I've always found these sort of sites very helpful but until now, I've never been able to contribute -thanks to everyone everywhere who's ever written a helpful tip!
Here's my SIMPLE SIMPLE FIX: in Internet Explorer 9 (probably earlier versions too), I just went to the main menu, selected Tools, and unchecked ActiveX Filtering. I think thatt the new version of Adobe must now use ActiveX when maybe it didn't before.
Unfortunately, I didn't notice if this was checked prior to upgrading to the latest Adobe Flash Player version 11.6.602.171. If anyone has the older version installed on a 2nd computer, they can see if this is actually the fix by noticing whether or not ActiveX Filtering is checked prior to installing the latest 11.6.602.171 version. If so, then you can post a follow up here. Also, if so, then Adobe made a significant change to the way the latest version functions. If not, then I have no idea if installing the latest version triggered I.E. 9 to make a change (which I don't think it ever changes itself), or something else is at work.
Sorry I couldn't be more definitive, I do hope that someone can confirm this and I really hope my tiny bit has helped someone else.
Peace All.
Deb