dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
5050
Sentinel
Premium Member
join:2001-02-07
Florida

Sentinel

Premium Member

[WIN7] 64bit control panel Flash icon?

On all my PCs there is a control panel applet or icon for Adobe Flash settings. But on my 64 bit Win7 box the icon says "32 bit". Why? Does this set the settings only for the 32 bit Flash player? Is there no 64 bit Flash player?

rusdi
American V
MVM
join:2001-04-28
Flippin, AR

rusdi

MVM

»kb2.adobe.com/cps/000/6b ··· 6c9.html

plencnerb
Premium Member
join:2000-09-25
53403-1242

1 recommendation

plencnerb to Sentinel

Premium Member

to Sentinel
Click for full size
Flash 32 bit options
I think what the OP is asking about is not if there is a flash player for 64 bit, but if there is a way to set the options for the 64 bit version of flash.

I'm running Win7 Enterprise x64 bit, and when I installed Flash from inside IE 9 x64, I only got the one icon indicated by the red arrow in my attached picture. Yet, I know flash is installed and working, per the thread you linked to, as well as testing flash inside of IE9 x64.

Now, it could be that the icon is a bit mis-leading. While it says "Flash Player (32-Bit)", do the options and settings that you can change there only apply to the 32 bit version of flash, or do the settings apply for both 32 bit and 64 bit?

I suppose one could test and make changes to something, and see if the change shows up in both IE 32 bit and IE 64 bit (or any 32 bit browser for that matter).

I think it just comes down to the wording that is used. Showing 32 bit in a 64 bit OS MAY give the impression that it only applies to the 32 bit install, when that may not be the case.

Now, if I'm wrong, and the OP was looking for a 64 bit flash install, then I am sorry in advance for mis-reading the question, as your link does answer that. I took it as the OP was looking for a way to modify the settings for the 64 bit version of flash that is installed in IE9 x64.

--Brian

rusdi
American V
MVM
join:2001-04-28
Flippin, AR

rusdi

MVM

Not a problem.
I just now considered the possibility.

Rare, but there are a few sites that require 64bit flash, (for viewing embedded vids) if you are using 64bit IE. NOT required with IE 32bit.

I just assumed downloading and installing the 64bit flash player would automagically install to 64bit IE.
Sentinel
Premium Member
join:2001-02-07
Florida

Sentinel to plencnerb

Premium Member

to plencnerb
plencnerb,
You are correct sir. That is exactly what I was asking. I have the same icon that you have there that says "32-bit". There seems to be no setting for 64-bit. Or is there? I have numerous other PCs all running 32-bit Win7 and none of them have an icon that says 32-bit. They all just say "Flash Player" with no "32-bit" designation.

So my question still stands. Why is this? Does this mean that we can't set the settings for the 64-bit Flash Player? Or does it mean that the setting in there is valid for both? Confusing.

redxii
Mod
join:2001-02-26
Michigan

redxii

Mod

It's for both and all browsers. 64-bit also installs 32-bit, there wasn't any need to make a separate 64-bit control panel, and Windows adds the "(32-bit)" in 64-bit OSes for 32-bit control panels automagically.

plencnerb
Premium Member
join:2000-09-25
53403-1242

1 recommendation

plencnerb to Sentinel

Premium Member

to Sentinel
Click for full size
Pic #1
Click for full size
Pic #2

Pic #3
Click for full size
Pic #4
Click for full size
Pic #5

Pic #6
Click for full size
Pic #7
Well, I did some investigation, using the 32 bit and 64 bit Java Installs, to see if I could come up with some ideas about the control panel icons.

Yes, I know that applications are different, but I did want to point out that I *think* the same could be true with Flash. However, knowing that there is not a separate install for Flash 32 bit and Flash 64 bit, and knowing the icon that shows up in the control panel does say 32 bit, I tend to believe that it will only effect the 32 bit version of flash.... Let me try to explain my logic by looking at a few things with the java installs.

First, I removed all versions of Java, and modified my control panel view to be Large Icons. If you look at Pic #1, you can see all of my control panel icons, and there is not one at all for Java.

Now, I installed the 32 bit version of Java (jre-6u30-windows-i586-s.exe). Once the install was complete, I went back and looked at my control panel. I now have a new icon for Java, as shown in Pic #2, that is called Java (32-bit)

If I double click on that, I get the Java Control Panel, with 5 tabs (this is important, and you will see why later). The one tab that I want to focus on is the Update Tab shown in Pic #3. I also went to the Java Tab, and clicked on the View button, to bring up the window shown in Pic #4, which is the Java Runtime Settings window. As you can see, the path that the Java exe is installed to is c:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe

I then closed out of the Java Control Panel, and the windows control panel, and installed the 64 bit version of java (jre-6u30-windows-x64.exe).

Now when I open the control panel, I see the Java Icon has changed, as shown in Pic #5. It just says Java . We lost the (32-Bit) part of it. So, we can assume at this point one of two things: 1) The icon is only for the 64 bit version of Java (as windows does not put 64 bit after every icon that is a 64 bit setting or application), or 2) We can modify both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of Java from this one icon.

