Detecting Flash Existence and Version

Is there a way with Php or perhaps Javascript to detect the existence and version of Flash installed on the browser.

I tried one of my pages from a friends XP computer with a slow connection. The flash had an empty box for several minutes and if not for the activity on the internet connection status I would have assumed the page was locked up. What was happening, unknown to us at the time was Flash was being downloaded. The first clue after Flash was downloaded was a message asking if we should install the download.

By this time most visitors would have long left the website. I would have been much better to detect the required Flash was not present, throw up a picture and present a link option to download flash.

I have left many a website in the past, before I had Flash installed, where one must load flash to even get a contact number for the vendor - left those websites quickly.

http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/kn...fm?id=tn_14294

http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/kn...fm?id=tn_14526