If you are having trouble getting Adobe Flash Player to work in IE this can typically be resolved by installing the Flash Player as a standalone.
Errors that could provide information about if you need to install Flash Player as a standalone:
You are currently using Flash Player -1
Your currently installed Flash Player Version is -1
The above errors might look like the below when you try to view a flash movie embedded in a web page.
You might also see that you already have flash player installed if you visit Programs and Features in your Windows Vista control panel. You shouldn’t need to modify anything here but reinstalling the ActiveX Internet Explorer addon is not going to help. I also attempted to uninstall the addon and then reinstall it but still had the same issue.
To resolve this issue install Adobe Flash Player ActiveX as a standalone instead of installing it through the browser. Currently the current version is Flash Player version 10.0.12.36 and can be downloaded here. Once you download the flash player standalone package unpack it, navigate to Players/Release, and double click on “Install Flash Player 10 ActiveX”. This will install the Flash Player ActiveX addon for IE and should start working immediately which can be tested by visiting something like CNN’s iReports page.
