I run Windows XP Pro SP3 fully patched with Avast! The Software Updater has been telling me for over a week that Adobe Flash needs to be updated, but I had done that when the dialog first appeared - or so I thought. My mistake, and the foible in Avast!, is that because I run Firefox and IE (though I try to never use IE it is occasionally essential!) and I had used the Avast! Update option it had not updated both browsers! It assumed, as did I, that a single update process was enough. So my Firefox was up to date, IE wasn’t and hence I kept getting the warning. It appears that Adobe’s update process is offering separate downloads for ‘IE’ or ‘Other Browsers’ and the Avast! update process assumes that one is sufficient when it isn’t.
Can I suggest to Avast! that the Updater should be able to distinguish between IE and other browsers that may have such add-ons available and that any need to update should clearly show which browser needs the update - or even that both/all need it.
Well avast does differentiate between them in respect of what flash version they use (see image, expanded view of flash player).
One of the problems this time round is that Adobe released version 11.8.800.175, but there was only an update for Flash Player activeX (IE) and no corresponding Flash Player Plugin (firefox, chrome, etc.) version. Yet it showed updates (or rather included) Flash Player Plugin information in the notification, when there was no update for that.
My up-to-date version of Avast Software Updater simply stated that Flash Player was at risk and needed to be updated. It did not differentiate between IE or Firefox/etc versions! It simply ‘lumped them all together’ and subsequently ignored the update done to the FF version (I don’t use IE but M$ requires it to be present!). I only realised that there were TWO updates needed when the pop-up re-appeared and the Software Update ‘page’ showed Flash still needed to be updated. I had used FF to access the Adobe page to update Flash and it only offered the FF version, for obvious reasons, with no mention of other browsers being in need of an update. Avast didn’t suggest anything about there being two separate updates needed and neither did Adobe! (And their system for informing users that an update is available doesn’t work either, but that’s their problem not yours!) I have since used IE to run the Abode update for that and Avast is now happy.
In the interests of safety and security, we users need to know.
That presumably is just the notification popup, it doesn’t have enough space for detailed information. You have to open the Software Updater and that shows more information (as in my attached image, click to expand).
For each instance of Flash activeX or plugin version, you will see which requires updating, you can also click the More Details for each instance for version number information.