Videos from many sites will not play
I'm running Windows 7, 1.9GHz Intel Celeron CPU on an Acer laptop that's only about a year old. I have the latest Version of Firefox and Flash Player, but videos from dozens of different sites will not play. Some site show me black screens, some just sit there and continue loading repetitively, some sites' video screens will show me a small Flash Player dialog box, asking permission from different "obscure' websites to store information on my computer. I found a way to increase the space that these websites may require. Still, whether I click on "allow" or "deny" buttons at the bottom of this dialog box, it makes no difference. Videos from site A to site Z will not play. There ARE SOME SITES where a video WILL PLAY if I'm lucky, but more often than not, they won't play.
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Looks like you've got two instances of Flash installed
- Shockwave Flash 11.9 r900
- Shockwave Flash 13.0.r0
Please remove the 11.9.r900 version from your Control Panel, then restart Firefox and see how it goes. (Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program)
You can also check for problems with current Shockwave Flash plugin versions and try this:
- check for updates for your graphics drive drivers
https://support.mozilla.org/kb/upgrade-graphics-drivers-use-hardware-acceleration - disable protected mode in the Flash plugin (Flash 11.3+ on Windows Vista and later)
- disable hardware acceleration in the Flash plugin
See also:
If you use extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) that can block content (e.g. Adblock Plus, NoScript, Flash Block, Ghostery) then make sure that such extensions aren't blocking content.
Thanks, Moses. Bear with me as I attempt to explain. I'm NOT tech savvy. As this video problem has been on my PC for months, in one degree or another, I did discover two versions of Flash in my add-ons, an 11.0 point something, and a 13.0...version, but NOT any sign of a 12....version. SO, I clicked on "never activate" on the drop-down of the 11.0...version. When I go start, control panel, programs and features, THEN I get my "uninstall" screen,( folder contents ). Therein is Adobe AIR, Adobe Flash player 13 active X, AFP 13 plug-in, Reader X (10.1.10) MUI, and Shockwave player 12.1,(no "Adobe" before Shockwave, plus icon is not Adobe).
Videos are playing now on the one and only site I've checked. I am going to try other sites, and will let you know how that goes.
ONLY the preceding path takes me to any semblance of an Adobe 13 version. In other words, if I click start, search programs and files, and type in Adobe, the search turns up NO FILE having anything to do with a Flashplayer. There is ONLY Reader files, some images and pdf's.
I will return here with further information, but try to not be so verbose. Thank you once again, for your help.
I went to my add-ons tab, and I DO, in fact, have two versions of shockwave flash, an 11.9...version, and a 13.9..., which, if I'm not mistaken, is the latest version. There is a "ask to activate, always activate, never activate" button for EVERY add-on. I clicked never activate on the older version, and closed the tab. I then tried to play a video off of the Web. It would not play, I tried another site with the same result, so I went back to my add-on tab, and the button for the older version had changed back to "always activate" by itself. It continues to repeat this, and WILL NOT stay on "never activate". Every few times I return to the add-ons page, THE NEW VERSION IS DISABLED, AS WELL AS THE OLD ONE. I've tried to uninstall the old version, but when I go through control panel, and bring up the folder contents, the old version isn't even there! I've done start, find, and typed in "Adobe", and the old version is NOT FOUND! Both versions keep changing back and forth on the activate button, and they both will disable on their own, no matter how many times I fix it! smh!!
You can uninstall the current Flash player version and (re)install the latest Flash version.
Note that this will remove all installed Flash players.
You can find the latest Flash player versions for Firefox on this page:
@Moses: Very sorry I took so long to reply. I've been, as they say, indisposed. I DID finally get FlashPlayer 11 version uninstalled, but it did not help. I used a file path that someone e-mailed to me to get to the folder that contained ALL of my Flash files. There, I deleted version 11, and now, it looks as though only the newest version, (13), remains, although the result remains the same, as well. 99% of videos that I navigate to, will not play. Some are just black video screens, and some will just sit there loading, loading, loading, ad nauseum. Friday, the 23rd, and STILL trying to figure out the problem AND FIX IT.
@cor-el: I just want to ask a question, if you do not mind. Again, please, please bear with my lack of PC knowledge. My question is: Is file path; adobe.com/special/products/flashplayer/fp_distribution3.html, the version 13 re-install file? And it does NOTHING else, just re-installs FlashPlayer13?
@ cor-el: I have no needed graphic drive driver updates. Hardware acceleration is disabled, and I have no extensions that block content. BUT, I cannot figure out how to disable "protected mode" in the Flash plugin.
See "How do I troubleshoot Flash Player's protected mode for Firefox?":