Cannot post a reply

Question

For whatever reason, although I am logged-in to Adobe Forums, I cannot post a reply to a message that was posted in reply to my original message (which began the discussion).  A blank white space, barely discernible, is displayed below the two lines with their respective radion buttons for "Yes my question was answered." and "No, my question was not answered."  The choice is "No", but I did not ask any question(s) to begin with.
Instead, I posted three screenshots which showed  problems that I encountered while attempting to download and install the most recent update to Adobe Reader for Firefox.  Someone posted a reply that the same problem occurs with Opera.  I wanted to tell him that Firefox, Safari and Opera all use the same add-on for Adobe Reader.
But there was no way that I could discover to enter any text into the field for it.  Javascript was enabled, or I would not have been able to use the Reply feature to access the screen on which the message was to be composed.  The field never contained a cursor, regardless of my attempts to cause one to appear, whether with the mouse or with the keyboard.  Please understand that I do NOT have any desire whatsoever to go to Jive Software, open an "account" with them, and attempt to engage in some problem-solving for their software.  I am not a beta-tester!!   My name and other data about me is in far too many databases as it is.  If you can't hire people whose product works, then  DIY.
In fact, Adobe's use of subcontractors has become very alienating.  When I attempted to update Adobe Reader on the evening of July 29, the process was a travesty.  First, it was not clear whether the update in which the security vulnerablilities have been corrected was available, let alone installed.  This  is partly because your website maintainer(s) are too ignorant, or too lazy, to post the entire version number of the current Adobe Reader release.  They just post "version 9.1" and omit anything after it.  So they don't have to update the page until either of the two digits change.  But it is the digits that follow "9.1."  which disclose whether the version that I'm about to download (http://www.adobe.com/downloads) is the one that is already installed, or a version that is subsequent.  Perhaps you are afraid that disclosing technical data that is actually useful will intimidate and alienate the artists and writers who are the primary users of your products (you're lucky that they aren't all running the Apple MacIntosh instead).  But I doubt that will happen.  It is the failure to disclose such data that will eventually alienate EVERYONE.
For what it is worth to you,  I have posted the message text below at the following link:
http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-12846-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=314113&messageID=313100 9&alertspromo=100901&tag=nl.rCOMBINED
What makes a difference is
http://www.get.adobe.com instead of http://www.adobe.com/downloads.
{Update 2009-08-01: when I tried the first link with Firefox 3.5.1 today, Embarq, my ISP, displayed what used to be an HTTP 404 (?) error message but now is an Embarq website page that leaves you wondering why you are looking at it instead of what you wanted. I don't know what has happened to the first URL, but that was what Securnia PSI used during its downloads of the updates, as described below.}
I have used the second one for years, but now it has nothing but problems. Thanks for the link to the IE 8 download. What I did this evening was to first run Windows Update (with IE 7).
The MS update site offered: (A) upgrade to I.E. 8, (B) cumulative security update for I.E. 7 KB972260, and (C) Silverlight update to ver. 3.0.40723.0 KB970363. The one for Silverlight surprised me; it wasn't there on Tuesday 14 July. After all of them were installed, I ran I.E. 8 just to go through its initial configuration routine, so that it should not interfere with subsequently updating any add-ons.
Then I ran Secunia PSI and had it do a new scan. It reported updates: (A) for Adobe Air; (B) Adobe Flash Player (ActiveX) to 10.0.32.18; (C) Adobe Flash Player (General Plug-In) to 10.0.32.18; and (D) Shockwave Player 11.5.1.601. I used the Secunia "Download Solution" feature for each one; it obtained the respective updates from http://www.get.adobe.com. Secunia continued reporting the Flash Player version as 10.2.22.87 until I deleted Flash10b.ocx from the C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash directory; the current one is Flash10c.ocx.
Curiously, Secunia did not report Adobe Reader as insecure or outdated, on my computer. AcroRd32.exe Properties > Version showed Version: 9.1.0.163 but also displayed File Version and Product Version as 9.1.0.2009022700. Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs reported the Adobe Reader version as 9.1.2. Go figure.
However, updating Adobe Reader via http://www.adobe.com/downloads on July 29 required installing two Firefox add-ons: an extension for the Adobe Download Manager, and a plug-in "getPlus+ for Adobe 16236" (if my memory is correct). Of course, there were a couple of .exe files under the radar in C:\Program Files\NOS and some more in C:\Documents and Settings\...\Application Data\NOS. After all of that, I subsequently learned, from looking at the Secunia report for I.E. Secure Browsing, that "NOS Microsystems getPlus ActiveX Control 1.x" is "insecure, no solution".
Already I wasn't happy about having one of the NOS executables installed as a service, as though that is what the memory must contain after every system boot. And I didn't like Yet Another Firefox Extension just for the convenience of one particular software developer and/or their distributor. Firefox already loads slower than I like and adding YAFFX like that makes it even slower to load.
So I uninstalled Adobe Reader and all of its Additional Ware from NOS; I found files from both all over the HDD. I think that I deleted everything that I don't want or need although the I.E. NOS ActiveX control remains. I have never downloaded a .PDF, or looked at one, with I.E. and I don't plan to, so maybe I should just get rid of that one, too, if I can.
For the time being, at least, I'll be looking at .PDF files with Foxit. Of course, Adobe Flash Player and Shockwave Player remain installed, with Adobe AIR and Adobe Download Manager.
Posted: 07/31/2009 @ 09:32 PM (PDT)                  (edited 08/01/2009 @ 06:18 PM (PDT))
As of this writing, I do not have any Adobe or NOS add-ons (extension or plug-in) installed in Firefox, and I am planning to remove the insecure ActiveX Control that has been installed for Internet Explorer 8.
Continue to follow your current strategy, and you won't have the burdens of maintaining either Adobe Flash Player or Shockwave Player as well.  I had Adobe Media Player installed, but I removed it since I've never found a reason to run it.

