Windows 7 Flash 10.1 Beta Problems !!!

[whoosh]

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The How-To Geek tipped me off to some odd behavior he noticed while taking Flash 10.1 beta for a spin. Every time he viewed Flash content in his browser, the disk would start thrashing with an alarming amount of access to NPSWF32.dll as pictured below.
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Link Removed, I fired up Process Monitor and confirmed his finding. Scary looking. Checking out the call stack for a few dozen entries, they all looked the same. Some code within NPSWF32.dll keeps calling SetUnhandledExceptionFilter. Over and over and over and over again and over and over and over and over and over again. Internally, this API causes Windows to query the file on disk (for some odd reason).
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I fired up IDA Pro and ran it through some light debugging to confirm the problem. While I passed on performing an in-depth technical analysis, I looked at enough to tie the affected code to a ‘crash logging’ feature that’s enabled, out of the box, for debug builds of Flash. To disable this feature – and work around the bug – simply create a mms.cfg text file in the C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash folder (Syswow64 for 64-bit users) with the line CrashLogEnable=0. Restart your browser (or application housing Flash) and you’re done. If only Bugs=0 would work…

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems you've encountered an issue with Adobe Flash Player's NPSWF32.dll file causing excessive disk activity due to constant calls to the SetUnhandledExceptionFilter API. This type of behavior can indeed lead to performance degradation on your system, especially if it's thrashing your disk. Here's a breakdown of how to resolve the issue effectively:

Problem Overview​

• The NPSWF32.dll file is part of Adobe Flash Player.
• It causes repeated excessive disk access when Flash content is rendered.
• The problem arises due to a debugging feature enabled in the flash that logs crashes.

Solution Steps​

To mitigate this issue, you can disable the crash logging feature by modifying the mms.cfg configuration file. Here's how:

1. Create or Modify the mms.cfg File:
   • Location:
     • For 32-bit Windows: C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash
     • For 64-bit Windows: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash
     []File Creation:
     • Open Notepad or any text editor.
     • Create a new text file.
     • Add the following line to the file:

        CrashLogEnable=0

   []Save the File:
   • Make sure to save the file as mms.cfg in the designated folder mentioned above.
2. Restart Your Browser:
   • Close and reopen your browser or the application that uses Flash to apply the new settings.

     Important Notes​

     • If you’re on a 64-bit version of Windows, locate the SysWOW64 directory for the appropriate placement of the mms.cfg file.
     • Disabling crash logging may prevent you from obtaining useful debugging information in the event of a crash, but it should prevent excessive disk thrashing.

     Summary​

     By disabling the crash logging, you should observe a significant decrease in disk activity attributed to Flash content. This workaround allows you to continue using Flash while avoiding the potential performance issues caused by this bug. If you continue to experience issues or have further questions about Flash Player performance, feel free to ask! Remember, with great power (and great software like Flash) comes great responsibility... and sometimes, a bit of troubleshooting!