Check to see if you have (using Synaptic)
the icedteaplugin

this did the trick for me when using Mint (derived from Ubuntu) 64-bit

Your mileage may vary, but barring a manual install from
the Sun downloads page, this may solve the issue.

After some changes I managed to get it working from the download, I presume its
doing a 32 wrapper now and not the 64bit version. Anyway, at least I can watch
youtube and visit content rich websites. I think such drivers should come on the
disk, nearly everyone will want to visit youtube and news video sites as common
desktop users...

Ubuntu has a policy not to ship proprietary drivers and codecs. It is a
question of philosophy. Several distributions do offer these things working
out of the box. An example of such a distro is Linux Mint. Rather than
suggesting Ubuntu change, you need to change distros.

You might want to note that most Linux users do not agree with you and
mentioning it in the way you did may cause a flame war. The Linux way is to
allow users to choose what they want rather than forcing things on people.
You may have noticed or ignored the lack of EULAs when you installed.
Windows users are so used to them that they just click through them and may
cease to pay attention to them. They are major irritants to most Linux users
who feel that they have no place in Linux. People who want them can still
get these things, but it should not be forced on people who find them
offensive. That is the way Ubuntu does it. No EULAs because everything is
under GPL (except Mono which I still don't get how they can rationalise
shipping. Don't get me started on this).

I am not sure how Mint handles it. Are their EULAs to click through or are
they just ignored? I don't know because I don't use Mint. If there are EULAs
then this would keep many Linux users away but would attract ex-Windows
people who appear to like them. To each his/her own.

you should use Mint. It would eliminate all the problems you have had.

I managed to get java and flash 64worknig but its clear after a lot of browsing
on youtube.com it just doesn't cut it, sometimes the youtube window wont go
fullscreen, sometimes it will stop and not continue, and the page doesnt display
right either, half of the image that is "youtube" is missing. how do you easily
uninstall the lot and just stick with 32bit wrapper type? The flash and java
were installed via command line, hwoever, the java didnt work properly although
java.com test page says it is. and then I installed via the ubuntu software
installer and that I presume is 64, I don't have these issues in ubuntu32,

I had installed /home/home64/Downloads/install_flash_player_10_linux.tar.gz and
/home/home64/Downloads/jre-6u19-linux-x64.bin but then also installed Sun java 6
plugin via the ubuntu installer, any ideas?

Always install from the repositories. It configures the programme properly
and makes it available for all programmes that might require it. It also
makes removing the application and upgrading it much easier. Installing
manually from binary or tarball is only for people who who know what they
are doing. Going outside the repositories is NOT recommended for anyone
other than advanced users. That way you can only blame yourself and are
prepared to fix the problems that you create.

The repositories are safe, secure and maintained by the same people who
produced the distribution. Use Synaptic and install from it or the Software
Centre. The Windows method of searching for applications on the internet and
using various different installers produces a mess on Windows where there is
no uniformity and anything can and usually does happen, leaving users with a
mess to clean up in the menu, system tray and on the desktop, to say nothing
about potential viruses, malware and the like. Do yourself a favour and
forget these bad habits. Windows is Windows and Linux is different.

The problem is now you don't know where the problem lies. There could be
residual problems from your initial installation. To blame it on Ubuntu is
not fair since you did not use the normal and recommended practice. It is
also not fair to single out the 64-bit or 32-bit version either. I use both
64-bit and 32-bit versions and they work fine on their respective
computers.

You ask a lot of questions, but you don't seem to listen to advice.

You can always intall the restricted extras package. This will make java
work and afew other things you are probably accustomed to.

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

or if the GUI is more you're style, you should find it there too.

FYI I've used the advice on here where it was useful. if the java install for
64bit java and flash works for someone else on the net using ubuntu 9.10 and the
files from adobe and java's website, then I don't see any logical reason why it
shouldn't work for my pc running ubuntu9.10 and the exact same files...

I think that "someone else on the net" might be me. If so, two points:
I'm running 64-bit Lucid (10.04) not 9.10; and when you contacted me
off list about this I did suggest that it would be worth taking it
back on, because I don't claim to be any sort of expert and others
might well have a better notion of how to do it!

That said, the only 64-bit Flash for Linux I could find was in
labs.adobe.com, and it does seem to work perfectly well for what I
want it to do (mainly: Youtube and the BBC iPlayer via Firefox).

You missed my point. You are not following standard Linux practice which is
to install from the repositories. There is nothing wrong with that if you
are prepared to suffer the consequences and accept the blame. Instead you
are sticking hairpins in electrical outlets and then blaming the electric
company. Many users like to install from source code and binaries, but if
you do this then what you do becomes your responsibility.

Your problem is not an Ubuntu problem because you went outside of the
repositories. They go to great trouble to set up repositories. They go to
even more trouble to package the restricted-extras for each distribution
they make. When you fail to use their repositories and then fault Ubuntu as
you have done then you are misplacing blame. People who install Ubuntu and
then add the restricted extras can use Youtube without a problem.

Now, you need to remove the old flash binaries that you installed before you
can get back to square one. Then you can install the restricted-extras. To
remove your binaries you can use Synaptic. Go to Status, Installed local or
obsolete. Remove flash from the list. Then install the
ubuntu-restricted-extras.

No distribution is above criticism. Just make sure that it is deserved
criticism. In this case it is not. Flash works in Ubuntu. You can install it
in one easy step by installing the ubuntu-restricted-extras. The Ubuntu menu
also works just fine. When you install an application from the repositories,
it will add a menu item, provided it is meant to be run from the menu. If
you install it from outside of the repositories or alter the location where
it is installed then it won't. If you manually install something then you
need to manually edit the menu.

I am sorry if I sounded harsh in my criticism. I don't much care for
assigning blame in the first place and when it is misdirected then it rubs
me the wrong way.

In regards to how to remove what you've done, I think from the
terminal something like "sudo apt-get purge
adobe/flash/java/or-whatever-the-executable-is-called" after sudo apt-get
remove will work if you used a .deb file from the net (not entirely sure).
But is sounds like you may have built this from source. I haven't tried to
uninstall either of the two things I built from source yet... the following
page on ubuntu forums looks like something you will want to browse:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=291029

It suggests "make uninstall" or "dpkg -r"(if you used checkinstall when
building) could be a way to go. For make unistall I think you need to run
it from the folder you originally extracted the source into. Search and
delete (w/ rm) may be another (or the only) alternative.

I would just figure out how to get rid of everything then reinstall the 32
bit programs that were working for you.

I got to these instructions as advised by a youtube entry who used them,

www.profarius.com/.../64bit-java-flash-deathroll

Instead of wandering around the internet looking for doubtful
instructions from strangers, why not use the software management tools
provided with the OS?

If you choose to ignore the software management tools provided in the
OS, and instead try to install software in some random fashion based on
something you read on the internet, you will have problems.

As others here have said, first undo all the damage you've done, restore
your system to baseline, then install the ubuntu restricted extras.
Nobody here can help you if you're running off on wild tangents and
ignoring advice.

I've never had that problem - As a post-install step, I simply
install "ubuntu restricted extras" and then everything is there and
configured: java, flash, codecs, fonts, drivers... BTW where did you get
the java package that you installed? Perhaps you are doing things the
hard way for no reason?

It has been asked here before - where did you look for deb packages of
java? Any reason you are trying to do things the hard way? Why not just
fire up synaptic?Then, a couple of clicks, and 64 bit java is installed (?)

A tutorial I was using said to use command line and B:I couldn't find any
64bit ones.