You could try downloading the installers directly. I'm going to post links directly to an EXE file. For your computer's security, you should verify that they link to a trustworthy site (use the mouseover address display to make sure the file is on adobe.com) and after saving these to your computer, scan them to make sure they are not viral before running them.

Firefox: http://fpdownload.adobe.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player.exe

IE: http://fpdownload.adobe.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player_ax.exe

Any luck?

The second link the IE one seemed to allow me to download the flash player but I still can't install it. Thank you for your help.

Not sure if this was posted to you so will send a copy. The IE link has downloaded adobe flash into MY DOCUMENTS but it doesn't seem to install. Why is it incompatible with FIREFOX? Do you think I need to revert to Internet Explorer as my browser? Thanks

When you download an installer, it usually does not run automatically. If you double-click it, do you get the usual Windows 7 box warning you that the program wants to make change to your computer? (I've only recently begun using Windows 7, so I don't know whether you need to do something special.)

Note that you need both Flash players to cover all your browsers. (IE used to use the same kind of plugins as other browsers, but as part of the "browser wars" in the 90s, that changed.)