You Only Need One Version Of Java

Posted Aug 9, 2007 | by Jason Faulkner  

I was going through my Add/Remove Programs listing this morning and noticed 5 entries for the Java Runtime Environment dating back to “Java 5 Release 7″. I thought this was very odd as there was a subsequent entry for each release after this and all were ~100MB in size.

So to see what was happening, I checked Java for updates and sure enough a new one was out. I ran the web updater (which usually notifies you in your System Tray) and completed the update. Upon refreshing the Add/Remove Programs list, another Java entry was added.

Of course the new version of Java does not require the previous, so I uninstalled every version up to the most recent and tried a Java app. It worked without any hitches.

So check your Add/Remove Programs and remove any old entries of the Java Runtime to clear up some clutter on your machine.

Which Of These Traits Applies To YOUR Computing Life?...

8 Responses to “You Only Need One Version Of Java”

  1. [...] You Only Need One Version Of JavaI was going through my Add/Remove Programs listing this morning and noticed 5 entries for the Java Runtime Environment dating back to ?Java 5 Release 7?. I thought this was very odd as there was a subsequent entry for each release after this and… [...]

  2. I liked this tip. While I was deleting my extra Java installs I noticed that I have Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1, 1.1 Hotfix, 2.0 and 3.0. How many of them do I need?

  3. John P. Mackay says:

    I have three different files of Java in my computer when I check through Add/Remove Programs. The files are below:

    J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 1
    J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 6
    J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 9

    Java 2 Runtime Environment Standard Edition v.1.13_02

    Java (TM) 6 Update 2
    Java (TM) SE Runtime Environment 6

    I know I could unistall 2 earlier installments of J2SE Runtime Environment but what’s about Java 2 Runtime Environment Standard Edition v.1.13_02 and two other files as well with Java (TM) 6 Update 2 and Java (TM) SE Runtime Environment 6.

    Please let me know which files of all programs I can unistall and which program should I keep to run the program of Java?

    Thank you,

    John P. Mackay
    Belleville, ON Canada

  4. John Waggoner: .NET is totally different, leave these entries alone.

    John P. Mackay: You should be able to safely remove all them except “Java (TM) 6 Update 2″.

  5. Michael Trombetta says:

    I too am confused about which Java programs I can remove. On my computer I have:
    J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 10
    J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 2
    J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 4
    Java 2 Runtime Environment. SE v1.4.2_05
    Java 2 Runtime Environment. SE v1.4.2_06
    Java(TM) 6 Update 2

    I’d appreciate knowing which I can safely remove.
    Thanks
    Michael Trombetta

  6. Larry Thompson says:

    .net is another one that seems to install all of its versions . I recently did a clean install and decided to only install .net 3 the I have to programs that run in .net and one needs .net 2 and it seemed to work fine but then windows update installed .net 2 as a high priority update ? why cant they just update and overwrite the previous edition?

  7. [...] my post regarding only needing one version of Java, there were many follow up comments asking if the same is true for Microsoft’s .NET. Without [...]

  8. Flor Sevilla says:

    I too am confused about which Java programs I can remove. On my computer I have:

    Java Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 3
    Java 2 Runtime Environment. SE v1.3.1_02
    Java(TM) 6 Update 2
    Java(TM) 6 Update 3
    Java(TM) 6 Update 4
    I’d appreciate knowing which I can safely remove.
    Thanks
    Flor Sevilla

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