Software Deployment

Hello,

It should be possible for multiple versions of the JRE to coexist quite happily on the system. In my own experience, it is actually unusual to have just a single version of JRE installed in most enterprises.

Have you actually tried out Northstart on a machine with Java 2 Runtime installed along with older versions - or are you assuming it just won't work ? Worth a try if you haven't done so already - keeping the older versions does give you the option of running other applications that perhaps won't work with the later version of JRE.

If you really *must* remove older versions, then the following link may help

http://java.com/en/download/faq/5000070400.xml

Regards,

Spartacus

Lillian, Lots of JRE apps - correction, lots of JRE app developers - are monumentally dumb, in that they build in code to detect the exact JRE version they were built with and insist on its presence when, in fact, as Graham says, they will actually work quite happily with later versions.

The key is to know how that detection is done and th eoverwhelming majority rely on reading 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Runtime Environment\CurrentVersion' and then using the value obtained to drill down further. That is, if it gets '1.5', it will then read 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Runtime Environment\1.5', etc.

From that, it should be obvious that you can fool these apps into believing that the Holy Grail is present simply by taking whatever is actually installed on the machine and, for want of a better phrase, reverse-engineering the registry data that the app wants. That is, take whatever your machines have in the 1.5 or 1.6 key and reproduce it verbatim in a new key, '1.4'. Remember to include all the other sub-keys associated with the major version, too, such as '1.5.0_10' or whatever your version has.

Spartacus,

After I found out the version they have on each workstations are vary, but in order to run NorthStart need have older vsion of Java 1.4.2_13 or Java 1.4.2_03, everything else need to remove, so where I can find the unisntall script to removed the new version.

Also the bottom of task bar alway have Java Update Available popup, how do you stop them?

Thanks.

Lillian

From the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\software\javasoft\java update, I need to change EnableAutoUpdateCheck from 1 to 0, how to write the script for that?


Thanks.


Lillian

You don't need a script, Lillian. It can be done using the Registry table if editing tables directly or by using the 'Registry view of your authoring tool.