TechNote

Safe versions security restrictions when installing Flash Player (Internet Explorer on Windows)

Issue

If you previously installed a version of Flash Player for Internet Explorer, then you may be prevented from installing an earlier version. For example, if you installed Flash Player 10.0.32.18 and attempted to install version 10.0.22.87, then the installation would fail. In some versions the following error messageis displayed:

"The version of Adobe Flash Player ActiveX that you are trying to install is not the most current version".

Reason

This issue is due to registry key settings applied by the Flash Player security model. The restriction is to prevent users from downgrading Flash Player minor versions. The minor version of Flash Player is the third set of numbers in the version name. For example, the minor version for Flash Player 10.0.32.18 would be 32. If Flash Player 10.0.32.18 was installed and you attempted to install 10.0.22.87 (minor version 22), then the installation would fail.

Solution

To resolve this issue, download the uninstaller for Flash Player from "How to uninstall the Adobe Flash Player plug-in and ActiveX control" (TechNote tn_14157).

Click Start > Run.
Type cmd in the Open box, and then press Enter.
In the command window, type the following:

uninstall_flash_player.exe /clean

Note: The uninstall_flash_player.exe file must be saved to the same directory that the command window is in (for example C:\).

Additional Information

If you are still having trouble installing Flash Player, please see "Troubleshooting Adobe Flash Player installation for Windows" (TechNote tn_19166).