Removing old versions of the Flash player using the standard Add or Remove Programs applet in the Windows XP Control Panel failed more often than it worked in my tests. I suggest starting with the Adobe Flash player unintall program. See Trend Micro and Aviv Raff for more on this. The Google Toolbar in particular, has its own very recent security bug. There is always the chance it will break something else, and, new software just becomes something else that needs care and feeding. (They don't do this with Firefox.)Īs shown above, the default is to also install the Google Toolbar.Īgain speaking defensively, it's best not to install software unless you absolutely need it. (More on this below.)Īnother reason is that the Adobe Download Center tries to pawn off additional software on Internet Explorer users. Also, knowing how to check provides a way to verify that an uninstall of the Flash player worked. Still, before bothering to upgrade, you might as well check which version you have installed. If you haven't updated the Flash player recently, your computer is probably at risk. The right way also means uninstalling the prior version of Flash before installing the new version, not installing any other software other than the Flash player andīeing 100 percent sure that all old versions of the software have been removed, even those in nonstandard locations. The ActiveX version is used by Internet Explorer, the plug-in version is used by Firefox. You can see this in the screenshot above from the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Windows XP control panel. The two browsers use separate and independent copies of Flash. I read a number of articles on this topic before writing this posting and none mentioned the fact that you have to update the Flash player for both Internet Explorer and Firefox.

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