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.

Jason Faulkner is the man who brings you our daily tips. He is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
[...] 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… [...]
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?
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
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″.
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
.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?
[...] 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 [...]
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