How To Install Adobe Flash Player Without Admin Rights

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We have a bunch of computers in our office that the users don't have admin rights to. I can very easily deploy flash using the MSI distribution, but what we have found is that flash will then want to update to a new version when it comes out & it prompts the user to do the update. When they do that, it completely breaks flash. Is there any way to modify the MSI or something to BLOCK that pop-up from coming through on each computer? Or, is there some sort of access rights that I can give specifically for flash so that they can update their own flash players if they click on that? (I would still deploy the updates, but just in case)

Please let me know what others of you are doing for Adobe Flash. All my computers are Windows XP.

Here is an article about auto-update notifications. I haven't tested it yet.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/167/16701594.html

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akp982 is an IT service provider.

/qn should be the silent commands then use something like psexec or purgos to deploy it?

Rivitir

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Mar 10, 2011 at 11:23 UTC

Deploy the MSI via GPO. Also make sure you get a annual license (its free... just a waste of time) and you won't have this issue.

Do the same with reader and you can disable it's update.

Then for either when an update comes out simply remove and deploy the new version. Very easy and simple.

Rivitir wrote:

Deploy the MSI via GPO. Also make sure you get a annual license (its free... just a waste of time) and you won't have this issue.

Do the same with reader and you can disable it's update.

Then for either when an update comes out simply remove and deploy the new version. Very easy and simple.

Rivitir, this is what I do, but if we don't deploy the latest one the minute it comes out, users can prompted to update it on login - then they click update & it breaks everything. Then there is no way to re-deploy it, you have to go & uninstall it manually & install it.

I am deploying flash updates via MS System Center Configuration Manager. It runs the update under the computer system account and is normally unattended. Here is the command line it actually runs.

msiexec.exe /q ALLUSERS=2 /m MSIWCYDP /i "install_flash_player_10_active_x.msi"

I've had it pop up on a few users, but usually it runs silently. Here is a link to a Technet article on msiexec. I've found that the .msi still has to be programmed correctly to accept the /QN and other switches.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc759262(WS.10).aspx

I've also been able to edit some packages using OCRA to modify things, but have not had to for flash player.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370557(v=vs.85).aspx

I hope that helps some.

deleted this post, sorry I forgot this script only affected Adobe Reader updates

The install being silent isn't the issue - I am using a GPO to deploy it & that works great. It is just that Adobe has their updater built into the MSI, so that when there is an update, they get prompted to update it. So:

1) Is there a way to block that update, knowing that I cannot do command lines at the GPO installer

2) What access would I have to grant my users to be able to install the update for JUST Adobe Flash player? (and is there a way to script giving those permissions)

Thanks

Ryan_w wrote:

I've also been able to stop Adobe from checking for updates by running this command on each computer. You should be able to add it into your GPO.

reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM" /v "iCheck" /t REG_DWORD /d "00000000" /f

REM *** Registry Entry to set Adobe Updater to not check for updates ***

reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM" /v "iCheck" /t REG_DWORD /d "00000000" /f

REM *** Registry Entry to set Adobe Updater to not check for updates ***

reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM" /v "iCheck" /t REG_DWORD /d "00000000" /f

This is helpful - how would I add this to a GPO?

Sorry I forgot that was just for Adobe Reader updates. I'm checking now to see if I am blocking flash ones.

Wow, this is much worse than I thought. I've been wanting to block those update notifications on flash in my environment for a while, but never took the time to look into it, since it was not breaking anything for us.

It appears that the setting is stored for each user in their roaming appdata as a file called settings.sol which is some kind of database. So far the only way I have found to edit it is by using Adobe's website to access their Global Configuration Manager. Here is a link to that. http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager05.html

I think you might be able to set it on one computer and then deploy the entire settings.sol file using a login script. I have not tried it yet, but will when my time permits. On my Windows 7 system the file is located under %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Macromedia\Flash Player\macromedia.com\support\flashplayer\sys

Rivitir

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Mar 10, 2011 at 14:07 UTC

Rusty4508 wrote:

Rivitir wrote:

Deploy the MSI via GPO. Also make sure you get a annual license (its free... just a waste of time) and you won't have this issue.

Do the same with reader and you can disable it's update.

Then for either when an update comes out simply remove and deploy the new version. Very easy and simple.

Rivitir, this is what I do, but if we don't deploy the latest one the minute it comes out, users can prompted to update it on login - then they click update & it breaks everything. Then there is no way to re-deploy it, you have to go & uninstall it manually & install it.

Strange that I have not run into this.

I have used the manual offline install package with scheduled tasks to install/update the flash player. Steps are basically as such:

1. Dowload the manual installer at http://fpdownload.adobe.com/get/flashplayer/current/install_flash_player_ax.exe

2. Save it to a network location.

3. Run "\\servername\filepath\install_flash_player_ax.exe -install" through a scheduled task that runs as a local admin.

For more informaton about downloading and using the manual installer, read the section "Download Flash Player With the Manual Installer" on this page: http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/191/tn_19166.html

Here is an article about auto-update notifications. I haven't tested it yet.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/167/16701594.html

Robert Wilson wrote:

Here is an article about auto-update notifications. I haven't tested it yet.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/167/16701594.html

I knew there had to be an easier way, thanks! I am going to try this out.

Adobe annoys me with all of their updates. It's constant. I really wish they'd create an Adobe version of WSUS to update all of their products at night, quietly, and with only minimal input from me. But alas.

In my environment, I push out the current version via GPO. When my users start to tell me that they're being prompted to perform an update, I go get the new update and republish it via GPO. Rinse and repeat. I haven't noticed any problems with it not uninstalling the old version if a user attempts to update it themselves. (Then again, 96% of my users know to not even bother trying since they know that they can't install ANYTHING on their computers with my help.)

SteveP

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Apr 1, 2011 at 14:11 UTC

We use Desktop Authority from Scriptlogic to run our logon scripts and deploy most software updates at logon or logoff. It allows us to run the install at administrator level. I download Flash from the following links.

For IE:

http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_player_10_active_x.msi

For other browsers:

http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/win/install_flash_player_10_plugin.msi

We typically use AutoIT to run the install then modify the mms.cfg file to stop the auto updates.

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