I got the following response back from Macromedia support about the Shockwave player installation problem:
Thank you for contacting Macromedia Technical Support.
Most Shockwave-related issues are best resolved by simply uninstalling/reinstalling any Shockwave files on your machine. The first thing to do is to download the stand-alone Shockwave installer and uninstaller from:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/di..._installer.htm
Make sure that you download the MX version of the player.
Once you've downloaded the uninstaller, run it and then restart your machine. Make sure that you don't have anti-virus software running and then run the installer.
If that doesn't work, try this:
1. Look for files called Dirapi.dll and iml32.dll (Director runtime files) in the system folder (Windows\System32).
2. Cut these files and paste them to another location on your harddrive (not in the Windows Directory). Make sure that you take note of the new location.
3. Uninstall the Shockwave player using the uninstaller and delete the Macromed folder (also under the System folder).
4. Reinstall the Shockwave player using the stand-alone installer.