Java update

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 20 Sep 2012 9:25 am

Jack Stoner (in the announcement Wiz made on IE at the top of the page) jarred my memory about a problem I have with updating Java. I keep getting notifications that tell me there is an update to Java. When I click on them to update, I always get an error message saying "failed to download required installation files".

I have tried going direct to their website and downloading and installing the current version from there, but no luck. I tried uninstalling Java from my computer and still no luck.

I don't notice anything not working, but am concerned about security if that is why they update Java.

Any advice?

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 20 Sep 2012 5:34 pm

What operating system and service pack are you using?

Is the PC fully up to date with patches?

Are you operating as an Administrator, or as a Standard (Power) or Limited User?

Jim Priebe · Post by **Jim Priebe** » 2 Oct 2012 8:44 pm

Richard
Is this on your XP computer? I will assume it is.
On XP Java will get confused with it's update indexing (well, nobody's perfect!)
G0 into your <add> and remove all but the last/latest Java version eg. Ver 23 - they are just taking up space on your HDD. After that Java won't have to search through as much to figure what updates you need and where to install it.
If you use Win 7 the system does this automatically (you won't find any old version lurking there).
It may even be an idea to remove all of the Java versions then go to the Java site and download the latest one (that suits your XP).
Not every version of Java has been perfect with all systems - eg. ver 23 was a pain running on Server 2003 so we had to go back to ver 19 then wait for a later version which was OK.
If you still use XP Home (not Pro) then time is fast running out for it to remain anything but a pain in the butt due to lack of MS updates etc. being compatible.
Spare a thought for microsoft - they are no longer the richest ----

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 2 Oct 2012 8:55 pm

Last night I disinfected a friend's laptop of the FBI/Moneypak extortionware. Upon investigating matters, I found three outdated versions of the Java Virtual Machine and uninstalled all of them. I suspect that my friend was lured, or iframed to a BlackHole Exploit site, where one of his outdated Java plugins was used to leap out of the browser's sandbox and into the operating system.

I now recommend uninstalling Java and not installing it again. I further recommend browsing the Internet using a less privileged account type.

Jim Priebe · Post by **Jim Priebe** » 2 Oct 2012 10:27 pm

Good work Wiz!
If you must use Java (and Flash) it is essential to keep them up to date. Unfortunately many just have to have Java as they are prisoners of this. It is excellent programming but the security as with many systems is constantly being compromised.
Why don't these genius's do something useful like fixing push pulls for those who have problems with them!
I still prefer Kaspersky as a "Java Guard" I must confess.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 3 Oct 2012 8:25 am

Jim Priebe wrote:Good work Wiz!
If you must use Java (and Flash) it is essential to keep them up to date. Unfortunately many just have to have Java as they are prisoners of this. It is excellent programming but the security as with many systems is constantly being compromised.
Why don't these genius's do something useful like fixing push pulls for those who have problems with them!
I still prefer Kaspersky as a "Java Guard" I must confess.

There are Group Policy (Pro versions of Windows) restrictions that can be placed on the Java executables and the browsers running Java plug-ins. Also, some software firewalls can be configured to disallow outgoing TCP traffic from Java executables.

Operating as a less privileged user denies most malware access to your OS. However, some newer malware tries to install APTs in Userland accounts. A robust anti-malware, anti-exploit suite is a must for Java users.