Q: Shockwave Flash crashes Chrome browser

Every time I browse the internet or go to sites I use regularly, daily, at some point Chrome displays an error bar at the top of the browser page/window saying "Shockwave Flash has crashed". The choices offered by that yellow bar are to "Reload" or just close the error message. It happens multiple times in a session, and often apparently disables the page I'm viewing until I "reload" the crashed app. Almost without fail, after a "reload" the same error occurs and I have to do the same thing over (and over and over ad infinitum) again.

I have read elsewhere that Flash is not recommended nor needed for OSX. When I do a Spotlight search for "Shockwave Flash" I get no such thing listed. Yet, it constantly affects my use of Chrome, which is my default browser since I was unable to use Safari or Firefox to access and use features on websites I access daily, as both those browsers would crash (sites like Photobucket, for one; also a diecast car collectors' forum called Swifty's Garage; also, ebay).

I found a "help" page reference pointing me to Adobe's website for instructions how to disable "flash" in Chrome, but the instructions discuss things that aren't visible on screen when I attempt to follow them; for instance, the instructions say to find the plugin in a Chrome preference pane called "plugins" but there's no such preference pane in Chrome (Version 42.0.2311.135 (64-bit)).

I uninstalled a version of Flash Player a short while ago but that doesn't seem to have anything to do with the browser issues. I'm not sure what I would need Flash Player for anyway; I rarely use YouTube or any other online video sites.

Anybody have any ideas how I can stop "Shockwave Flash" from constantly crashing while I use Chrome?