Internet Explorer Quits When You Attempt to Browse Shockwave or Flash-enabled Site

When you attempt to browse a Macromedia Shockwave-enabled or Flash-enabled Web site, you may receive an error message similar to the following: When you click the Details button, the following information is displayed: Internet Explorer may then quit.

NOTE: This behavior can also occur when you attempt to install Macromedia Shockwave or Flash.

This issue can occur if the Dirapi.dll file is missing or damaged. This file is required by the Shockwave Player and Flash Player for proper operation.

To resolve this issue, remove and reinstall Macromedia Shockwave and Macromedia Flash. To do this, follow these steps.

Remove Macromedia Shockwave and Macromedia Flash

1. Quit all running programs.
2. On the taskbar, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. In Control Panel, double-click Internet Options.
4. In the Internet Options dialog box, on the General tab, under Temporary Internet files, click Settings.
5. In the Settings dialog box, click View Objects.
6. In the Downloaded Program Files dialog box, if a Shockwave-related item appears in the Program File list, right-click it, and then click Remove on the shortcut menu that appears.
   
   You receive the following message:
   Shockwave control will be removed permanently.
   Are you sure?
7. Click Yes.
8. Repeat steps 6 through 7 for each Shockwave-related entry in the list.
9. On the File menu, click Close.
10. In the Settings dialog box, click OK.
11. In the Internet Properties dialog box, click OK, and then quit Control Panel.

Reinstall Macromedia Shockwave and Macromedia Flash

1. Start Windows Explorer.
2. Navigate to the following folder
   drive:\Windows\System\Macromed
   where drive is the drive on which Windows is installed, where Windows is the folder in which Windows is installed, and where System is the System folder in Windows 9x.
3. Right-click the Macromed folder, and then click Delete on the shortcut menu that appears.
4. On the Confirm Folder Delete message that appears, click Yes.
5. Quit Windows Explorer, and then restart your computer.
6. Reinstall Macromedia Shockwave and Macromedia Flash. The Macromedia Shockwave Player and the Macromedia Flash Player can be obtained from Macromedia at the following URL:
   http://www.macromedia.com

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