IE6 & JVM/JRE

[David Laub]

Does IE6 come with a Java Virtual Machine (JVM)?
Do I also need to download the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for Sun?
What does the JRE provide that isn't already bundled with IE6

Thanks

David Laub

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi David - You can test whether Java is working on your machine at the
following sites:

http://www.pocoso.de/pocoso052.html
http://www.clan.lib.ri.us/clan/javatest.html (This one may be down)
http://www.fitwise.com/testjava.asp (both 1.0 and 1.1 and what's installed)
http://coglab.wadsworth.com/support/browsercheck.html
http://www.ces.clemson.edu/webct/browser_detect.html

and you can test Javascript here:
http://www.dancespots.net/browsertest.htm


There is good information concerning all aspects of the Java situation here:
http://www.javatester.org/installing.html

Be aware, however, that after Dec 31, 2007, MS will apparently no longer be
distributing Java or providing any support for Java including security
fixes. See here: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/ so you might want
to start thinking about the future. MS Java VM Transition FAQ are available
here:
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/faq.asp Information on the current
availability of the MS JVM is available here: INFO: Availability of Current
Build of Microsoft VM,
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;163637

You can get the Sun Java J2SE RunTimes or SDK here:
http://java.sun.com/downloads/index.html (all versions - select using the
dropdown - I recommend that you don't install any version prior to 1.4.2.06
in order to get a necessary bug fix.)

Sun also offers an automatic download and install of the 1.4 Java plug-in
here: http://java.sun.com/getjava/download.html

If you want the latest and greatest, you can link to a download for the J2SE
5.0 JRE here: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp (What I use,
BTW)



For the MS Java VM, you may need to install v.3805 or v.3809 prior to
upgrading to v. 3810 if you didn't previously have MS Java v. 3805 or 3809
installed.

If your OS is Win2000 SP2, SP3 but NOT SP4 then you can download and install
MS Java VM v. 3809 from here:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/m..._510A502BA8F9B6F19230BB2BCCE87D5474AC9DCD.exe
or here:
http://www.biologylab.awlonline.com...icrosoft.Q810030_W2K_SP4_5849/Q810030_W2K.exe

For Win2000 SP4, follow the directions here: Frequently Asked Questions
About the Microsoft VM and Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=820101 "Because the Microsoft VM files are
not protected by the Windows File Protection (WFP) feature in Windows 2000
SP4, redistributable versions of the Microsoft VM can be installed on a
Windows 2000 SP4-based computer with or without the Microsoft VM."


For all other OS's:

Download and install the MS Java VM v. 3809 from one of the links here:
http://ftp.idilis.ro/windows/sp/jvm98/msjavwu.exe, or here:
http://secinfo.huji.ac.il/patches/Win-xp/msjavwu.exe or v. 3805 from
here:
http://www.sijet.com/msjavx86.exe


Then upgrade to v. 3810:

For all OS's except Win2kSP4 obtain v. 3810 here:
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail.php3?fid=1050022631 ,or here:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/m...l/MSJavWU_8073687b82d41db93f4c2a04af2b34d.exe

For Win2k - SP2, SP3 - you can also obtain v. 3810 from Microsoft here:
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...-9b18-423356321682/Q816093_W2K_SP4_X86_EN.exe

For Win2kSP4, to get 3810 from Microsoft you now have to get Q816093 from
Windows Update Catalog - use the procedure given in the Q820101 link given
above for Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition (Yes, Win98x/SE - it's
not a mistake). You can find directions for using the Windows Update
Catalog functions here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;323166.



Both Java VM's can co-exist on your machine quite nicely. Just select which
one you want to use in Tools|Internet Options|Advanced and restart all IE
browsers. Here, courtesy of Mitch Gallant, MVP Security, is 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/index.html

A note from Mitch Gallant:

"One note about the JVM Selector utility: 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 install via the JavaPlugin control panel.
This generates the necessary win32 registry entries, which must be present
for the utility to know about JavaPlugin. After that, the utility should
work properly."

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In

 

[David Laub]

Thanks for the voluminous info - there's a lot to chew on - but can I
(re)ask an original question:

At least until 12/31/2007, If I have IE6 (with has MSJVM) what do I gain, if
anything, by downloading the Sun JRE?

Thanks

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi David - Well, let me turn it around - Since you can run both
simultaneously without problem and it cost you nothing to install the Sun
Java VM and get used to it since you're going to have to use it eventually,
what have you go to lose? Obviously, it's your choice - I just put
forward information to try and help those that need it.

BTW, having IE6 is no guarantee of automatically having the MS VM. For
example - you don't state your OS, but if you're on Win2k and had to
reinstall for any number of reasons, you'd find that what you get with the
reinstall is IE5.5. When you upgrade to IE6 in that case, you won't get the
MS VM unless you take the steps that I outlined. There are many other
similar situations.

--
Please respond in the same thread.
Regards, Jim Byrd, MS-MVP



In