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Adobe Flash, Shockwave, and Oracle Java on XP (Part 2)


Dave-H

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RIP Flash, you had a very good run!
:yes:
I'm expecting that the Patch Tuesday update for Windows 8.1 and 10 also due on January 12th (no coincidence I'm sure) will automatically completely remove Flash from those operating systems.
It will be interesting to see if it removes Flash from non-MS browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome as well, I'm hoping not.
:)

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32 minutes ago, Dave-H said:

RIP Flash, you had a very good run!
:yes:
I'm expecting that the Patch Tuesday update for Windows 8.1 and 10 also due on January 12th (no coincidence I'm sure) will automatically completely remove Flash from those operating systems.
It will be interesting to see if it removes Flash from non-MS browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome as well, I'm hoping not.
:)

Although I find it difficult to answer when we are OT you can manually download from the Microsoft Update Catalog for the KB4577586 specific to your needs.
It will remove Flash from the OS.:yes:

 

For browsers you need an update of the browser version, the Flash item is always present.

Edited by Sampei.Nihira
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7 hours ago, Dave-H said:

I'm expecting that the Patch Tuesday update for Windows 8.1 and 10 also due on January 12th (no coincidence I'm sure) will automatically completely remove Flash from those operating systems.

As my dear Italian friend :) mentioned, only the ActiveX version of Flash (e.g. for IE) will be removed via Windows Update in Win > 7; Microsoft Edge (Chromium based) will, no doubt, be updated to a Flash-free version at that same time...

6 hours ago, Sampei.Nihira said:

It will be interesting to see if it removes Flash from non-MS browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome as well, I'm hoping not.

NPAPI and PPAPI Flash versions manually installed by the user will have to be also uninstalled manually, but, if your OS is compatible, future browser updates (Mozilla Firefox and the numerous Chromium variants) will come with Flash supporting code completely removed...

Of note is the fact that MCP browsers (Pale Moon, Basilisk) and forks will not drop support, but this fact will become a moot point after Jan 12th (unless user downgrades to NPAPI Flash <=32.0.0.71, to satisfy whatever niche needs...).

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@VistaLover

Adobe Flash 32.0.0.371 certainly has too many security bugs.

In my opinion the best way to go is that of Ruffle for those browsers that allow the installation of web extensions:

 

https://www.ghacks.net/2020/12/17/how-to-play-flash-content-in-your-browser-in-2021/

In a comment a user also informs about the BlueMaxima project.

As I had already written in previous pages of this thread there is also the Lightspark option:

http://lightspark.github.io/

Edited by Sampei.Nihira
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4 hours ago, Sampei.Nihira said:

Adobe Flash 32.0.0.371 certainly has too many security bugs.

In my opinion the best way to go is that of Ruffle for those browsers that allow the installation of web extensions

So, Ruffle is written in Rust and AFAIK all Rust applications require SSE2 capable system...

Thanks, but no thanks. I'll keep my flawed Flash player instead of throwing my PC in the trash and spending on a newer one!

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22 hours ago, Sampei.Nihira said:

I wouldn't touch that.


There's an EOL timestamp in recent versions of Flash Player. It can be altered so latest Flash Player continues to work as usual.

Find a hexadecimal string 000040463E6F7742 in NPSFWXX_32_0_0_465.dll (XX = bitness, either 32 or 64) with a hex editor, replace it with eg. 0000C02055148042, that will just change the year from 2021 to 2040. It's a unique string, so only one will be found as long as you got the right file. The string represents time elapsed since Unix epoch in milliseconds, stored as 64-bit double precision float number (no fractional part).

The DLLs are in:

  • C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash - 64-bit Flash on 64-bit OS or 32-bit Flash on 32-bit OS
  • C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash - 32-bit Flash on 64-bit OS

This is for NPAPI version, but should be doable with PPAPI and ActiveX versions as well, though I haven't tried those. Doing this obviously invalidates the digital signature on the DLL. Pale Moon (and probably other browsers) doesn't mind. I wonder if Flash app could check it. :dubbio:

Also, PE checksum is invalidated, but that can be fixed with certain tools. I think there's a high probability that altering Flash binaries doesn't cause any side effects beyond what modifications you did achieve.

Edited by UCyborg
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On 1/4/2021 at 12:44 AM, Sampei.Nihira said:

I checked it out. Looks like Adobe is making a special version for China. Digitally signed by Adobe dated November 25th. After installation, it opens a site with a Chinese game, most likely made in Flash. In addition to Flash, some kind of FlashHelperService is installed, with a Chinese signature, registered in the task scheduler.

Flash.png

But you won't be able to use it, writes the message "This version of FlashPlayer is not supported in your region."

not-naming.jpg

Edited by ED_Sln
Added.
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On 1/4/2021 at 11:06 AM, UCyborg said:

The string represents time elapsed since Unix epoch in milliseconds, stored as 64-bit double precision float number (no fractional part).

How to calculate this value having a normal date? I tried this page Epoch Converter but it's only milliseconds there.

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My Flash-based screen savers have all stopped working now, on Windows XP and Windows 10.
They are now just showing a Flash logo with a blue "i" symbol, which presumably would go to information about what's happened if you could actually click on it!
I'm pleased to say that so far, the standalone Flash Player on XP is still opening and playing .swf files quite happily.
Whether this will last remains to be seen of course.
:)

EDIT: I now see that the standalone "projector" players (only) are still available to download from Adobe, so maybe this will be OK long term.

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1 hour ago, Dave-H said:

I'm pleased to say that so far, the standalone Flash Player on XP is still opening and playing .swf files quite happily.
Whether this will last remains to be seen of course.
:)

Well, that's good to know! :)

On a side note, I just noticed that you've become a moderator, so congratulations for the promotion, Dave! :D

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