Adobe has terminated its Adobe Flash Player. Starting on January 11, 2021, the app went as dead as the dodo on my Windows 10 PC. That morning, as usual I started my morning language drill using my favourite program, Auralog. The program failed to launch after I clicked the icon. Instead a black screen happened.

 

I ran into a similar problem back in 2015. It was an issue with the Adobe Flash Player then that crippled Auralog. After I downgraded the Flash plugin to an earlier version, Auralog came back to life. What a relief then! The revival was documented in a post on my blog.

 

This time when my PC blackscreened, I started to investigate. I went onto the Adobe official site. The Flash EOL greeted my eye. Oh Lord, did it mean that my favourite program Auralog would be dead once and for all?

 

That same evening, while browsing a Chinese website, I came upon a post where tips for the Flash issue were offered. In the post a user provided a Flash installer, which he claimed to be official. According to the user, the installer would solve the Flash EOL problem on Chinese websites. Without hesitation, I downloaded the installer and set it up on my PC. It really worked! Auralog came back to life.

 

In the following days, problems arose, however. For one thing, the Flash installer was blocked as a virus by Windows 10 Antivirus. I had to let it run on my PC anyway to use Auralog. For another, the flash helper service running in the background kept popping up ads. That was a pain in the ass. I did not like that.

 

On further investigation, I found that Adobe made an exception to its flash EOL policy for users in China. A Chinese website flash.cn partnered with Adobe to provide a flash installer to users within China. The reason given was that a lot of Chinese websites cannot run without the flash app for some time to come. Oddly enough, the flash.cn installer works only inside China.

 

So, it is an official app from Adobe. But the popup thing was sickening. How could I run my Auralog without the flash.cn installer?

 

I went on experimenting. I uninstalled the flash.cn installer. Auralog did not start after that. Then in its accompanying DVD image file, I found a patch folder, where a flash player active x was provided. I clicked on it and it was installed locally. When I hit the Auralog icon, the program was launched! Hooray, gone is the disgusting popup from flash.cn.