Problem with flash

Hello all,
Having some problems updating flash.
I get the flash player out of date message... click to update but just get a black screen. I have tried uninstalling flash but just get the same black screen when i try to download the uninstaller.
I have since tried to download a couple other things but keep getting the same black screen.. rather frustrating!
I am new to mac and would greatly appreciate any help resolving this.
Running OS X 10.9.5
Many thanks

Go to System Preferences. Flash Player icon in bottom row? Click on it and thyen 'Check Now' button.

Yup, it is there and when i click on check now and try and install... i still get the same black screen.

It gets as far as step 2 of 3 "initializing" then just stops

Question did you download the flash player from Adobe: Creative, marketing, and document management solutions