We have IE 6. Say a user goes to MSN.com. The ad on the right is a Flash object. Some of our users will see that object flickering when scrolling up or down on the page or when hovering their mouse over it. It's quite annoying. Almost all users are running Adobe Flash Player 9, but I think I've seen this happen on systems with Macromedia Flash Player 8 as well. Other systems don't have the problem. I've seen this happen on one system and not another while both seemed to have the same Flash objects installed.

Uninstalling all Flash players using Adobe's prescribed Flash Player uninstall tool seems to work at first, but users later complain again. Note that they just about always end up installing Flash Player 9 again, because sites ask for it. I don't believe I've seen this on any XP systems at all, including my own, but most of our users have Win2K.

Does anybody know why this happens or how to permanently fix it?

Thanks,
Hotshot309

More info: Adobe Flash Player 9, Macromedia Flash Player 8, and Macromedia Flash Player 10 all produce the same result--Flash objects that flicker when you put your mouse over any part of them. Moving Flash objects will flicker constantly while moving and stop flickering when the animation is done. SWF files (at least the one at www.stormwerks.com/linked/stuf/AYB2.swf) work without a problem when using Adobe Flash Player 9.

If I don't have Adobe Flash Player 9 installed, the Win2K machines prompt me to install them for almost any site that uses Flash (I guess most recent Flash objects cannot be viewed with the older Macromedia Flash Players).

Any suggestions?

Why not try using Firefox with an embedded multimedia player?Or increase safety precautions in IE?

Thanks for the reply, fozzie.

I don't believe we can or will change our standard browser from IE to anything else; we probably don't have that kind of flexibility with the specialized client sites and applications we work with. Also, that would be a new program to have users learn--potentially less secure than IE (though it's debatable) without a good reason, as far as I can tell. There is clearly a way to make IE work properly with Adobe Flash Player 9 on Windows 2000 machines, as many users don't have problems using the two together--I just am not sure of where exactly the issue lies on other systems.

What settings are you talking about increasing security on? We have to be careful and allow users the flexibility to work. Also, it is a law firm with lots of time-sensitive things going on, so forcing a user to close all their work and log off so that someone else can log on and install an ActiveX control in their browser is not practical. As a result, we have ActiveX controls set to prompt before installing, and users know (usually) to call us before installing. In the case of Adobe Flash Player 9, if they don't install it, they can't view many pages properly, so we don't have much choice there.

We actually just had another user come up with the flickering problem who apparently did not have the flickering issue before, on the same computer he's been using. It's confusing, and I haven't noticed a pattern with the Flash Player(s) installed on systems where everything is fine vs. what's installed on systems with the flickering issue. All of our Windows 2000 users (some of whom have the issue) are running IE 6.0.2800.1106. I have not seen any XP machines with the flickering issue at all.

On one test machine I that I know has the issue, I removed and reinstalled IE 6 and a few different Flash Players, but the problem persists. Mystifying, isn't it?

I did some research on the subject. I assume that all the users have more or less "imaged computers " i.e. same programmes and they are barely allowed to download add ons for browsers which could conflict with the setup.

What kind of safety features are installed of the machines in terms of firewalls?

In IE under extra internet options I want to take a look at the following :

1) Listing of all ActiveX controls (lower radio button)?
2) Which version of Java is installed on those machines?
3) Which version of DirextX is installed?

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately, I think the answers to these questions vary slightly per machine, which is part of what makes it so difficult to troubleshoot. Most probably don't have Java installed at all. The test Win2K machine I had been using, which was experiencing the flickering issue, now has a fried hard drive. If I gather more info that may help, I will post it.

We'd thought maybe it was isolated to a single Ghost image we use (plus changes, of course) of Dell's GX240 desktop machine, but I've seen it crop up on an HP/Compaq machine since then. I can see if the image for the old Dells is bad, however, once I put a new drive in the fried machine and restore the Ghost image we've been using.

I set up a test system with a fresh Ghost image that we've used on our Dell GX240s since we got them back in '02 or so. It's got Windows 2000 plus some basic software, including Adobe Reader 6.0. I then applied all Windows updates and installed Adobe Flash Player 9.0.28.0. Flash objects did not flicker in IE 6 at this point.

After installing GoToMyPC (either the version from 12-06 or the 2-07 version), the flickering would return. It would be present only when GoToMyPC is running as a service, which is how we have it set up on our users' systems.

I've also tried installing (one at a time) several versions of Acrobat Professional and Reader on the system. So far, the only version I've tried that worked with GoToMyPC and apparently eliminated the flickering of Flash objects in IE 6 was Adobe Reader 8. When Reader 8 was removed, the flickering returned.

This is certainly not an issue caused solely by GoToMyPC and Flash Player, because another system I saw (an HP/Compaq Evo) runs GoToMyPC as a service with Adobe Flash Player 9 (and Acrobat 7.0.x) and does not experience the flickering.

Fozzie to answer your questions:

1) Windows Firewall is turned off for XP machines, but XP machines aren't experiencing the flickering. I didn't think Win2K machines had Windows Firewall available, but if they do, it is turned off.

2) If any ActiveX controls are installed, it's normally Adobe Flash Player 9.0.x.x. Some people also have Shockwave player or Macromedia Flash Player 8. Many users also have other proprietary IE plugins so that they can access very sites and document viewers.

3) Java is installed on a handful of the systems, but the versions vary (version 5 and above). I have seen Java installed on systems that are having the issue, but not all systems with the issue have Java installed.

4) DirectX is not installed on any of these machines. I found that installing it actually removes the flickering while GoToMyPC is running. We're considering putting DirectX on everyone's system but need to make sure no undesireable side effects could occur before we do that.

I have told GoToMyPC that DirectX 9.0 removes the problem, which they say they will add to their knowledgebase. I also found that having Adobe Reader 8 on the system alongside GoToMyPC removes the flickering issue, though I'm not sure why. I assume Acrobat 8 might also help, but I don't have the software to try.

Is anybody getting use out of this thread? Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Where do I get DirectX. I thought it was part of the standard installation for Windows or IE. Anyway, mine just started doing it a couple days ago. I have an old Win98, first edition. I think it started when I upgraded to Flash9, and the Flash site says Flash7 is the highest one that Win98 can handle. But if you try to get Flash7 from the site, it tries to download Flash9 instead, no matter what! I finally found Flash7 on a developers page (for checking backwards compatibility), uninstalled 9, and reinstalled 7, but the problem is still there! Any help would be appreciated.

~Owen in Santa Fe

I had the same problem on my computer for about 4 months. I was sick and tired of asking questions and getting no solutions. One day, I decided to upgrade DirectX to the latest build. After the update, I ran dxdiag and found a missing component on the second tab where it lists all the DirectX DLLs and system files it uses. I downloaded the DLL I was missing and the flickering STOPPED. So yes, if your flickering issue is the same as mine was, then it is certainly related to DirectX. Maybe you're missing a DirectX file, or maybe many files, in any case, download the latest build from Microsoft, and then check dxdiag and see if there are any missing files on the second tab. Then find those files and place them in the system32 folder. It may require you to register the missing DLLs after you download them. So run command:
regsvr32 <dll file name>.dll.
It will either say it cannot register this dll for whatever reason, or it will say DLL registered - either way, it can't hurt. Hope this helps.

I have been looking for a fix for this for about 3 months now. Our company uses GoToMyPC as well but never put 2 and 2 together.

The DirectX update worked for our PCs that were having this problem!!!

Thanx