Feb 17, 2010

Why do I keep getting prompted to install Silverlight?

Issue: a few people get prompted repeatedly to install Silverlight while visiting web sites like nbcolympics.com.

Solution: if you have old version of Webshots Toolbar or Kiwee Toolbar from American Greetings, you should upgrade to latest version from their web sites.

Details:

A few people trying to view Olympics videos from www.nbcolympics.com got prompted to install Silverlight, so they did and then hit F5; the page somehow prompted them to install Silverlight again, so they did again; but this time Silverlight install fails with a telltale error code 1514: Silverlight is already installed; if you want to reinstall, you need to uninstall first. So they uninstall and reinstall, but that didn’t help: they got prompted to install Silverlight again.

After quick investigation, I’ve found a common cause of old version of Webshots or Kiwee installed on those users’ machines. To check, you can find Webshots from Control Panel –> Programs and Features:

start -> run: appwiz.cpl, or control panel -> add/remove programs

or on disk:

AGI files on disk

The fix is to go to www.webshots.com and upgrade to the latest version (3.1.5.7617 for now):

http://www.webshots.com/page/apps?app=anonhomepage&vhost=www

then you should be able to watch Olympics video just fine with Webshots toolbar enabled as well:

Silverlight + WebShots in IE

Silverlight + WebShots in FF

I will publish another blog post with common setup issues and solutions for Silverlight.

Disclaimer:

  • I am publishing this blog in a hurry to help those with trouble viewing Olympics video, so I may not get all facts right. I’d appreciate all feedback/correction/suggestion.
  • This is my personal blog. What I say in this blog is my opinion only. It doesn’t represent Microsoft or any other organization.
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