Thank you so much CheckMate, for taking time out to explain and help me fix the issue. Everything is back in order. Thank you to everyone who replied back. This ordeal is finally over.

i am so happy you were able to get up and running. I would be lost without my realplayer/ Laura

@s4foz10

     I did told wg08  to check the versions  after reinstalling because it was obvious that was the mistake (that it wasn't installed at all), and, as I said, running the Adobe uninstaller will automatically uninstall ALL versions and while it's certainly true that the 11.3 Active X is fine for IE, wg08 would have had to install it separately  and we're trying to simplify his problem, not add to it.
     When you're having problems that confusing, sometimes it's best to simply redo the whole thing in the simplest, most straightforward way. The direct links to the 10.3 version were right there , very easy to find ( once wg08 had the right instructions) and it would serve no useful purpose to show wg08 where to  find the 11.3 Active X in another location. And it was unclear exactly whether wg08 could have requested the download through Internet Explorer (probably). But he still had to uninstall the plugin for FF because he over installed it and needed a clean install of that also.
       I've tested it both ways and I haven't seen any difference in functionality between the 10.3 or 11.3 versions of Active X and wg08 is obviously not trying to use Internet Explorer anyway.

@wg08,

     Hi wg08,

       I was hoping I'd hear good news from you. That's great! Thanks for letting us know.
      Yeah, "ordeal" is right! According to Adobe you won't get an update pop up with the 10.3 so just check periodically on the forum. But If you want to change the check automatically for  updates setting , you can do it it from the Control Panel. Click on Large Icons , then Flash Player and  then click on the Advanced tab and dot the radio button that says "never check for updates". There's no choice on the 10.3 to "notify me". 
       It's good everything's working fine now because from what I'm seeing on the testing, and lack of real progress, this is going to be a long wait for a fix.

Hi CheckMate, Just got another window for a Flash Update. Is this a reminder because I have not updated it or is it a new one? This time I was able to take a snap shot of it. I would wait for your response. Have a Happy Fourth!!!!! Amy

@Amylogomy

Hi Amy,

      Thanks for the screen shot. Is this the same one you got last time? There's no new release on Adobe's Anouncement page and I have an update checker from FileHippo that's only showing the same new "fixed" version 11.3.303.262 that was only for crashes and the latest word on that from someone who's testing it was that there was no reduction even with that. 

        This is somebody who tested the update last night...."Just updated cuz they said it was fixed.....It wasn't....Back to 10.3.....I'm sure glad I didn't clear my Downloads list. "

        Does that answer your question? This is really disgusting. They should be warning you NOT to do that update unless you are having the crash problems, and it doesn't even fix that. Either Adobe is very stupid, unscrupulous, doesn't care, or all of the above.

 You Have a Happy Fourth Also!!!     Julian

Thanks CheckMate. It must be that I click in the "Remind me later" and it is doing that once a week. Everything is working great with the 11.2 version. I would wait patiently for the right update. Thanks so much again for taking the time to answer. Amy

@wg08

Hi, wg08,

        I just wanted to let you know that I had noticed that problem with the Crash article instructions and until you followed my instructions I don't even think you were on that page which showed both versions, so it's not only that you might not have seen it , there was no instruction how to select the right one for the zip files, and that page that had the instruction was only suggested if you were wanted to use the 11.2 zip files. That's why I just told you to forget the article.

        Either way, it not only was not your mistake, but you helped provide the proof that that article needs to be changed! And we're already trying to get that updated with the right instructions and choices. I also told RealPlayer's Case Manager about it to get their Developers to modify their article about rolling back the update.

       There are no new updates, by the way, just the one that's only supposed to be for the people with crash issues but it doesn't even fix that.

I just wanted to say that I've been having problems with FireFox, Adobe, and Real Player. However, after following FireFox's advice in uninstalling Flash 11.3 and installing Flash 10.3 my problem is solved.

Although, I still have an issue with Real Player recognizing FireFox as a browser. But, it works on FF so I'm not really going to complain to much.

I wanted to thank you guys on here for helping me find the solution (even though I haven't posted here until now). I hadn't considered that Flash was the problem. I've been working on this for a couple of days now and just go so frustrated. Having to use IE so Real Player would work right was starting to get annoying with all the pop-ups and lag.

