V3.6.3 Crash Today - Possible Plugin Issue?

Question

Re: v3.6.3 Crash Today - Possible Plugin Issue?
Ref: (a) Crash ID bp-cb196f96-dd38-44d7-bffb-778a22100531.
(b) https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/
This user really does not know whether a plugin is involved here, but also, cannot rule that out. And exploring the Plugin Check page with its limited information, has found the following significant issue un-addressed, and thus, mysterious to him.
Please, consider adding to the Plugin Check page, ref. (b), an explanation on this question>> What must one do, i.e., perform what steps, to update a plugin? I.e, is it infallibly sufficient to download & to run the download? Is updating a fully automated process for all plugins?, or even for some plugins? E.g., does updating an Adobe plugin ever require uninstalling the old plugin first (as does updating the Adobe Reader program, and Acrobat, etc.)? How shall the general user of Firefox know precisely what he/she should perform in this regard, when it is well known that the Adobe updates sites generally fail to recognize and advise the user on the question of whether to uninstall first. We see it in forums, that many of us general users have encountered install failures with Adobe updates, and (1) have found that Adobe updates usually do not work well if installed over the old version, and (2) have found that uninstalling Adobe apps often does not go smoothly and fails to complete the job, leaving vulnerable exe's or dll's hanging around to frustrate our subsequent updating. And, Adobe is not the only offender in this way. A frank and helpful mention of this issue would save much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and if uninstallation is a good idea, please explain how to Uninstall a Plugin, because plugins generally lack an Uninstall button in the Add-ons window of Firefox. And, this begs the question, is it desirable to Disable a plugin, before running the updating installation file? Or is there "no benefit" if Disabled first? Please try to write up these aspects plainly. Ideally, from this user's perspective, placement of this ought to be a few sentences directly on the Plugin Check page. Your consideration and adoption of this suggestion is respectfully requested, and it will be much appreciated.
== Crash ID(s) ==
bp-cb196f96-dd38-44d7-bffb-778a22100531

Answer 1

Posted on Thu 03 of Jun, 2010 10:51 PST by
cor-el:
''You can disable plugins here: Tools > Add-ons > Plugins
See also Troubleshooting plugins
Plugins provide a way to use other program to embed content. so you have to go to the program that adds a plugin and check the options (preferences) to disable the plugin.''
Anyone knowledgeable, please comment.
Thanx for suggesting the Disable button, cor-el, but my question addressed Uninstall of Plug-ins. This was due to the now-recognized problem which afflicts Adobe update patches, that the patch doesn't go well unless the old version is Uninstalled first; thus requiring a clean installation of the fully updated application.
It is my understanding that the Disable button does not necessarily uninstall the old files. When I was unaware of this consistently occurring property of Adobe's patches, I had more than one case of Adobe Reader and Acrobat failing to update completely, causing hours of fruitless troubleshooting, and this continued with the most recent patches to Adobe Reader, the one updating it to v9.3.2, as well as earlier ones. Therefore, it seems not unreasonable to expect that the Shockwave Flash plugin that is now flagged as vulnerable again (v10.0.45.2), needs to be Uninstalled before updating.
Is there no dependable method for Uninstalling plugins?
If not, then one wonders, why not? Is there a reason why Mozilla designs Plugins to be different from Extensions in this regard?