IE11 & Adobe Flash

[jamis]

I'm confused by this situation. When visiting LIVE with Kelly and Michael | LIVE with Kelly and Michael, a message is displayed that you need to update your Adobe Flash Player with a link to the adobe site. I've followed that and also done the update via IE in the manage addons section. I have the latest version of Flash installed, but the web page continues to say the addon needs updating. I have searched this site and found nothing recent for IE11 and Flash Player. This above web site runs fine on FF v41. I've played around with the compatability settiings to no avail. I'm not sure where to look, but SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obayed) really wants to use IE11 to access this site. Here's information I think may be relevant.

IE11 v11.0.9600.18015, update version 11.0.23 (KB3087038)

What browser am I using?

The addon:

 

[Callender]

Okay I visited that site using IE11, Opera 12.17 and Cyberfox 41 and video played with no problem.

I have flash plugin 19.0.0.185

C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\NPSWF64_19_0_0_185.dll

C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\NPSWF32_19_0_0_185.dll

There have been reports that updating to this version of flash player doesn't always remove the old versions.

Suggest:

Run the flash player removal tool. Follow all instructions (steps 1 to 4 - read all the way down the page) very carefully then reboot.

Removal tool: https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html

Download the latest flash player from here:

Adobe Flash Player Distribution | Adobe


Then install it.

 

[jamis]

Thanks for the rapid response. I uninstalled Flash. Found some back level bits of it on the system and removed them also. Also found a bunch of registry entries after the uninstall and deleted all of them. Installed Flash from the referenced link. Problem still exists in IE11. Tonight, I'll repeat the cleansing process and try again.

 

[Callender]

Okay check Control Panel> Internet Options> Programs Tab> Manage Addons

Make sure flash is enabled.

If you have applied custom security settings to security zones you might need to reset IE to default settings then reboot. Then check add ons are enabled.

See the tutorial here:

How to Reset Internet Explorer to Default

 

[jamis]

I did another uninstall and purge this afternoon. Checked each browser to see that they didn't have Flash add on installed. Then I installed Shockwave Flash from each browser. The aforementioned website still says Flash is not installed on IE11 even though enabled, but works fine on FF. The zone is set at med-high (default). I'm thoroughly confused by this web site as others can play video just fine in IE11.

 

[Callender]

Okay so a fresh install of flash player rules out problems with old versions. I've been messing about with that website and videos will not load if the domain brightcove dot com is blocked in HOSTS file or by any security software or script blocker.





Other than that I'm sorry but I am out of ideas other than to try a complete reset of IE then re-able add ons and toolbars that you need to use.

 

[jamis]

Yes, I saw brightcove when Ghostery blocked it on FF. After having Ghostery allow that site, it works fine. I don't see what could be blocking it in IE and IE was reset a couple of weeks ago for another issue with news.yahoo.com. Thanks the the help.

 

[Callender]

I wonder if you have any Tracking Protection Lists enabled in IE? That could possibly be the cause.

​

 

[Callender]

The only other question I have is:

Did you do the following after running the dedicated flash player removal tool?

Delete these folders (copy each line into Start> Run dialog box then press enter)

C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash
%appdata%\Adobe\Flash Player
%appdata%\Macromedia\Flash Player

Confirm that they have been deleted by trying to open those folders - and if not - force delete them.

Reboot (important) before clean installing flash player for IE and flash player for other browsers.

 

[jamis]

No tracking protection enabled.

C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash - All entries dated 10/02/15 at 8:02 PM, the last install
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash - All entries dated 10/02/15 at 8:02 PM, the last install
%appdata%\Adobe\Flash Player - All entries dated from 2013 deleted them
%appdata%\Macromedia\Flash Player - All entries dated from 2013 deleted them

I will uninstall/purge Flash again and check for these. Then I will reinstall Flash and see what happens. I'm beginning to suspect that the issue lies with how the browsers handle the Brigthtcove call.

 

[Callender]

The strange thing is that video on that site plays for me using IE11 and I tested on two machines - both worked.

I also have Telerik Fiddler installed and the only errors regarding brightcove (video hosting) that showed up were if that domain was blocked.

When brightcove is blocked video doesn't load and neither does flash. I don't see any message about upgrading flash player.

At the moment the only other suggestion I have is to try changing your DNS Lookup Provider. Maybe try Google DNS although I personally prefer to use DNS Lookup Providers that actually block connection to sites that host malware.

I use a couple of programs to switch DNS. An easy one to use is QuickSetDNS

Try using it to switch DNS to Google DNS or an alternative.

​

​

You can run the program and choose your network adapter from the drop down list. Then choose File> New DNS Server. Give it a name - say Google DNS and enter the following text in the ip address box.

