JRE Installation for Microsoft Windows

See JDK 7 and JRE 7 Installation Guide for general information about installing JDK 7 and JRE 7.

The following topics are covered:

System Requirements

See Oracle JRE 7 and JDK 7 Certified System Configurations for information about supported platforms, operating systems, and browsers.

See Windows System Requirements for JDK and JRE for minimum processor, disk space, and memory requirements.

Note: If you have any difficulties, see Troubleshooting Java SE, Online Installation and Java Update FAQ, or submit a bug report for your installation problem.

Proxy Settings and Authentication

For the Windows Online Installer, you must be connected to the internet. If you are running behind a proxy server, you must have your proxy settings correctly configured. If they are not configured, or are incorrectly configured, the installer will terminate with the following message:

The installer cannot proceed with the current Internet Connection proxy settings. Please check the Installation Notes for more information.

If you see this message, check your proxy settings: From the Start menu select Settings ..., click Control Panel, double-click Internet Options, select the Connections tab, and click the LAN Settings... button.

If you do not know what the correct settings should be, check with your Internet provider or system administrator.

Installation Instructions Notation

For any text in this document that contains the following notation, you must substitute the appropriate update version number for the notation. 

<version>

For example, if you were downloading the Offline JRE Installer for 32-bit systems for update 1.7.0_01, the file name jre-7<version>-windows-i586.exe would become jre-7u1-windows-i586.exe.

Similarly, if you were downloading the Offline JRE Installer for 64-bit systems for update 1.7.0_01, the file name jre-7<version>-windows-x64.exe would become: jre-7u1-windows-x64.exe.

Installation Instructions

Install the JRE by doing the following:

Downloading the Installer

You have a choice of the following kinds of JRE installers that you can download:

Note:

Click the JRE Download link for the installer you want to use. A dialog box opens. Depending on your browser, click Save or Save File to save the JRE installer without installing it. Verify that you have downloaded the entire file by comparing the size of the file you downloaded with the expected size shown on the download page. Alternatively, (depending on your browser) click Run or Open to run the JRE installer from your browser.

Running the Installer

Note: You must have administrative permissions in order to install the JRE.

If you saved the JRE installer to your computer, run the installer by double-clicking it. Follow the instructions the installer provides. The installer notifies you if Java content is disabled in web browsers, and provides instructions for enabling it. If you previously chose to hide some of the security prompts for applets and Java Web Start applications, the installer provides an option for restoring the prompts. When you are finished with the installation, you can delete the downloaded file to recover disk space.

The installer may ask you to reboot your computer if you chose not to restart an internet browser when it prompted you to do so.

Note:

Java Plug-in

Java Plug-in technology, included as part of the JRE, establishes a connection between popular browsers and the Java platform. This connection enables applets on web sites to be run within a browser on the desktop. Java Plug-in is automatically enabled for supported web browsers during installation of the JRE. No user intervention is necessary. See Applet Developer's Guide for more information about Java Plug-in technology.

Note: In Java SE 7, the version of Java Plug-in that is available in versions of the JRE prior to Java SE 6 Update 10 has been deprecated. However, this earlier version of Java Plug-in is still shipped with Java SE 7 for compatibility purposes but is no longer fully supported. It will be removed in a future release. For backward compatibility purposes, you can specify which Java Plug-in is used to run applets in the Java Control Panel. To specify this, run Java Control Panel, go to the Advanced tab, Java Plug-in node, and toggle the check box labeled Enable the next-generation Java Plug-in. See Java Control Panel for more information. In addition, you can use the Java Control Panel to manage multiple JRE versions used for applet execution.

Java Web Start

Java Web Start is an application-deployment technology that gives you the power to run full-featured applications with a single click from your Web browser. You can now download and run applications, such as a complete spreadsheet program or an Internet chat client, without going through complicated installation procedures. With Java Web Start, you run applications simply by clicking a web page link. If the application is not present on your computer, Java Web Start automatically downloads all necessary files. It then caches the files on your computer so the application is always ready to be run anytime you want — either from an icon on your desktop or from the browser link. No matter which method you use to run the application, the most current, available version of the application is always presented to you. See Java Web Start for more information.

This section covers the following topics:

Upgrading from Previous Versions

If you have a previous version of Java Web Start, do not uninstall it. Uninstalling it will cause the download cache to be cleared, and all previously installed Java Web Start application data will have to be downloaded again. This new version will write over previous installations and automatically update browsers to use this new version. The configuration files and the program files folder used by Java Web Start have changed, but all your settings will remain intact after the upgrade because Java Web Start will translate your settings to the new form.

Uninstallation

The only way to uninstall Java Web Start is to uninstall the JDK/JRE. Uninstalling the JDK/JRE will not, however, remove the cache for previous versions of Java Web Start. Previous releases have separate uninstall instructions for Java Web Start.

Note: You may see a misleading message if you do the following:

When you remove the application, you see an "Uninstaller Error" dialog box saying "An error occurred while trying to remove Java-Application: <name> App. It may have already been uninstalled. Would you like to remove Java-Application: <name> App from the Add or Remove program list?" If you say yes to this, then you will see another "Uninstaller Error" dialog box saying "You do not have sufficient access to remove Java-Application: <name> App from the Add or Remove Program list. Please contact your system administrator." This is the misleading message. It implies that the problem is due to privileges. It is not. The problem is that you have already removed the Java Web Start application when you removed JDK or JRE, but this is not reflected in the "Add or Remove Programs" dialog box until it is refreshed by pressing F5 or it is closed and reopened.

To avoid seeing this misleading message, either press F5 or close and reopen the dialog box. Any Java Web Start application that was downloaded and cached with the JDK or JRE will no longer appear in the list of currently installed programs.

Java Update Feature

For issues related to the Java Update feature, see Java Update.

Silent Installation

To install the JRE silently or non-interactively, which is useful for installing on multiple computers, see Command-Line Installation in JRE Installer Options.

Installation of JRE on 64-Bit Windows Computers

64-bit Windows operating systems (which may be Windows 7, Windows 8 or Vista) come with a 32-bit Internet Explorer (IE) browser as the standard (default) for viewing web pages. These operating systems also include a 64-bit Internet Explorer browser. However, using it is optional, and it must be explicitly selected to view web pages. Note that because some web content may not work properly in a 64-bit browser, it is recommended that you use the default 32-bit browser and install the 32-bit JRE.

Note: The Windows Online Installer and Java Update features are not applicable to 64-bit architecture.

The following sections can help you determine which JRE to install:

Verifying Your Version of Windows

See 32-bit and 64-bit Windows: frequently asked questions to determine if your system is running a 64-bit version of Windows.

Verifying Your Browser

Follow these steps to determine whether you are using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Internet Explorer:

  1. Start Internet Explorer.
  2. In the menu bar, click Help.
  3. Select About Internet Explorer, which will open an information window.

Follow one of the following methods to determine whether you are using a 64-bit version of Firefox:

If you running 64-bit version of Firefox, it may be indicated as 64-bit (for example, Win64); otherwise, it is a 32-bit version of Firefox.

Note: The 64-bit JRE is presented as a download option automatically for 64-bit Internet Explorer and 64-bit Firefox for Windows users.

Choosing Which JRE Installer to Download

Download the JRE installer, depending on which browser you have installed:

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