Java and J2SE

[bruce johnson]

I am cleaning out some programs on the ol' laptop today. I am finding that I have J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 in updates 10, 11, and 6. I have Java s Run Time SE v1.4 2_03. I have Java 6 Update 2,3,and 5. Java SE Runtime 6 Update 1. Each of these are anywhere from 130 to 159 MB or so. Can I safely dump any of them? I have an HP laptop and XP.

[rdb]

No problem...just dump'em, even the latest one you have. Sometimes the misc files and such get mixed up. A brand new download of java after you delete the others wouldn't hurt...

[Johanna]

I would leave the Java everythings. Sometimes they have to be installed sequentially when you reformat a computer because they are not cumulative. They aren't taking up that much space anyway. If you really want to get rid of them you should uninstall them, not delete them, and I wouldn't because some older site is going to start acting funny.

Clear your temp files and move the slider down to about 80MB for "space to use", and if your computer is running well, delete all but your last restore point and turn the space way down for that one, too. (I use about 20MB) Those are two of the biggest space hogs on the C drive because Windows allocates so much space for them by default. Since they have to fill up to overwrite, it's better to keep them smaller. Less chance of corruption on the SR points especially.

Johanna

[BeltFanDan]

The new 1.6 versions of Java should be able to emulate the older versions. We do have some custom written applications at work that will not function on the new JRE. In this case, uninstall ALL the JRE versions. Then install the oldest versions needed for your propriatery programs first, then finish with 1.6.

But for 99% of people, uninstall them ALL, then open windows explorer and delete the C:\program files\java folder

Reboot

Then when you are back online, go to the Sun site and download and install the newest version and you should be set.

[Art]

Hi Bruce,

Uninstall any and all of that evil Java crap from your machine. Then delete anything JAVA related from the program files directory on your C: drive. It would then be a good idea to delete anything in the temp directory and you may as well blitz the trash while you are there. The idea here is to eliminate that evil Sun crud from any Microsoft Operating System as it really doesn't belong there. You should instead install Versions 1.1, 2, 3, and 3.5 of the .Net Framework and all of the corresponding Service Packs and start marching to the Microsoft drum. This will keep the nastys from running insidious JavaScripts on your machine and keep you from imminent disaster (but, you'll be able to run nefarious little VB Scripts if you still want to flirt with danger). If you want to run the evil Java, go get a Unix box.

Bill Gates

Of course, if you want to get any work done, you should follow Dan's advice, then reboot and go up to the Sun Microsystems Java Site and download and install the latest Java Runtime Engine (also called the Java Virtual Machine).

http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp

I myself am not a particularly lover of Java (we call it by another name, C#) but in today's world it is a necessary evil.

Art

I am cleaning out some programs on the ol' laptop today. I am finding that I have J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 in updates 10, 11, and 6. I have Java s Run Time SE v1.4 2_03. I have Java 6 Update 2,3,and 5. Java SE Runtime 6 Update 1. Each of these are anywhere from 130 to 159 MB or so. Can I safely dump any of them? I have an HP laptop and XP.

[Johanna]

Dear Bill Gates,

We need Java to use Live Chat, so sorry, we ain't dumping it .

Hey, Dan's advice is on the money. Don't forget the reboot hementioned. I don't know why, but it's necessary for all this to work right. Same goes when you need to update Adobe Flash to watch You Tube videos. Uninstall the old, reboot, reinstall the new. I don't know why updates aren't cumulative, but they aren't.

Johanna

(part time computer geek)

[hivemind]

If your PC's hard disk drive is filling up, and you can't ever seem to get enough space freed up, try downloading a trial of a program called Tree Size Pro: http://www.jam-software.com/treesize/

It will show you visual representations of the sizes of your files and directories, which lets you quickly pick out huge areas that could be deleted. We use it all the time at work, in fact, I have an old version of it (3.0 I think) on my keychain. For an example, we recently had a customer that kept getting low disk space warning on her PC. It had an 80 GB hard drive - not huge, but more than adequate fr anyone but a music or movies pack-rat. With Tree Size Pro, we very quickly (within a minute) saw that she had 55 GB of Photoshop temp files built up inside her user profile. Deleted all those, and she was all set.

It's a good program, give it a shot.