8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4

Click Okay then right click Google DNS and choose "Set Active DNS"

Some machines may need a reboot for settings to take effect.

Let's see if this works.

 

[jamis]

Did the uninstall of Adobe Shockwave Flash and found the four object you referenced. Went through the system and registry and deleted any other Shockwave objects. I opened IE11 and went to the webste. When the prompt came up from Brightcove to install Flash, I clicked it and installed Shockwave Flash as an addon in IE. The video played fine. When I closed IE and reopened it to the web site, I was presented with the prompt that flash needed to be updated. Very confusing! As you see, when Brightcove is blocked, you see nothing. That's what I see in FF. Ghostery will prompt to allow it, but if Ghostery is disabled, I see what you see. My workaround now is to use FF with Ghostery whitelisting the Brightcove site and it works fine, time after time. I can convince SWMBO to use FF for that show site. Just another of her favorites that won't run on IE11. Eventually, she'll accept FF as a browser of choice.

I'm not versed with DNS. If I follow your suggestion to try QuickSetDNS, will this have any effect on my connection with my ISP? How can I see what is doing my DNS now? Thanks again for your help with this challenge.

 

[Callender]

I'm not versed with DNS. If I follow your suggestion to try QuickSetDNS, will this have any effect on my connection with my ISP? How can I see what is doing my DNS now? Thanks again for your help with this challenge.

From what you said in you last post if the video played then there's no problem with DNS. Changing DNS just means that you would be using another DNS provider instead of the one provided by your ISP. It doesn't affect anything except that sometimes DNS Lookups can be slow if using the default DNS and there is no malware blocking. Also pretty much every user with that ISP uses the same settings and can slow things down.

Anyway to use your ISP's DNS lookup:

Control Panel> Network & Sharing Center> Click your current network adapter

Choose "Properties" scroll to IPV4 and select it.



Any time you have changed DNS - reset to default by choosing "Obtain DNS server address automatically"

 

[jamis]

Going back to your comment on Brightcove.

When brightcove is blocked video doesn't load and neither does flash. I don't see any message about upgrading flash player.

When Ghostery is set to allow Brightcove (i.e. not block it) to access the URL "http://livekellyandmichael.dadt.com/", the videos play fine in FF. There are 15 different Brightcove URLs being used for this web site. If I remove the whitelist for that site, then Brightcove puts up the error panel to update Flash. It appears that my version of IE11 is not letting Brightcove access the addon for Shockwave Flash. I have not found any way in IE11 to whitelist or allow the URL to be accessed. Other sites seem to be able to use Flash in IE11 just fine. The problem seems to be with Brightcove and it's ability to interface with my copy of IE11. Am I wrong with this thought process?

Update: Went searching again in IE11 for something to cause this problem. Pulled down the safety tab and unchecked ActiveX fitering. Suddenly, the videos load and play like they should. Now I need to understand why ActiveX is the key.

Update2: It looks like Brightcove is blacklisted for ActiveX by MS because they don't support touch screen interaction. I tried various custom options for ActiveX support in IE11 and nothing worked except for simply turning ActiveX filtering off. Oh well, SWMBO is happy now that this website can be viewed via IE. "Happy Wife = Happy Life.

 

[Callender]

Great news! Well done. Try adding the following to trusted sites zone:

**.brightcove.com
**.admin.brightcove.com

plus any other brightcove URL's that you can find in your list. Just replace www. with **.

Then in Trusted Sites zone apply the Active X filtering options that work for you.



For the other zones it would be better to turn Active X filtering back on.

 

[jamis]

Won't let me add any site with **. Gives me error message. However, I added the website URL (LIVE with Kelly and Michael | LIVE with Kelly and Michael) to the list, left ActiveX filtering disabled for the trusted zone, turned filtering on for the rest of zones and it works.

 

[Callender]

Well I assumed that wildcards would work! I should have tested before posting. At least you found your own solution.

 

[jamis]

Yes, everything seems to work as needed. It's been a bit of an education with this glitch. Any time you learn something from a challenge, it's a good thing. Thanks for hanging in there with me. I appreciate the effort! Take Care. Cheers! Jim

 

[jamis]

Just had a repeat of this issue with a local sports site (bcsn.tv). I simply opened "internet options" and added the URL to the trusted sites zone. Problem went away on refresh. Going to "UNSOLVE" this thread, because the security issue with some sites changes with no logic, 'for now.

Still wondering if ActiveX filtering is somehow connected to this issue? I've read up on it, but still don't understand it's implications to various web sites.

 

[Callender]

Well that's interesting. i tried to look at bcsn dot com and get a parked domain. Do you mean bscn dot tv ?

Is so - videos do not load for me currently. Looking at the page source I see lots of trackers and domains that are blocked in my hosts file. I will disable hosts file and see if videos will play correctly!