Help for a novice please!

I used to be able to watch video clips but now I can't. For example on
www.youtube.com I get the message
"you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Macromedia's Flash
Player. Get the latest flash player"

I've checked various things:

Java and Active X settings are enabled in Internet Options(and have now reset
to Medium).
Installing Flash from the link to the Adobe site but it doesn't seem to work
for me - after going through the various steps.
I've tried uninstalling the current version of Flash then try again but no
luck.

Could it be something to do with my Firewall (Windows) or Anti-Virus (AVG)???
Not sure how to check and am a bit confused!

Thanks

Thank you for your response. I've gone to the page you suggested. I'm not sure
where on this page I see the version but I can see in Explorer I have under
properties the version of C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\MACROMED\Flash\FlashUtil9b is
9.0.28.0

No Flash sites seem to work for me at all.

Any ideas?

I just posted a new thread on this!! When I go to Macromedia to check it out,
it tells me I have the current Flash Player, but it disapears! I'm having the
some problem with youtube telling me about Java and Active X.

I just windows firewall and Avast antivirus. Not sure how to take care of
this! It's just nuts!

Thanks again for your help.

When I click on the link you gave, I see no flash movie playing and I can not
see any mention of a version number.
I see there is a box to the right where presumably a movie would play if
everything was working. The main heading is "Adobe Flash Player - A
lightweight, robust runtime environment for rich media and rich Internet
applications" etc.

Also, the mesage "The site might require the following Active X control: Adobe
Flash Player" appears at the very top of the page, but when I "click here to
install" nothing much happens, even after I click on the Install box that
appears. I just go back to the first screen, i.e the link you gave me.

I have checked in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\MACROMED\Flash and I see I also have a
Flash9b.ocx file

Really appreciate your help, as you can tell I don't really understand much
about how this all works.

try http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/
and see what version it thinks you have installed.

also see if other flash sites work for you.
--
Jeckyl

Well .. its pretty obvious where to look ... if you've got flash installed.
At the top of the page is a flash movie that says

Adobe Flash Player is installed
version 9,0,28,0 Installed Successfully

Of course, if you don't see that, you don't have flash installed :)

FlashUtil96 is not flash player .. you need to look at what .ocx file you
have there if you want to find the version. eg I have Flash9b.ocx which is
"Adobe Flash Player 9.0 r28"
--
Jeckyl

I suggest you and uninstall flash player (see
http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_14157 ) .. then reboot and try to reinstall it.
Make sure (if windows xp) that you are logged into an admin privilege
account when you uninstall and reinstall.
--
Jeckyl

Thanks, appreciate your time with the advice. Tried as you suggested (must
confess I had already tried this a couple of times before) and still can't
watch videos.

I see there are a lot of threads with people having the same problem, so think
I will take the Firefox route.

I just noticed this problem recently myself. I visited youtube.com and got the
'Flashplayer/Java' message and each time I visited the FlashPlayer site to
download Flash the computer would just sit idle with no indication of success
or failure although 'Adobe FlashPlayer 9 Active X' would then be in the
Currently Installed Programs list. I admit that I don't know much about a lot
of this stuff, but I've followed all instructions as best I can.

Used uninstaller, re-installed, visited web page to test player, checked
settings in Internet Options and read through all the info that I thought would
be relevant and tried everything suggested except editing the registry (that's
out of my league). Also, when I check in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\MACROMED\Flash I
see two files: 'Flash9b.ocx' and 'FlashUtil9b'. I'm at a loss as what to try
next. I don't know anything about Firefox but if that will help I think that
I'll check it out. You guys have been a big help. Later.

This is crazy. I have the exact same problem except get this. I have 5 other
active user accounts on my system. (windows xp media edition) and all of them
have flash player working except mine. I have tried uninstalling and
reinstalling. I also compared security settings between accounts and nothing.
Somebody please help.

Thanks.

I have the same exact issue, two accounts on XP Home one works one will not.
After looking at other posts, I doubt there will ever be any reply from Adobe,
they lots and lots of very angry "posters" on this site. They obviously don't
read these messages as there are some very bad comments about them, not
neccessarily what I would want on my corporate page.

As you would no doubt have read .. this is a forum for Adobe customers/users
to talk to each other.

It is NOT a place for Adobe to provide support or comment on issues.

So a lack of response from Adobe is exactly what we SHOULD see here (given
the nature of the forums).

When Adobe have general responses to an issue, they make a technote on it ..
so search those to see if there is anything relevant.

If you want a personal response from Adobe, then you would need to contact
their support (of course, that doesn't guarantee they'll response either,
and you may have to pay ;))

--
Jeckyl

:grin; You will be happy to know that I resolved my own issue with not being
able to use flash player on only one account. I went into tools then manage
add-ons. I selected from the drop down menu add-ons that run without requiring
permission. And lo and behold flash player (shockwave flash object) to be
exact was disabled. I enabled it and restarted Internet Explorer and VOILA!!
It works . I can't believe it was that simple. I really hope this works for
someone else. thanks for the positive feedback and help.