TR Forums

So I did my "mostly weekly" update and boot routine today and upon reboot of Windows 8.1, Adobe Flash says it needs to update. I am always suspicious about Java and Adobe because they try to slip malware onto my system. So I cautiously proceeded with my consent, and next thing I know, the Adobe Downloader is downloading not only the supposed Adobe update, but also two other things; one of them being "Google Toolbar".

So I hit "cancel" and stopped the update while it was still in the download phase. No updates even had the chance to get applied.

I mostly use Firefox on this system anyway, but even so, I don't want any toolbars! I don't even want them to be downloaded.

What are my choices here? I don't know right now if Flash is required by any of my apps or by sites I visit, and I'm not sure how/when it got installed. But it's becoming a hassle, so is there any way I can figure out if I can just uninstall Adobe Flash from all my workstations and be done with it?

I keep Firefox and chrome installed to troubleshoot when various internet problems happen.

Chrome uses an internal program (pepperflash) instead of adobe flash and Firefox uses adobe flash so using Chrome should get you through until the adobe update is available "clean".

Jim

Yep. I feel your pain. Search for flash player distribution 3, download the full installer. No mess.

Flash Uninstaller:
http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/ ... ndows.html

Flash Standalone Installers:
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplay ... tion3.html

Acrobat Reader Standalone Installers:
https://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/

You'll find these are Joe Friday approved.

You can go to Add-ons > Plugins and set Flash to "Ask to activate." This keeps flash from loading on default, but it give you the options to enable it if need be.

On my personal systems, I don't install flash, and open Chrome if I really need it. If enough people refuse to install flash, websites will hopefully migrate to something else.

Are you absolutely sure you didn't miss a checkbox that you had to un-check to prevent it from installing the other crapware?

The check box for the extras that install with Flash is on the download page rather then in the installer.

Yep, and all this reminded me that I can't uninstall Flash yet because I myself support a website with forms that use Flash. I hate it when I am part of the problem...D'oh!

Oh sure, I'll try Chrome but I'll need to keep using Firefox and IE for testing that site until I find another way. In the meantime, thank you for the links Ned, and thanks everybody for jumping in to help.

Yeah, Flash is basically a necessary evil on the web (and has been that way for years). To paraphrase an old joke, "Flash - can't live with it, can't nuke it from orbit!"