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Resolved Question

Possible system-wide errors with Adobe Flash

Jul 2, 2012 9:47AM PDT

I've been having a recurring problem the past few days and I believe I've narrowed the problem down to Adobe Flash... although I am surprised at the level of glitches it's placed on my whole computer.

Anyway, what happens is whatever window I'm working on will suddenly freeze. I'll get various errors in other open windows such as random "file not accessible" messages, icons will go invisible (including the "Start" in the Start menu), programs will error when trying to even load up if at all (sometimes clicking on program icons causes literally nothing to happen), the 'pinned' programs in my Start menu will vanish, the Task Manager will fail to open (giving me an error message), the system will refuse to Shut down (saying I "do not have authorization to shut down") and will revert to the classic "Shut down window" look where the options are in a drop-down menu, and other programs that use the internet to connect will suddenly lose their connection.

The past few days I was stumped as to what was happening, but today it happened whilst browsing in Firefox, where all Flash plugins crashed and the various errors began. At first I thought maybe my video card was acting up. But to my surprise, closing Firefox actually remedied everything. I then tried to do it again using Google Chrome. Within a minute or two, the Flash plugin again crashed and the problems recurred. Only this time, closing Chrome did not remedy it and I had to restart my PC.

I'm currently trying to get it to happen again to test whether or not the problem is with Flash or with my web browsers, but it has not happened yet. Any help in this matter would be ridiculously appreciated. Anytime my computer starts to error randomly and beyond my control causes me to panic due to previous bad experiences. Thanks very much.

I am running Windows XP SP3
Dell XPS 410
Adobe Flash v.11.3.300.262

Discussion is locked

TheAnt317 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Then the acid test.
Jul 3, 2012 2:27AM PDT

Uninstall ALL things Flash.

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Acid Test
Jul 3, 2012 5:20AM PDT

Is spot on.

Flash is a program that XP does not need to run properly. So removing it, when it is acting badly, should/would not break XP system. Flash is an optional program, not one that XP needs to run.

If help is needed on how to remove, come back here for that. Let us know if uninstalling flash does it for you.

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Complete change of gears
Jul 3, 2012 7:47AM PDT

Well it happened again today and I can now safely presume that the problem is NOT Flash - it is with my video card. While using the computer as normal again, I noticed that graphics and text were suddenly going blank and within a few seconds, I got a BSOD with the culprit being "nv4_disp.dll." Now, I know there is a possibility that the video card/driver is not the real issue and merely crashed as a result of another process, but it seems more likely with the way that the on-screen graphics randomly go blank/white.

My video card:
nVidia GEForce 9500 GT, driver version 301.42

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Without age and more story I suggest
Jul 3, 2012 8:01AM PDT

You do what the tech does at the shops.

1. Open up the PC and pull out that 9500 card.
2. Inspect it for the BAD CAPS issue (same for motherboard.) And replace the BAD CAPS if it's just on the video card. Cost is under 10 bucks and takes about 10 minutes tops.
3. Now hit the card and heatsinks with canned air (card and PC) then pull the heatsink off the video card, wipe off the old compound. It does not have to be spotless of old compound and drop fresh compound on and re-assemble.
4. Install the refreshed video card into the PC and use your experience to judge if the PSU and cooling is up to the job then return the PC to the customer with your assessment.

Bob

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Thanks Bob!
Jul 7, 2012 1:53PM PDT

I too have been plagued with the NVIDIA/FLASH/BSOD issue, I'm running current drivers for my 9500 GT(ver 301.42) and latest flash player. I tried rolling back video drivers and problem followed. Every 2 months I'll remove pc covers and blow all the dust out, use my paintbrush on fan blades and heatsinks...never really thought of having to check the thermal compound between chip and heatsink. So I pulled heatsink off and sure enough, compound was DRY and BRITTLE! I applied a fresh film between chip and heatsink, put back in pc and have yet had a flash freeze, stoppage or BSOD

Thanks again for the tip.

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Should've known
Jul 8, 2012 1:33PM PDT

Well without going into as much detail as you suggested, I did get some canned air. Sure enough, there was a noticeable amount of dust in the video card's fan and heatsink. After blowing all of it out and giving it a few days, I haven't had any problems.

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To members S and T !!!
Jul 8, 2012 1:44PM PDT

Thanks for the update. As a parting tip, I suggest this canned air to be a yearly event.

Thanks again!
Bob

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Same Problem FINALLY SOLVED!!
Jul 7, 2012 1:44PM PDT

Hello, I too have been plaqued with this exact problem...Flash videos: play for 2-5 seconds then stop or even BSOD. I'm on the 9500 GT as well. I'm running latest version of NVIDIA drivers, Flash...etc..still BSOD on Flash videos. I tried rolling back drivers...Problem followed..So i decided to pull videocard out of pc and check it out. When i removed the 2 screws holding the cooling fan/unit, I noticed the thermal compound that is supposed to transfer the heat from chip to heatsink was DRY and BRITTLE!!..No transferof heat from chip to heatsink. So I scraped off the mortar and applied a fresh film of thermal compound between chip and heatsink and put back in PC. I've been stress testing PC with youtube, Liveleak Flash videos and have yet had a single freeze, stoppage or BSOD. So I'm *assuming* that all NVIDIA videocards are possibly using the same thermal compound for heat transfer and it's dried up and is overheating on Flash use and causing BSOD. Before you remove your cooling fan/heatsink from videocard, be sure to have thermal compound on hand. You can purchase thermal compound from your local pc shop(best buy/office max...etc) for around $10

Hope this helps others with Nvidia/Flash/BSOD probs

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10 bucks is a great deal.
Jul 7, 2012 3:43PM PDT

Thanks for the story.

If I had a nickel for how many times, I'd be on a Harley...

Thanks for the story!
Bob

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Answer
Did you try this common thing/setting? Google this!
Jul 2, 2012 12:09PM PDT

"Disable Flash Hardware Acceleration"

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Yes
Jul 2, 2012 11:54PM PDT

I've had that set for a very long time.

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Answer
There is also
Jul 2, 2012 10:19PM PDT

a problem with Adobe's Flash and the Firefox browser version 13, but it appears limited to Flash and Firefox, not to any other browsers and not to Windows in General.

The story starts with Carol's post here; http://forums.cnet.com/7726-6132_102-5323483.html

Then click the "Click here" just above the post to be taken to the full discussion, find Carol's post again, (post 11 as I type this), to read the developments.

See if that helps.

Mark

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Hmm
Jul 3, 2012 12:00AM PDT

This article seems a bit old and my Firefox is up to date. Like I said, the problems seem to affect my entire system, but this article talks about problems with Firefox crashing. That's not the case for me.