JAVA Downloads

 

Here we supply only the necessary MS JAVA VM's and the SUN JAVA plug-ins - not JAVA code or applets.

 

You can run both MS JAVA VM and the SUN JAVA Plug-In concurrently on your IE browser !!  Most JAVA can be handled by the MS JAVA VM, but some newer JAVA v2 from SUN will require the plug-in. 

 

NOTE:  MS JAVA VM 3910 is an update only !!  So, before installing MS JAVA VM 5.00.3810 you must have an older version present. First, goto the test pages so that you know what you need.

 

The Four Steps to Cleaning out and Reinstalling JAVA

 

Step 1) find out what version of the MS JAVA VM you are running:

    Start/Run . . . cmd (or command for Win98)

    Type:  jview  (you will see the version listed at the top of the resulting text output)

    Example - if you have MS JAVA and type JVIEW:

 

D:\Documents and Settings\Ken>jview
Microsoft (R) Command-line Loader for Java Version 5.00.3805
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp 1996-2000. All rights reserved.

Step 2)  do an online test to see what JAVA your browser currently supports

Step 3) remove all JAVA VM's - remove both MS JAVA VM and SUN JAVA VM - if installed.  This stop insures that you get a clean install, just in case your JAVA VM's are corrupted

 

  1. Download the MS JAVA VM removal tool and run it

  2. goto Control Panel Add/Remove Programs and remove:  JAVA 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.2_05 (or whatever version you have) to remove the SUN JRE

 

Step 4) download and install the one, or both JAVA VM's.  Most people only need the MS JAVA VM.  However there are a few websites and programs that require SUN Java.  Be aware that the SUN JAVA JRE requires over 100 MB of space !!!  It's huge.

 

Your goal here is to get your MS JAVA VM upgraded to v3810 because the older versions have security flaws.  The SUN JAVA plug-in is optional.  If you find that you do not need it during your browsing experience, then do not install it.

 

MS JAVA VM 5.00.3805

 

MS JAVA VM 5.00.3809

 

MS JAVA VM 5.00.3810 (security upgrade only - must have prior version installed)

 

SUN JAVA Plug-in 1.4x (go to the page, and click "Get It Now")

 

Co-Existence of Both JAVA Machines

99% of the JAVA on the web is either 1.0 or 1.1, so you will rarely ever need the SUN plug-in, which is necessary to run JAVA 2 (also called J2SE).  But if you want it, both MS and SUN Java VM's can co-exist on your machine quite nicely.  However they cannot run concurrently !!  So, you must select one or the other (what a hassle).

Manual Method of Switching 

 as follows:

  1. select which one you want to use in Tools|Internet Options|Advanced (see image below)
  2. close and restart all instances of the IE browser

Automatic Method of Switching (does not work !!!)

You may see references to the JAVA VM Switching Utility Page "SelectIEJVM" (Select IE Java VM).  It is a page that runs a tiny utility which allows you to toggle and view status of your current Java VM vendor associated with IE:

http://www.jensign.com/JavaScience/SelectIEJVM/selectIEJVM.hta 

The author says - "NOTE: if/when you install a new version of Sun J2SE, you need to manually select to have Sun JVM as default JVM for IE (in install), or after you install it via the JavaPlugin control panel. This generates the necessary win32 registry entries, which must be present for the JAVA selector utility to know about the JavaPlugin. After that, the utility should work properly."

But it does not work perfectly - in fact it does not work at all !!  My IE browser stays stuck on Sun JAVA - and when I click the "MS JAVA" button on his page it says "error on page" and no switch occurs.

 

 

If your JAVA is not Working

 

Check the applets provided on these pages - if you do not see them, then IE 6 JAVA is not functioning properly.  The best way to fix this is as follows (datailed instruction on the Fix your JAVA page):

  1. remove the MS JAVA VM

  2. re-install v3805

  3. run the 3810 upgrade