Thanks again. ^-^

Hi guys and gals, Well I've waited long enough for an update that I'm guessing is not coming out anytime soon so here I am for some advice. I know this issue started about a month or so ago about not being able to play videos on FF and I got to the point where I need to solve this issue. I'm not very "computer literate" so I'm gonna need some help on this one. I've been reading some posts about having to uninstall Adobe Flash Player and installing an earlier version that didn't have the problem. My questions are: What version should I download?? And how exactly do I do this?? I don't wanna mess up my computer so I would really appreciate a step by step guide from anyone who knows how to do this kind of stuff. Again, I would really appreciate any help.

Thanks, SC

@SinCara956

Hi SinCara956,

     You're right, this could take a while - it's very complicated.  I'll tell you step by step what to do and you'll be fine until this is fixed. I assume you have RealPlayer installed because it's conflicting with the new Adobe Flash update, version 11.3.2.257or later,11.3.300.262 that started the whole mess. That's the major cause of not being able to see videos. Another possible cause, if you're not using RealPlayer, is too advanced to bother with. Either way, the problems only happen with the new Adobe version. So that's why the instruction is to revert to an earlier version of Flash Player.

      But I also want you to know that this problem ONLY affects Firefox and not any of the other browsers. You can watch videos right now, and even download them with RealPlayer with either Internet Explorer or Chrome until this is fixed.

Here's how to revert to an earlier version of Flash Player

To uninstall Flash Player - (first you have to uninstall the current version) 

1-Click on the link in blue to uninstall Flash Player and then on the page that opens, 2- Click on "Uninstaller" and follow the instructions for it on the first page. It will uninstall ALL versions of Flash Player.

Note: You don't have to do step 4, deleting the extra files and folders unless there's a special problem.

Restart Windows.

To Uninstall Flash Player       

          http://forums.adobe.com/message/4041846#4041846

To Install Flash 10.3 - This is the safest one and easy to install.

           http://forums.adobe.com/thread/889580

1-Click on the link in blue to Install Flash and on the page that opens, you'll see two versions of 10.3 for Windows. Click on the one that says "for other browsers" - that's the one for Firefox. Click on Save, then double click to install it and follow the prompts.

2-Click on the one for "Internet Explorer"- you have to install that too, because the uninstaller removed both versions, remember? Click on Save, then double click to install it and follow the prompts.

3-Restart your computer

4-If you have RealPlayer installed when you open Firefox it will give you a pop up window saying it's asking to install the RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin. Check the box and click OK.

5-Click on Tools Firefox - upper left on the menu bar. Click on Addons. Click on Extensions Find the RealPlayer Browser Record Plugin extension and make sure the button on the right side reads "Disable" (that means it's actually Enabled) If it reads "Enable" then Click on it and it will read "Disable".

      The reason for this is Firefox is trying to disable it automatically so you can see videos but it doesn't need to do that with this version. You're done and you'll be able to see videos and download them with RealPlayer with no problems until this is fixed.

Let me know how you made out or if you have any problems.

Julian, well I just stopped by to see if the issue was resolved yet with flash and see it is going to be some time yet before it is. i HAVE ANOTHER ISSUE ,Julian and was wondering if you could help.?It is my DVD player, It is not reading dvd's and since it is both my Toshiba laptop and my viao Sony desk top I am figuring it to be a software issue, at least I hope so.They are running just not recognizing a disc is in the drive.I was wondering if there is a site I could go to , to allow someone access to my computer so they could help me fix it via the web? Does this make sense I hope? txLaura

Hi CheckMate,

I'm just dropping by to let you know that your step-by-step guide worked like a charm and I can finally view videos again with Firefox. I was aware that I could still view videos using IE and Chrome but it's just that I got so used to using FF that using the other browsers was just very uncomfortable. I'm not even familiar with Chrome, in fact, I think I've only used it once or twice at the most. So yeah... your help is really appreciated.

Thanks again, SC

@PhoenixFH

Hi PhoenixFH,

       You say you followed Firefox's instructions. Were they the instructions I posted here or from the Support Article or elsewhere. All the other other instructions are leaving out one crucial additional step and I just want to make sure you do it. You need to install the Flash Active X version for Internet Explorer because running the Adobe uninstaller removes that too. And RealPlayer needs that to work properly.

