Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2018 April 5

= April 5 =

what things use adobe flash?
Hi, I was getting bsod's every 5 minutes, and not sure what was causing it, but I thought the simplest first guess was Adobe Flash Player. Not to cast aspersions, I just thought it would be the easiest to fix (crashes were happening trying to watch a youtube vid, and occurring repeatedly, although with different error messages each time). I've uninstalled Flash, but now Youtube still works fine, so it's dawned on me, I don't know if I was ever using Flash. So which websites/things would be likely to use it? Note that I've asked before about my bsod's here; this one is related, but specific to Flash. If you have advice on why I might get a huge range of different bsods every 5 minutes from watching a Youtube vid, please also share it. Much appreciate the advice, thanks in advance, IBE (talk) 19:24, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I do not think that we can add much more than what was already said in the discussion that you linked to. Ruslik_ Zero 19:33, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Ok, but others might - not expecting it, but just a heads up about the reason for the question. My question here is first and foremost to check whether my browser (or anything on my computer) was even using Adobe Flash in the first place. If not, then that cannot have been the problem. If so, perhaps it was - the crashing was happening when watching Youtube, and now has stopped at least for the time being. It was every 5-10 minutes for a harrowing hour or so, and now I've uninstalled, I can watch Youtube in peace, or at least I did a moment ago. No bsod's since this morning, computer idle for about 8 hours switched on, active for a few hours now. The question is primarily about Flash; the other is an extra, on the off-chance only. IBE (talk) 19:39, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Update, another bsod recently, so not solved, but not nearly as bad as it was before. IBE (talk) 22:15, 5 April 2018 (UTC)


 * You were probably using flash very little. Some browsers don't even support it anymore, so not many sites still use it. Some sites that specialize in browser games like Newgrounds still have some flash games. (example)
 * As for your BSODs, here are some random ideas :
 * 1) Are you overclocking your computer? If so, stop. Obvious, I know, but you'd be surprised how many overclockers insist that's not what's causing their problem.
 * 2) The fact that it mostly happens when watching YouTube makes me suspect either video drivers, or a dodgy video decoding codex. Either could cause serious issues.
 * 3) A virus is always a possibility. Whichever virus scanner you're using. Try a different one.
 * 4) Use the windows log viewer (Press Windows key, then type "View Event Logs") to try to debug the problem. Under "Windows Logs/System", there should be a whole bunch of events.  Look for "Error" events that happen right before the system crashes. There will probably be an "Unexpected shutdown" event, so look at whatever event comes immediately before that one.
 * Hope some part of this rambling post helps. ApLundell (talk) 01:32, 6 April 2018 (UTC)


 * Hey, thanks, that's what i was beginning to suspect about flash. As for the other things, thanks, actually very clear. I don't overclock, but it doesn't seem to be the cpu, because I can hear when it goes to 100%. It makes a huge racket, the fan going crazy, and I've checked the actual speed using task manager, and the two go together (100% cpu and loud noise as the fan goes crazy). I'm looking into issues like the others: video drivers (even video hardware), viruses/malware, and logs viewer. None of these seem terribly transparent, but Malwarebytes and Macafee haven't found anything. I'll try all of those more before getting back to the ref desk. If it was pure hardware, eg. faulty RAM, does anyone know some good diagnostics? IBE (talk) 21:22, 6 April 2018 (UTC)
 * The windows logs are the first thing you should analyse. But if it "makes a huge racket, the fan going crazy" it is probably overheating, also the processor should not go 100% very often, and the fan is possibly worn out / full of dust and should be replaced. Did you remark any temporal relation between "going 100%" and "bsod"? (a real bsod by the way? with blue screen and all? I thought they don't exist any more after XP. A bsod was more often than not a problem with 1) overheating or 2) a defective memory chip) 194.174.76.21 (talk) 14:43, 10 April 2018 (UTC) Marco Pagliero Berlin