Can't uninstall Adobe Flashplayer. Uninstaller tells me to close Firefox, but Firefox is closed.
After installing Adobe Flashplayer today and unwillingly getting McAfee with it, I decided to uninstall Adobe Flashplayer and live Flash free. I cannot uninstall, as it tells me to close FF. FF is already closed, but it still won't uninstall.
The worst of it is that Adobe blames ME for having adblocking software which 'recodes their Java installer and hides the option to not install McAfee'. It is because of this intrusive behaviour of unscrupulous people that I have adblockers to start with!
From today onward, I will not have Flashplayer or other Adobe products at all. I will also notify webmasters that I've joined the growing number of people to boycott Flash.
All Replies (4)
If you do not see Firefox in the Windows Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) in either:
- Processes (Windows 8 equivalent of earlier Windows' "Applications")
- Details -- firefox.exe (Windows 8 equivalent of earlier Windows' "Processes")
Then there might be some residual lock on the DLL file. Usually the easiest way to remove a file lock is to restart Windows, but I'm just guessing about the problem, so maybe wait for other feedback.
Also, if you change your mind about banishing Flash from your Firefox, you can get a cleaner installer from this page: https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html
Hi Jscher200 and thanks for such a quick response! I probably should have mentioned that I went to the task manager, because occasionally when I close FF it is still showing as running and I have to forcefully close it. That was not the case this time.
Maybe something that I could not identify as belonging to FF was still running.
My main problem is that I don't like 'bundled software' that is pre-checked as approved by me. That's no better than presenting me with a pre-signed contract and saying that it's valid because it has my signature!
I use Unchecky which ensures all pre-checked boxes are unchecked and notifies me of them. Flash 17 doesn't have any box showing, but Adobe says that the checkbox must be hidden because of adblocking software. Obviously not blocked - just hidden... sounds deliberate to me!
Thanks for the link to the cleaner installer - but I can't understand why that's not the standard!
Firefox launches the Flash DLL in a separate process named plugin-container.exe so you might check for that one, too, in case it became orphaned somehow.
Thanks - that was probably it.
I had to resort to restarting the computer - and when I uninstalled before starting Firefox, it uninstalled in seconds... but I had to uninstall McAfee separately, AND McAfee left several components behind which I only found with a deep scan by my uninstall program.
Not only is it practically useless as a virus protection, but McAfee's sly and underhanded marketing techniques resemble closely the viruses and worms it claims to protect against! I'm really disappointed that Adobe have allied themselves with them and abet them by bundling their software with Adobe software. It's only damaging Adobe's name.
I'll explore that cleaner install you mentioned - thanks so much for that!