How and Why to Update Flash Player for Browser Regularly

What is Flash Player?

Flash is Adobe proprietary software or platform for delivering multimedia content like videos, audio, rich graphics, in multimedia applications and web browsers. Flash Player is basically a browser plugin that is used to run flash based content in your browser. Flash Player is available in two versions:

Flash Player IE

Flash Player Non-IE

Flash Player IE is only for Internet Explorer browser and Flash Player Non-IE is for other browsers that includes Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, Safari etc. So you must be very careful on choosing which flash player you want to install for your browser.

Flash Player Vs. Shockwave Player

Adobe has two different kinds of player to display different types of flash content.

Flash player is used to run or display flash content that is created with Flash Professional CS5. This content includes web based applications, website user interfaces, interactive online advertising or flash based ads, and rich Internet applications (RIAs) created using Flex.

Shockwave player is used to run or display content created with Adobe Director 11.5. This includes content like high-performance multiuser games, interactive 3D product simulations, online entertainment, and training applications.

Download Adobe Shockwave Player

How to Install Flash Player?

There are two types of methods to install flash player on your browser which are discussed below:

Online Method to Install Flash Player

The online method involves going to the Flash Player link and the follow the instructions to install flash player in your browser.

Install Flash Player Online

Offline Method to Install Flash Player

In this method you can install the flash player from its complete offline setup or offline installer package. You do not need to go online when you are installing the flash player from its offline setup / installer. You can download the latest offline installer of flash player from the websites that are mentioned below:-

Websites to Download Flash Player Offline Installer

Download Flash Player Offline Installer from FileHippo

Download Flash Player Offline Installer from FileHorse

What if you do not have Flash Player Installed?

If you do not have Flash Player installed in your browser then you will not be able to run flash content in your browser. This includes video streaming, audio, flash animation and graphics etc.

How to Un-install Flash Player?

Sometimes a problem arises when you have to un-install the previous version of flash player before installing a newer version. To uninstall a flash player you will need Flash Player Uninstaller, which you can download from the link below.

Download Flash player Uninstaller

Why to update Flash Player Regularly?

Here are some reasons on why you should update your flash player regularly whenever a new version arises.

Security and Bug Fixes

Flash Player plug-in can be vulnerable to loopholes and are attacked or exploited by hackers time to time. So to keep your browser and computer safe from any vulnerability, you should regularly update your browser flash player whenever a new version is released by the adobe. The flash player automatic updater will notify you regarding the new version, so that you can update it. Every new version of flash player is released with improved security and bug fixes.

Performance Enhancement

Improved performance and stability is another advantage that you will get by updating to a new version of flash player. Some old flash players may have serious issues with performance. This can cause serious lags in the performance of your browser. Also some older versions of flash players can very unstable, which can make your CPU usage very high. This can result in high increase of your CPU temperature and will result in slower performance of your computer, which may cause damage to CPU if the overheating is not tackled at the right time.