Following right in the footsteps of the Adobe Download Manager and a lot of backlash for GetPlus+ in Firefox, Adobe uses the Adobe Download Manager (or Adobe DLM) to deliver Adobe Flash for Internet Explorer users as well. I previously documented how to get Adobe Flash and Reader without GetPlus for Firefox users and here I’ll do the same for users of Internet Explorer.
Update: Adobe has updated their site and you can get find the direct link to the installers on this more recent article.
You’ll need to download Adobe Flash and install the latest version in order to update. Unfortunately updating Adobe Flash in Mozilla Firefox (or other plug-in based browsers) does not update Flash for Internet Explorer. You can download the latest installer (at 1.87MB) from Adobe, http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/, but to get it without the Adobe Download Manager, you’ll need to follow these steps:
With Internet Explorer, browse to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer.
Uncheck the “Free Google Toolbar”
Hit the “Agree and Install Now” button.
An unfortunate thing with this button is that you are agreeing to Adobe’s terms, which includes:
Adobe may use the Adobe Download Manager to seamlessly install your software.
The next page you’re taken to will generate a security prompt with this request:
“This website wants to install the following add-on: ‘Adobe DLM’ from ‘Adobe Systems Incorporated’. If you trust the website and the add-on and want to install it, click here…
Since we don’t want to install it, you can ignore that alert.
Instead, scroll down to the bottom of that same page and click on the link “If it does not start, click here to download“.
Save the file somewhere convenient, like the desktop.
Once the ‘install_flash_player_ax.exe’ file has downloaded, close Internet Explorer and then double-click on it to launch the installer. It will complete in a few moments. After the install completes you can click the Close button.
To verify that the latest version of Adobe Flash has been installed, we can use the information from this previous article: Version Tests for Common Browser Plug-Ins.
Browse to this Adobe knowledge base article and verify that your player version matches the latest version available for your platform that is listed lower on the page.
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