When I double click on the Java icon, I get what is shown in Pic #6. Again, notice the number of tabs is now 4 . We have lost the "Update Tab" that was present in Pic #3. Further looking around, I again went to open the Java Runtime Settings, which is shown in Pic #7. Notice that the path that the Java exe is installed to is c:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe

So, in the case of Java, I am only able to modify the settings for one of the installs. In this case, the 64 bit one, as the icon no longer has (32-Bit) after it. If I did want to modify anything with the 32 bit install (say the update options), I can't do that anymore. If I wanted to, I would have had to perform those modifications BEFORE I installed the 64 bit version, or if something needed to be changed later on, I would have to remove the 64 bit version, modify the settings for the 32 bit version, and then re-install the 64 bit version.

Again, I know that different applications install things differently, and this may not be the case with flash. However, going by what I found with Java, I would make the assumption that if the icon says "Flash (32-Bit)", the settings only apply to the 32 bit version of Flash.

On a side note, it is interesting that when I do the install for Java, I do not get BOTH icons in the control panel, since I actually do have both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions installed.

--Brian
Sentinel
Premium Member
join:2001-02-07
Florida

Sentinel

Premium Member

Very interesting. Thanks for that. I agree. I also agree that this does not necessarily show anything definitive it sure does lend credence to the idea that if the icon for any app specifically says 32-bit then it probably only affects the settings for the 32-bit version of the given app.

That said, I wonder how we would go about checking this out for Flash?

plencnerb
Premium Member
join:2000-09-25
53403-1242

plencnerb to Sentinel

Premium Member

to Sentinel

Delete of Browsing History
No problem. Glad to help, even if it was with Java instead of Flash, we may be on the right track here.

However, your main question remains if the settings for the Flash Player effects the plug-in for both browsers (32 and 64 bit) or just 32 bit browsers.

To try to answer this, I took a look at the "Flash Player Settings Manager". While there are options that you can set, very few of them point to a specific version of a given browser. The only thing that somewhat points to it being non-specific is on the advanced tab. If you look at the text in the red box in the attached picture, it says that it will delete "content in Flash Player across all browsers on this computer." (emphasis mine).

So, "All Browsers" could imply both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of the browsers installed on a given system.

The problem is, how do we test this? We would need to have a known site that would store flash data, and be able to look at the actual directory to see that flash data was stored (for multiple browsers as well as 32 and 64 bit). Then, click that button and see what flash data goes away.

If our testing does show that the browser cache was deleted on all browsers (32 and 64 bit), then the icon name is a bit misleading. Which of course is your original question.

So, I think I have a plan of What we need to test....I just don't know enough about Flash and the different browsers in regards to what flies are considered flash files in the browsers cache to fully test this.

--Brian

rusdi
American V
MVM
join:2001-04-28
Flippin, AR

rusdi to Sentinel

MVM

to Sentinel
If using 64bit IE, you can check by visiting
»www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

I found out I needed the 64bit flash when the site told me I needed it to run their test. After I D/L and installed the 64bit flash, it worked. If using other browsers, I dunno.

redxii
Mod
join:2001-02-26
Michigan
Asus RT-AC3100
Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH2

1 recommendation

redxii

Mod

You need 64-bit Flash to use Flash in a 64-bit browser, 32-bit Flash to use Flash in a 32-bit browser. There is an installer for IE, and one for every other supported browser.

I already tested the cache/settings and stated that it is for both and all browsers. You only have one settings file.

plencnerb
Premium Member
join:2000-09-25
53403-1242

1 recommendation

plencnerb

Premium Member

said by redxii:

I already tested the cache/settings and stated that it is for both and all browsers. You only have one settings file.

Well, thank you for testing it. Now that I have been involved, I'm just as curious as the OP is in this question! I have wondered myself why the icon said 32-bit, when I know I have the 64 bit version installed as well.

While I feel we have our answer, I still feel that the choice of the icon name would be better without the 32 bit part. If we look at the icon that is created by default to set the Internet Explorer options (Control Panel\Network and Internet\Internet Options) that one icon will modify the settings for Internet Explorer (home page, security settings, tab options, etc) for both the 32 bit and 64 bit version of the browser. Microsoft did not add (32-bit) to it, they left it off. However, Adobe felt the need to add it. And, if we throw my Java test back into the mix, they really did not do that one right either. Once the 64 bit version was installed, I should have BOTH icons in my control panel, as the one without the 32 bit can only modify the 64 bit configuration items for Java. Either that, or the icon without the 32 bit should be able to handle both configurations of Java. Of course, that would depend on how Java is written, as the configuration settings may be stored in two different places, unlike how they are stored in Flash....

--Brian
Sentinel
Premium Member
join:2001-02-07
Florida

Sentinel

Premium Member

I agree.

And thank you redxii.