Friday, January 05, 2007

Flash 9.0.28 Crashes Netscape 7.2

I've always been a non-conformist, and as such, have clung to Netscape 7.2 for probably too long. I refuse to use IE on a regular basis, and even upgrading to Netscape 8.0 or beyond is repugnant to me. Don't talk to me about Mozilla: yeah, I tried it, but Netscape 7.2 is just so... stable.

Today, a happy little window popped up on my screen to inform me that a new version of Adobe Flash was available. Without thinking, I clicked "Install", and a few seconds later, it went away. All seemed good...

...until I visited my first website with a Flash movie. Suddenly, I was presented with the Microsoft crash dialog, and I quickly pressed Dont Send. The first time it happened, I thought it was a fluke, but after several tries to multiple sites, it dawned on me that Flash was the culprit.

Using IE, I pulled up Google, and typed the words "Flash Crashes Netscape", and after looking through some false hits, found this forum where others have seen this behavior. Following a link in that forum, I was able to download Flash Player 9.0.16 from here, and the flash uninstaller from here.

I uninstalled Flash 9.0.28, installed Flash 9.0.16, and all is well again. I didn't even have to reboot! Whew!

Now do you see why I hate to upgrade? I'm keeping Netscape 7.2 as long as I can, which mean Bill Gate can pry it from my cold dead fingers. No, change that. I wont DIE for it, but I will put up a good fight! Well, maybe an argument. Okay, if Bill asks me nicely I may switch to IE, but he's gunna have to see my angry face!

13 comments:

Swinebread said...

What about firefox?

DewKid said...

What about firefox? It's a web browser, but it lacks the integrated e-mail portion. Thunderbird? Yes, except the last time I downloaded it, it was very buggy (crashed at random, lost e-mail messages, etc) Netscape 7.2 is the most stable web browser/e-mail/composer I've ever used, and I love it. :-)

The Moody Minstrel said...

That's weird. I use Thunderbird, and I haven't had any trouble with it at all! (I know you didn't want to hear that, but there it is.)

I was a dedicated Netscape user for years until apparently either someone hacked it or an upgrade went awry and screwed it up. It kept deleting all my e-mail account information at intervals including the contents of my in-box and my address book. At the same time, some of the plug-ins started crashing it on a regular basis. Uninstalling and reinstalling helped for a while, but didn't completely solve the problem. Then I tried Firefox and discovered that I liked it a bit better despite certain issues (corrected in later versions).

Interestingly, Flash kept crashing IE at the workstation I use at the school until I downloaded the latest version (of Flash)...I guess the opposite of your situation. That's odd. I wonder what the deal is with that.

DewKid said...

Well, I've since installed Thunderbird on my kid's laptops, and it seems to be working just fine. Maybe I'm remembering an old beta version that was buggy? Okay, I rescind my earlier comment.

(I still like Netscape 7.2)

:-P

The Moody Minstrel said...

Weird. I just installed the latest Java upgrade on my workstation at the school, and now Flash won't work on IE! There's nothing I can do about it, either, except maybe reinstall Flash.

That's one of the things I don't like about IE...it doesn't handle plug-ins nearly as well as Netscape or Firefox.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dewkid, I too, refuse to give up Netscape 7.2. But I am having the identical problem you had with the latest Flash Player. I also unistalled and reinstalled 7.2 and installed the version of Flash Player I had before I upgraded (causing this whole disaster.) Only thing is, it didn't work for me. Suggestions?
Many Thanks, Mcflik

DewKid said...

It sounds like you reinstalled Netscape 7.2? I don't think that will help. You need to first uninstall Flash 9.0.28, and then install Flash 9.0.16. Uninstalling is very important, because it gets rid of the problem code before you reinstall the old code.

If you try this, and it still doesn't work, I'm not sure what else to suggest. I hate it when people say "It worked for me!", but... well... It worked for me!

Let me know how it goes.

Good luck Mcflik!

DewKid said...

Oh, in case you haven't already figured it out. The installer you need is packaged inside of the Flash 9 archive. You download that, unzip it, and then you'll see all of the version 9 installers, including the one for 9.0.16. Make sure you only run the 9.0.16 installer, and you should be good. Throw the rest of them away! :-)

Anonymous said...

I use IE because I find its security settings easier to manage. Firefox and Netscape are similar in appearance in the configurations box which leads me to believe that Firefox is nothing more than a stripped down version of netscape.

DewKid said...

Firefox and Netscape both use Mozilla as their base, so your observation is accurate.

I don't like IE: its settings are much harder to manage than Netscape (which is a matter of opinion and familiarity), and it is more often the target of virus/hacks/etc. By using a Mozilla-based web browsing engine, I'm actually protecting my computer to some degree.

Of course, that's not a replacement for good virus protection software, but it definitely reduces my risk.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much!

This is exactly the problem I was having after installing 9.0.28 on my Netscape 7.2 (which I also intend to hold onto), but I also thought it was some sort of weird fluke for a while.

I'm glad I'm not alone...and I'm glad you presented me with such a simple solution. :)

Oh, sweet Flash movies...it's good to see you again...

DewKid said...

That's great, Edgar! I'm glad this post helped at least one person. I'm also glad to hear I'm not the only Netscape 7.2 holdout out there. :-)

Thanks for dropping by!

Don Snabulus said...

Opera: But what about me?

Evil Aliens from the Simpsons: HAHAHA!!! Go ahead and throw your vote away!