Have spent ages trying to install flash...but still can't get it to work on IE
or Firefox..done the usual...uninstalling/downloading again, paused the
firewall to see if anything was blocking it tried some of the Registry Fix
software....help !

I was having the exact same problems - uninstalled/installed Flash and
Shockwave. Used the appropriate uninstaller, searched for rogue .dll extension
files, cleaned out the C:\Windows\System32\Macromedia\Flash files, looked at
the manage add-ons, posted on this forum, e-mailed Adobe, spoke with them on
the phone and even uninstalled IE7 and went back to IE 6. None of that helped.

Reading through some of the responses on various posts, I found the following:

Uninstall flash with the latest Adobe stand alone uninstaller

Download Complete Standalone installer Flash Player 9 earlier version from
http://www.softwarepatch.com/internet/flash.html

Uninstall shockwave with the latest Adobe stand alone uninstaller

Download Stand-alone installers for Shockwave Player: previous versions only
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_18629

Note: Users of Windows XP operating system must use the 8.5.1 Shockwave player
or higher. For more information, please seeInstalling the Shockwave Player on
Microsoft Windows XP (TechNote tn_15924).
Windows Shockwave Player 9.0.0.434

I tried this last night - one and then the other one - and they both are
running fine.

Hope this helps someone else.