Answer 1

Hi, Kath H.,
I hope that you heeded the warnings.  Adobe has, however, released updates in which the security flaws have been corrected.  From my reading of posts on some (non-Adobe) forums, what everyone has a problem finding is where to download the updates and/or to install them directly online.
The customary location is:  http://www.adobe.com/downloads.
You will find three "buttons" labeled "Get Adobe Reader", "Get Adobe AIR", "Get Adobe Flash Player" and one hyperlink for "Get Shockwave Player". You need to update the ones that are installed on your computer (usually, at least Flash Player and Shockwave Player).  The website button will automatically present you with the version that is appropriate for the browser that you are running at the time that you access the download.
BTW, please be aware that what I found at the customary Adobe downloads website on July 31 for Adobe Reader and Firefox was a travesty.  I don't know whether Adobe has taken corrective measures since, but their "instructions for Firefox users" were outdated and simply wrong.  I had already updated Adobe Reader on July 29, but I was not sure that I had actually obtained the update, since some people were reporting that they had to do it twice before it was installed correctly.
Something that may interest you is Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI).  It inventories all of the software on your computer, and compares (via the Internet) each  version that it finds to the Secunia database to check whether it is up-to-date, or it might be known to contain security flaws.  An individual user can download, install and use Secunia PSI without charge (commercial use requires a license).  You can obtain it from:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/
One  feature is that, after Secunia PSI runs a "scan" of your software, it displays any "insecure" programs on a tab labeled "Insecure".  Each entry has a [+] box which is expandable into an explanation, and a toolbar at the bottom with several actions that you can take, the first being "Download Solution" (when the software developer or publisher has a software update available).  That is what I used to update the "insecure" Adobe Flash Player and Shockwave Player add-ons for Firefox (and for I.E., also, which I have installed but don't run often).  Secunia PSI downloaded them from  https://www.get.adobe.com but I haven't been able to connect there with the browser.
Since Secunia PSI did not report Adobe Reader as insecure, I have supposed that it was updated.  (You can scan my first post here to find out why I uninstalled it and installed Foxit instead!)
   --- OldReader