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DarkThrone5
join:2000-12-14

1 edit

DarkThrone5

Member

FlashUtil10i_ActiveX running in task manager

Just bought a new syste.

Noticed this is running in my processes in task manager (Win7)

FlashUtil10i_ActiveX.exe

File description is-

Adobe flash player installer/uninstaller

This never showed up on my other older system.

Thanks in advance.

Update-

Saw this link to update Adobe

»www.macromedia.com/suppo ··· r05.html

It had no effect.

Iam really starting to despise Adobe.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

And people complain about Adobe not proactively pushing updates. And people complain when Adobe proactively pushes updates.

They just can't win, can they?

You can go ahead and disable it if you want to. It's there mainly for those who don't know that they have to install updates regularly.

DarkThrone5
join:2000-12-14

DarkThrone5

Member

K thanks.

Always keep my machines up to date and secure.

Dustyn
Premium Member
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN

Dustyn to DarkThrone5

Premium Member

to DarkThrone5
That is interesting.
I looked in Task Manager and could not locate that process running? Just installed the Shockwave & Flash player for Windows 7 64-bit.

DarkThrone5
join:2000-12-14

DarkThrone5

Member

Hi

Seems to run only when IE is running. Try to see if it is running when IE is opened.

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

1 edit

AB57 to Dustyn

Premium Member

to Dustyn
said by Dustyn:

I looked in Task Manager and could not locate that process running?
Perhaps your Flash settings on the Manager page don't include the 'notify me when an update to Flash is available' box checked?

»www.macromedia.com/suppo ··· r05.html

And it's to update the ActiveX control, which is a browser add-on for IE-- likely why it only appears for the O.P. with IE open.

DarkThrone5
join:2000-12-14

DarkThrone5

Member

Hi

I have that unchecked.

Still shows up though.

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

AB57

Premium Member

Apparently one school of thought has it that your latest Flash install never completed properly.
Another seems to believe a third-party security app (McAfee, e.g.) may be involved.
The consensus seems to be that having it running isn't normal, though.

Maybe an uninstall/reinstall is the first thing to try.

A couple of links with some not terribly specific information:

»forums.adobe.com/message/3097535

»forums.adobe.com/thread/ ··· start=90

A further search of that forum or a googling might turn up better info.

Dustyn
Premium Member
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN
·Carry Telecom
·TekSavvy Cable
Asus GT-AX11000
Technicolor TC4400

2 edits

Dustyn to AB57

Premium Member

to AB57
said by AB57:

said by Dustyn:

I looked in Task Manager and could not locate that process running?
Perhaps your Flash settings on the Manager page don't include the 'notify me when an update to Flash is available' box checked?

»www.macromedia.com/suppo ··· r05.html

And it's to update the ActiveX control, which is a browser add-on for IE-- likely why it only appears for the O.P. with IE open.
You are correct.
I unchecked that option after initial install.
Must be why it doesn't show up.

bluepoint
join:2001-03-24

bluepoint to DarkThrone5

Member

to DarkThrone5
Noticed the executable running here too when IE8 is being used. Upon further review, it's flash player active-x(add-on) called "shockwave flash object". If disabled, flash player on any sites no longer works.
This is on a W7 64Bit laptop, could be others is not seeing it because theirs are non 64 Bit W7?

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

AB57 to Dustyn

Premium Member

to Dustyn
said by Dustyn:

You are correct.
No, I don't think so, Dustyn:
said by DarkThrone5:

I have that unchecked.

Still shows up though.
Then we have this:
said by bluepoint:

If disabled, flash player on any sites no longer works.
-------------------
said by bluepoint:

This is on a W7 64Bit laptop, could be others is not seeing it because theirs are non 64 Bit W7?
I don't think that's it, either. Dustyn See Profile is using 64-bit and not seeing it.

Though that could also be because Dustyn isn't using IE, maybe?
(We'll have to wait and hear.)

Dustyn
Premium Member
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN

1 recommendation

Dustyn

Premium Member

Using IE8 Win7-64-bit. While browsing I do not see it. Nor do I see it when I've closed IE8.

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

AB57

Premium Member

said by Dustyn:

Using IE8 Win7-64-bit. While browsing I do not see it. Nor do I see it when I've closed IE8.
Hmmm . . . . Curioser and curioser . . . .

Maybe it's specifically related to some third-party security software, as suggested in that second Adobe forum link.
Though on re-reading it, I'm not sure there's any indication that that theory holds any water, either.

DarkThrone5
join:2000-12-14

DarkThrone5

Member

Found out that other people with Alienware systems have this running also.

Thus far only shows up when ie is open.

Correctly uninstalled then reinstalled flash.

Really at a loss thus far.

Thanks in advance!

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

AB57

Premium Member

said by DarkThrone5:

Thus far only shows up when ie is open.
That part of it isn't too much of a mystery-- the ActiveX control is only used with IE, not other browsers. And Flash is an add-on for/to the browser.