        You say RealPlayer isn't recognizing Firefox. Do you simply mean that Firefox is not listed in the Web Download and Recording list of installed browsers? That's normal but you don't need to know why, unless you're interested. Or are you getting a pop up from RealPlayer saying it needs Flash installed for Internet Explore. 

  Note: If you uninstalled only the Flash Firefox Plugin using the Control Panel and didn't uninstall the ActiveX for IE, you don't need to do anything.

       Here's the link to the 10.3 page. If you haven't done this yet, and you uninstalled using the Adobe uninstaller. Just choose the version for Internet Explorer click on it and install it. It's a direct link.

And ignore any pop ups telling to install a fixed version from Adobe - there isn't one that works. Check with the forum for future update info.

To Install 10.3 for Firefox and Internet Explorer

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/889580

@mamabrunble59

Hi Laura,

       No, the Flash issue is not resolved. But I found out that RealPlayer has a special engineering team working on a permanent fix for all problems with Flash. That's good, because although Adobe has said they're coordinating this with Mozilla there's not one word about what they're doing from either company,although Mozilla is coordinating this with RealPlayer's engineers. And we're arguing about correcting these misleading, inappropriate  Firefox Support articles in the meantime. Both companies have handled this badly and I've said so more than once.

     On the dvd issue. I really don't know anything about that but I tried Googling the question "dvd player not reading dvd's". A lot of answers come up but they're not always from people who know what they're talking about but you can definitely try that. 

       Sharing the computer with a tech would be good, but only if you have tech support under the warranty, although some companies will let you pay by the month for tech support if you want. But I would try Googling the question first.
        
       
        But first tell me something. It's happening with two different computers but you refer to it as a "DVD player". Do you mean one external DVD Player that you plug into both computers? Because otherwise it doesn't make sense that the same thing (driver needing replacement,or corruption in the registry) would happen on two different computers at the same time. Maybe it's a problem with the player itself. Can you call that manufacturer?  Let me know. Julian

I JUST READ ALL THROUGH THE FORUM HERE . . . AND I TOO HAVE THIS PROBLEM. . I WAS OVER TO MY FRIENDS HOUSE WHEN HE UPDATED FF AND FLASH THE PROBLEM STARTED FOR HIM AND WHEN I GOT HOME . . I FOUND NOW I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM NAMELY NO REAL PLAYER DOWNLOAD BUTTON ON ANY VIDEOS IN FIREFOX . SO I UNINSTALLED FIREFOX COMPLETELY (FIRST I LEFT MY SETTINGS() DIDN'T WORK . . SO I DID IT AGAIN TOOK EVEN SETTINGS OUT. . BYE BYE BOOKMARKS (I KNOW THERE WAS A WAY TO SAVE THEM . . BUT IT SOUNDED LIKE SOOOOO MUCH WORK. .. ANY WAY STILL DIDN'T WORK EVEN THEN. .. I TRIED IE GOT THE RP DOWNLOAD BUTTON . .BUT IT SAYS " CAN'T DOWNLOAD" ANYTHING? SO I FOUND THE ONLY WAY WAS OPEN REAL PLAYER - FILE -OPEN- AND PASTE THE VIDEO URL IN IT . . DOWNLOAD BUTTON WAS THERE AND DOWNLOAD WAS NORMAL . . KIND OF A PAIN . . BUT AT LEAST NOW I CAN PLAY VIDS IN FF AND DOWNLOAD THEM IN REALPLAYER. ALSO OTHER RP FUNCTIONS SEEM TO WORK JUST FINE. .. MAYBE THIS WILL HELP SOMEBODY ELSE GET THROUGH ALL THIS. .. I USUALLY NEVER HAVE AUTO-UPDATES ON . . AND THEY WON'T BE ON AGAIN . . BEEN THROUGH TOO MUCH OF THIS STUFF WITH UPDATES. . ..NOW I HAVE TO GO EXPLAIN ALL THIS TO MY FRIEND WHOM I SUGGESTED HE UPDATE HIS OLD OLD VERSION OF FF. BUT I HOPE WE GET A FIX FOR HIM SOON TOO..

This thread has gone off-topic repeatedly, and with threads this long too many users don't read the instructions for the fix which has been posted repeatedly. And in this thread the answer is the first posting.

Please use the Ask a question button on the right-side of a main forum page to start your own thread to get help for your support issue.

Moderator has locked this answer thread.