Two Programs You Might Not Need

At one time, Oracle's Java and Adobe's Flash Player were two programs necessary for a complete web browsing experience.  However, the large number of vulnerabilities found in these two programs recently might make you question if they are actually necessary.  Many people now say that you should consider removing these programs from your computer to make sure they stay secure.

Some programs and websites still require these programs to function.  However, the majority of modern websites will function just fine without Java or Flash.  YouTube has offered video playback in both Flash and HTML5 formats for a while, but it recently switched the default option from Flash to HTML5.  On your mobile devices, Flash has gone in and out of support for both iOS and Android.

If you disable these two programs, it is very possible that you will not notice any changes.  (In fact, some people have noticed that disabling Flash eliminates many of the annoying advertisements on the web.)  It is true that some websites still require Java or Flash in order to work properly, but the number of sites relying only on these two programs are decreasing.

I do not recommend removing either of these programs immediately.  Instead, I recommend that you first disable them and see what content might still require these programs.  This makes it easy to quickly reactivate the programs if you find that you do need them.  After a month or two, if you have not found any sites you use that require Java or Flash, then you can go to the Add or Remove Programs utility to uninstall Java and/or Flash completely.  Below, I have listed the instructions to disable both programs:

To Disable Java:
Go to the Java Control Panel by searching for it in the search box (on the Start Menu in Windows Vista/7 and on the Charms Bar in Windows 8).  Click on the "Security" tab and uncheck the box at the top that says "Enable Java content in the browser".  If you find that a site you use requires Java, you can follow the same process to enable it again.

To Disable Flash:
In Chrome - Type "chrome:plugins" in the address bar and find the "Flash" listing in the resulting window.  Then, click the "Disable" link to disable it.

In Internet Explorer - Click on the Tools Icon and select "Manage Add-Ons".  Under "Show", select "All Add-Ons".  Select the Adobe Flash add-on, and click on Disable.

In Firefox - Unfortunately, Firefox doesn't make it easy for us.  The best option is to install an add-on named FlashDisable.  This will make it easy to turn Flash off and back on if you need it.