thanks.

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Hello----I have disabled the plug-ins and started firefox in safe mode all week, and have not encountered any significant freezes or crashes, only a couple of minor "firefox is not responding" messages. What do you suggest I do next?

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That crash report is an older report (Firefox 24; 02 Oct 2013), so wouldn't really be significant.

Can you confirm that the Flash plugin is causing this issue, i.e. do the crashes come back with only this plugin enabled?

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