Sun Java VM works but MS Java VM doesn't

[Sam S.]

I noticed Java applets stop working on one of my XP boxes
a few weeks ago. I installed the Sun Java VM and I can
display the applets, but it's much slower than on my
machines that still seem to be using the MS VM. My other
XP box seems to be working fine with the MS VM and I
believe it has the same Windows patches.

Why can't I get MS Java working again? I don't
have "Disable Java" checked, and I've got "JIT
Compiler..." checked in Tools->Options...Advanced. JView
reports the correct (3810) MS Java version.

Also, my website uses a Java applet to do a slide show--
some people are telling me that they can't see the
images. What does MS expect webmasters and users to do if
they still need Java? I thought they're supporting Java
through 2007? It sounds like it has been disabled through
Windows Update for some people. I can't tell every
customer to download the Sun Java VM.

Thanks,
Sam

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Sam - 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
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.

You can get the Sun Java J2SE RunTimes or SDK here:
http://java.sun.com/downloads/index.html (all versions - select using the
dropdown)

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



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 previous have MS Java v. 3805 or 3809
installed.

If your OS is Win2000 SP2, SP3 but NOT SP4 then you can download and install
the 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, you'll need to re-install v.3805, from here:
http://www.download.support.safetec.net/msjavx86/msjavx86.exe
http://www.mvps.org/inetexplorer/msjavx86.exe
http://www.sijet.com/msjavx86.exe


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 entry for Windows 2000 SP4 (this seems to
be the only Win2k option that has it) and then find 816093 in the list. You
can find directions for using the Windows Update Catalog functions here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;323166. (I am
informed by Torgeir Bakken, MVP, that if you rename the downloaded file from
here: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail.php3?fid=1050022631 to
msjavwu.exe it will then also work for SP4.)

The following procedure has also been reported to work for Win2kSP4 by Saybo
at
"I always try to install the 3805 package 1st. Most of the time that
does not work, so I then have them download the 3810 package, open it
in WinZip and extract msjava.dll and vmhelper.dll to the system32
folder. Then run the 3810 install. This has had a 100% success rate
for the last couple of months."



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