I have an old Windows offline desktop application (from circa 2003) that has an embedded Flash component which is necessary for it to run properly. It simply stopped working this morning on my Windows 10.

Resetting the date to yesterday works, but I'd like to avoid it if possible.

Standalone flash players (such as Newgrounds') do not work, since the desktop application is the one who actually runs the Flash component, and I cannot control it directly.

I tried uninstalling Flash and reinstalling an older version, without success: it seems to be using an ActiveX component which I cannot overwrite, since the old installer says "You already have a newer version". Windows does not allow me uninstalling it manually (it's "part of the system", and apparently the only Windows Update KB which allows it to be uninstalled, prevents you from installing any other Flash version), and I tried manually searching for registry keys, but there are several and I need to change permissions, etc.

So, I'm afraid I'll have to run an emulator such as PCem, with an older Windows inside, whose date is set to a distant past, so that my app will simply keep working as usual. I'd appreciate if there are simpler solutions.