Using the Shockwave plugin with Firefox

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The Shockwave plugin allows you to play Shockwave movies in your browser. This article explains how to set up Shockwave and where to find help for Shockwave if you have further questions.

  • The Shockwave plugin enables playback of animated content such as games, interactive demos, and online training. Shockwave content is created with Adobe Director.
Linux:

An official plugin is not available for Linux. The CrossOver Office application for Unix platforms (including Linux) enables the use of Windows browser plugins, including the Shockwave plugin.

Mac OS:
Note: Shockwave can only be run in emulation mode, on Intel Macs. For more information, see this technical article from Adobe web site.
Mac OS, Windows:

Table Of Contents

Checking for Shockwave

Checking through Adobe.com

Although Shockwave is not included with Firefox by default, you can check to see if you have installed it previously. To check, complete the following steps:

  1. Visit http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome/
  2. If your screen looks like the following, then Shockwave is not installed.


  3. To install Shockwave, click the puzzle piece icon and follow the on-screen instructions.

Checking through Firefox

Additionally, you can check to see if you have the Shockwave player plugin using Firefox:

Firefox 3:
  1. Open Firefox.
  2. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click the Tools menu, and select Add-ons to open the Add-ons window.
  3. In the Add-ons window, select the Plugins panel to display a list of installed plugins.
  4. Look for the entry: Shockwave for Director.



  5. If this entry is present, then Shockwave is already installed.
Firefox 2:
  1. Open Firefox.
  2. In the Location bar, enter about:plugins. The plugins page is displayed.
  3. Look for the following entry: Shockwave for Director. See the red box below.


  4. If this entry is present, then Shockwave is already installed.

Installing Shockwave

If you have not installed the Shockwave plugin, please complete the following instructions:

  1. Go to http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/
  2. Click Download Now. A Download dialog box appears:


  3. Click Save file to save the file. You should be able to see a download progress bar.
  4. When the file is downloaded, click Open in the Download Manager.

Uninstalling Shockwave

Windows:
  1. In your Windows Taskbar, click the Start Menu. Then, click Control Panel.


  2. In the list of Control Panels, select Add or Remove Programs. The Add or Remove Programs dialog appears.
  3. To remove Shockwave, click the Change/Remove button.


  4. The Shockwave Player plugin is uninstalled.

Alternatively, you can download the Shockwave uninstaller from the Adobe web site. Save the file to a folder of your hard disk, close all the programs and run the uninstaller; follow the instructions on the dialog boxes.

Mac OS:

To uninstall the Shockwave player on a Macintosh OS, download the installer from this link. This program can also be used to uninstall Shockwave.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Firefox consume so much memory after installing Shockwave?

The Shockwave plugin can use up to 100 MB in a very short period of time. If you are constrained for RAM on your system, please uninstall Shockwave by following the instructions above.

Windows:

Why is Shockwave still not working on my system?

One area to examine is Compatibility mode. On some systems, Shockwave fails to work properly unless it is run in Compatibility mode:

  1. On your local computer, navigate to the Firefox folder. Typically, this location is the following:
    C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
  2. Right-click the Firefox icon. Select Properties.


  3. Click the Compatibility tab.
  4. Verify that Run this program in compatibility mode for... is selected.
  5. From the drop-down menu, select Windows 2000.


  6. Click OK.

Where can I find additional resources about using Shockwave with Firefox?

What if I am still having problems?

If you continue to experience problems, you can Submit an error report to Adobe.




Based on information from Shockwave (mozillaZine KB)


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Page last modified on Wednesday 22 of October, 2008 14:33:47 PST.
Contributors to this page: Chris_Ilias , foffpita , underpass , AliceWyman , skulvis , Vectorspace , supernova_00 and dchen .
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