But if it seems to be Alienware computer-specific, then that's definitely a big clue as to what else might be involved in the issue.

THZNDUP
Deorum Offensa Diis Curae
Premium Member
join:2003-09-18
Lard

THZNDUP

Premium Member

said by AB57:
said by DarkThrone5:

Thus far only shows up when ie is open.
That part of it isn't too much of a mystery-- the ActiveX control is only used with IE, not other browsers. And Flash is an add-on for/to the browser.

But if it seems to be Alienware computer-specific, then that's definitely a big clue as to what else might be involved in the issue.
Except it also happens on a HP laptop running Vista/64 and IE8/32. Seems that this just started (again ?)

Thankfully it doesn't load in IE8/64.........

I have had notify updates etc disabled and chk'd after each Flash update..

If IE8 starts with the control enabled, the process appears. BTW, my ver. of the control is 10.1.82.76

If the process is removed using TaskMan/ProcessExplorer, and the control disabled in IE8, the process will not restart with multiple IE8 starts/shutdowns. The control can be restarted after starting IE8 with no adverse effects.

Then it's 'lather, rinse, repeat' if IE is shutdown with the control enabled.

AB57
Premium Member
join:2006-04-04
equatorial

AB57

Premium Member

said by THZNDUP:

said by AB57:

But if it seems to be Alienware computer-specific, then that's definitely a big clue as to what else might be involved in the issue.
Except it also happens on a HP laptop running Vista/64 and IE8/32.
So much for the 'Alienware-specific' theory.
If the process is removed using TaskMan/ProcessExplorer, and the control disabled in IE8, the process will not restart with multiple IE8 starts/shutdowns. The control can be restarted after starting IE8 with no adverse effects.
And if you disable it in Task Manager, can you then watch Flash videos online?

THZNDUP
Deorum Offensa Diis Curae
Premium Member
join:2003-09-18
Lard

1 edit

THZNDUP

Premium Member

said by AB57:

And if you disable it in Task Manager, can you then watch Flash videos online?
If the FlashUtil10 process is ended and the Active X control is enabled, yes videos play.

HOWEVER:
Just going to YouTube, restarts the FlashUtil10 process.

While at YouTube, ending the process and starting a video works.

Disabling the control and revisiting YouTube does not restart the process.

Attempting to view a video with the control disabled gives an 'update flash' error. Enabling the control and refreshing the page starts the video and also restarts the process. Ending the process has no effect on the video playing or further videos UNLESS I go back to the main page at which time the process restarts..

[edit]The process will restart each time a video is played and by visiting other YouTube pages that have ads/etc, not just the main page.
THZNDUP

THZNDUP to AB57

Premium Member

to AB57
Click for full size
Seems I just rounded up another working brain cell and remembered a thread about this from some time ago. As I remember you can just delete the file(s). You can see from above, I took the safe way out and just renamed them by adding a ".xxx" extension for now. Leave the OCXs alone.

Seems this pops up every couple of months or so. Just outside one of my misc. knowledge expiration dates..........

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 edit

1 recommendation

Blackbird to DarkThrone5

Premium Member

to DarkThrone5
This is probably all the indirect result of Flash's attempt at keeping users immediately up-to-date without undue delays or negative Flash-performance impacts, given the large number of exploit attempts being continually made (and succeeding) against Flash. To play Flash material within IE requires the ActiveX control be enabled... but the process under discussion is merely related to the Flash-version checking/updating mechanism, so its functioning after Flash playback has started is not essential to an ongoing playback itself. I believe that the ActiveX control invokes the process in question each time Flash material is encountered, with the intended purpose of very quickly re-checking currency of the installed Flash version thereafter, each time such material is explored. So if the process has been killed at some point, it will be restarted each time the ActiveX control is recalled by new Flash content. As a result, if you try to block the process by disabling the ActiveX control, you kill Flash... if you block the process by killing the linkage of the ActiveX control to the particular process's files, you at worst get an error message based on Flash assuming that since the process isn't responding, the installation needs updating (or repair).

As to why the process is left running by Adobe even after IE has ended or Flash-containing sites are no longer being viewed is a design issue that, to me, seems open to criticism. Based on anti-malware logs I've viewed on a lot of websites, there seems to be a very large number of user systems out there that show this process (or its earlier 10.x Flash version incarnations) running, even when IE is not. And chances are, the ones that don't are ones that almost never use IE, or possibly are 64-bit systems that perhaps don't exhibit this behavior.
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

OZO to DarkThrone5

Premium Member

to DarkThrone5
FlashUtil10i_ActiveX.exe process (Adobe® Flash® Player Installer/Uninstaller) is not required to see flash content on web pages. I never saw it's running...

I don't know why Adobe's "Global Notifications Settings panel" doesn't help you. Is the option "Notify me when an update..." checked on that page? Or, despite it's not, the updater process is started anyway?

Check this old registry value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer]
"AutoUpdateTest"="" ; default: "AutoUpdate"

You may remove it (not only the data of the value, but the value itself).