Have to re-install Flash multiple times daily?!?

[squawk]

Scenario system: Dell Inspiron laptop, Studio 16 XPS, Windows 7 Home Premium w/Service Pack 1 (64 bit), Intel Core Duo 2.8 Ghz, 4 GB RAM.

The problem is that Flash will not stay installed. Another problem (related?) is that I *cannot* install Itunes on this computer, it will error out each time, and Apple is notorious for telling me it is a Windows problem, nothing they can do, so I found a way around the "long pole in the tent" requirement of Itunes to Sync iPad/iPod, and this really isn't even a "problem" anymore as much as an annoyance.

Other utilities -- Avast virus protection, Malware Bytes, Spybot Search/Destroy with immunization, and always running Iolo System Mechanic. All software and operating system is up to date with current patches and updates.

A program I use regularly that may be suspect but also seems so innocuous as to have no bearing on it is a keyboard macro program, Keyboard Express v4. For example with this program, I can define some hot keys like ALT-CTRL-T which will insert some text I define to the program into wherever the cursor is at on the current web page or Word document. Always text, no graphics or funkiness here.

I usually use Firefox (v11.0) as my browser but interestingly enough, I discover that Flash has also disappeared when I go to IE (v9), and it appears there is a different Flash for IE than there is for Firefox, depending on which browser is used to download (multiple times DAILY) the Flash installer. (?)

An interesting aspect is that after I re-install Flash, IE and/or Firefox, then later on go to Outlook and click a link in an email, Outlook gives me an error message about not being able to open the link. But if I reboot, Outlook is now fine to click on and open that same link, although Flash has again gone away.

I really love this Dell laptop but can no longer tolerate this "Flash goes away" issue. With the number of sites that use Flash these days, this "Flash going away, re-install multiple times daily" issue has gotten to the point where it needs to get resolved. If it comes down to re-installing Windoze, I will opt instead to get a Macbook and just leave Microsloth to flounder. No wonder Steve jobs hated Adobe.....

Before I visit the Apple store, can anybody provide a solution for this? Again, I love this Dell laptop and would hate to just use it as a doorstop but that is what it is coming to.

Thanks!

 

[KSoD]

iTunes not being able to install is telling me that you have corrupted the system. Most likely cause of the junk software called Iolo System Mechanic. That causes more problems than it helps. Windows comes with all the mechanic tools needed from Defrag to File Cleanup and more. There is no reason to run crap software like any "System Mechanic" which will cause unknown errors like the one you have gotten.

These programs say they are helping but when it comes to their "Registry Cleaner" aspect, they cause more harm than good and can destroy a system. That is most likely your cultprit here.

Before you go ahead and tell me you have been using Iolo for years without any issues and so on, I have been working with Windows for over 25 years now. It doesnt matter how long you use a program, all it takes is 1 time and 1 action to destroy everything. So you can easily use the same program for 30 years but that 1 time it can cause damage beyond repair.

All it takes is a Google search on System Mechanic causes problems to see that what I am saying is true and that people will say it on such sites as CNet that these programs can cause Registry Errors, like what your experiencing. Windows Vista and Windows 7 have modified the way programs work with the Registry and using anything to try and modify them will cause more system problems than help. Plus the Registry itself is nothing more than a text file. You are not going to gain any amount of speed trying to remove defunked entries when it takes any system less than a nano second to scan the registry to begin with.

So yes your best course of action will be to reinstall Windows or go back far enough in your Windows install that your dont have the System Mechanic software causing you problems. I wish you luck on which ever choice you make.

 

[squawk]

Thanks for the input. I have deleted Iolo System Mechanic from my system. But it has been on my system for far too long for me to go back to a restore point.

One thing I have not tried which I will -- I have never UNinstalled Flash from the Control Panel, just simply REinstalled it because FF or IE said it wasn't there. Probably worth a try?

Question: I think I have my original Win7 install CD around somewhere although my Dell laptop came with Win7 already on it. If I install that CD, does Windoze give you a "REPAIR" option as I seem to remember it used to, and if so, would that help?

 

[MindoverMaster]

They did have a repair install option in XP, but not since Vista. All it has is a startup repair.

Your Dell Windows 7 is OEM. You can not install a retail copy onto it. Your Windows key will not work.

 

[squawk]

Uninstalled flash, reinstalled it, rebooted. Now back to another problem I noticed -- when Flash *IS* enabled and working, then whenever I click a link in an email (Outlook 2007), I get an error; ie, "General error,URL, error in sending command to the application" and nothing happens. I have to COPY the URL and then paste it into a browser window. Does that provide any additional clues, other than general hosedness?

 

[MindoverMaster]

AFAIK, Outlook has nothing to do with flash. If it opens the links with IE, then that is your problem.

 

[squawk]

I think you misunderstood my statement. When flash is working and "installed", the "side effect" is that when I click a link in an Outlook email, OUTLOOK gives me the error and the link never opens anywhere, not in IE or FF. It may have nothing at all to do with the flash thing, but just an interesting side effect.

AFAIK, Outlook has nothing to do with flash. If it opens the links with IE, then that is your problem.

 

[KSoD]

Open up your Default Programs and make sure that either IE or Firefox is set for all their defaults. Then click on Outlook and make sure that the browser of choice is set to open HTML items. That should correct the issue with Outlook not being able to open links in emails.