Uninstall Flash

To manually uninstall the ActiveX control

  1. Quit Internet Explorer, if it is open.

  2. From the Start menu, choose Search> Files or Folders and search for flash.ocx (if you are removing Macromedia Flash Player 6) or swflash.ocx (if you are removing Macromedia Flash Player 5 or earlier).

Note: The name of the ActiveX control changed with version 6 to "flash.ocx". See Windows XP error installing Macromedia Flash Player ActiveX control (TechNote 16178) for details.

  1. Note the path to the file. The path is typically: C:\Windows\System\Macromed\Flash on Windows 95, 98 or WinME; C:\WinNT\System32\Macromed\Flash on Windows NT or 2000; C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash on Windows XP.

    If more than one copy of the file is found, note the paths to all copies of the file.

  2. Select Start> Run. In the Open field, enter the following command:

    regsvr32 {path}{filename} /u

    Replace {path} with the path to the filename noted from step 3. Replace {filename} with the filename noted from step 2.

    For example, if you're uninstalling the Macromedia Flash Player 6 ActiveX control on Windows 2000, the path would be:

    regsvr32 C:\WinNT\System32\Macromed\Flash\flash.ocx /u

  3. Click OK. You should get a RegSvr32 dialog box stating that the executable succeeded. If it failed, double check the path and file name for your system.

  4. Select Start> Find Files or Folders and enter flash.ocx (if you are removing Macromedia Flash Player 6) or swflash.ocx (if you are removing Macromedia Flash Player 5).

  5. Right-click on the found file and choose Delete from the context (right-click) menu. If more than one copy of the file exists, delete each one.

  6. Search for swflash.inf using Windows Find utility (Start > Find > Files or Folders). This file is used during the installation of the Macromedia Flash Player ActiveX control. Right-click on the file and choose Delete. Restart the machine.

regsvr32 c:\winnt\system32\macromed\flash\flash.ocx /u