Starting October 11, 2016, old Flash Player ActiveX versions will be blocked on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, because the software isn’t updated automatically on these platforms and users need to manually download updates via Windows Updates.
It is known that Adobe is agonizing because of its Flash Player’s vulnerabilities, which determined many websites to ditch it in favor of HTML5, but now, even the ActiveX version is losing ground on Windows 7, because its updated versions are making devices vulnerable to attacks. So, starting October 11, 2016, when opening a page with Flash content, Windows 7 will block it if the software is running an outdated version of Flash Player. Microsoft has said that versions before Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.198 and Adobe Flash Player Extended Support Release 18.0.0.241 are considered as outdated and they will be blocked.
Over time, when new updates of Flash Player will be released, other versions will be added to the list of outdated versions that will be published on Microsoft’s IT Center site. On this page, you can also find information about outdated versions of Java and Silverlight controls. Luckily, this change doesn’t affect Local Intranet Zone and Trusted Sites Zone sites, while Internet Explorer displays a warning message that reads “Flash Player was blocked because it is out of date and needs to be updated.” But you still have the option to update Flash Player or to allow the page to open Flash content this time.
However, Microsoft has specified that Internet Explorer 11 doesn’t display any “see any out-of-date Flash ActiveX control blocks” for non-admin users, and out-of-date Flash blocking can be enabled by system administrator by entering this command in the
command prompt:
reg add “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ext” /v NonAdminSuppressEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
What do you think about Microsoft’s decision to block outdated ActiveX versions on Windows 7?
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