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My computer came with Adobe Flash and Reader installed on it. I was trying to view a video one day that said I needed Adobe Air to view so I started the download and viewed the video. Later on Adobe Air said it needed to be updated so I clicked OK, but the update hung and would not finish.

After that my Flash player said it needed to update and did the same thing. I tried to remove both Adobe Air and Flash, Flash said it uninstalled successfully but Air said

An error occurred while uninstalling Adobe AIR. Uninstallation may not be allowed by your administrator. Please contact your administrator.

I reinstalled Adobe Flash and it has shown a message that I have a newer version of Flash already installed. But anytime I try to view a video or play a game that requires the Flash player, I get an error message saying I need to download the Flash player or I need to update the Flash player. I have tried both and still get the same messages. I have contacted Adobe, they haven't answered yet.

How can I remove Adobe Air and fix my Flash player?


A summary of events:

  1. My computer came with Adobe Flash and Adobe Reader.

  2. Installed Adobe Air; later on, I have let it update itself but the updater hung.

  3. An update of Flash did also hung.

  4. Removed Flash successfully, Adobe Air's removal failed with above error.

  5. Upon reinstalling Flash, it incorrectly detects a newer version of Flash Player is present.

A summary of the current state of the system:

  • Adobe Air is still present because it fails to uninstall due to above reror

  • Adobe Flash can't install because it thinks a newer version is present, which isn't the case.

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    Have you tried any cleanup tools by Adobe? Flash uninstaller seems to be handy to be sure it's not present on your system, make sure to run it as administrator. As for Adobe Air; download the latest installer, start a command prompt as administrator and navigate to the folder where you downloaded that installer, then run AdobeAIRInstaller.exe -uninstall Jan 2, 2013 at 19:36

2 Answers 2

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Here is the Adobe page that supplies their Flash uninstaller and directions on how to run it.

Here is the Adobe Air troubleshooting page that also discusses how to uninstall the app.

I'd recommend (you seem to be trying this but I'll say it anyway) completely uninstalling both and then reinstalling. If you need to uninstall Reader as well you can look here.

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  • I can uninstall the flash player, but until I get the AIR uninstalled I will keep having the problem. I have tried the AIR uninstaller, but it keeps giving me the error saying I have to contact the Administrator. Since I am the only one on this computer I am the admin, so I dont know what else to try to get it uninstalled. Jan 2, 2013 at 21:46
  • I tried the suggested sites above but still the the error. How can I uninstall as an administrator? That seems to be the only way to solve the problem and I do not know how to uninstall as an administrator. Jan 2, 2013 at 22:04
  • @davidflynn: I've commented before on your question (see above these answers), have you tried the -uninstall method? And did you actually try the Flash uninstaller? The goal of it is not to do the uninstall again but instead to clean anything that stuck behind. Jan 2, 2013 at 22:14
  • What OS are you running? If it's Win7 then right click on the program you're getting the error on and select 'Run As Administrator'
    – BobT
    Jan 3, 2013 at 1:27
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I would suggest using a tool like Revo Uninstaller. While the standard way of uninstalling a program works 99% of the time, some elements may get left behind which need to be manually removed. Revo helps find these elements.

Afterwards, you could also try using CCleaner to check the registry for left over bits and pieces.

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    While I didn't downvote you; it should be noted that Revo Uninstaller most likely will not work for Flash player since its uninstaller is no longer present, and I don't know how well it will respond to an uninstaller that doesn't manage to uninstall the program. Also, since the intrusive nature; using Revo Uninstaller can sometimes do more bad than good, so I would advise to try Adobe's clean-up methods first and use Revo Uninstaller as a last resort. CCleaner's registry cleaner has the same intrusive nature, although it has improved over the years. But both methods don't know what Adobe did. Jan 2, 2013 at 19:43

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