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Ever since the latest update, the Java installation has been corrupted. Any program requiring Java simply doesn't open, and in the command line if I try to run a program using Java MyJavProg I get the message Error occurred during initialization of VM java/lang/NoClassDefFoundError: java/lang/Object.

Should I uninstall everything Java related and reinstall?

2 Answers 2

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I have had success with this type of problem by uninistalling, reinstalling Java. What have you to loose I ask? Java is freely available. (Just avoid the free toolbar add-ons).

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  • Might help, although I hope you know he's talking about JDK and not JRE, for which manual editing of PATH and CLASSPATH is required?
    – Karan
    Jan 16, 2013 at 7:15
  • @Karan In truth I missed that. One feature of my answers is to start with the most obvious solutions, just in case the asker had overlooked a quick and easy fix.
    – Guy Thomas
    Jan 16, 2013 at 8:33
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The likely problem is that your path is targeting the wrong version of java.

Try the following first (I'm assuming a Windows installation):

Navigate to your %PROGRAMFILES%\Java folder

You may see multiple installations of Java - look for the most recent update (assuming the install had no errors)

Launch a command prompt within your %PROGRAMFILES%\Java folder and then change to the relevant java version and retry your commands from the bin folder using the full path to your java file(s). If it works then we have found the culprit.

You now need to edit your environment variables to point to the correct path.

Go to your environmental variables, and edit the PATH (CLASSPATH if necessary), changing

On 32 bit Windows

"C:\Program Files\Java\jdkINCORRECTJAVAVERSION\bin\" to
" C:\Program Files\Java\CORRECTJAVAVERSION\bin\"

On 64 bit Windows

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdkINCORRECTJAVAVERSION\bin\" to
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\CORRECTJAVAVERSION\bin\"

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  • If I navigate to C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_02\bin and run java.exe from there I can sucesfully run Java programs. However, this is already in the PATH environment variable...I notice you said (X86) for Windows 64 bit. I'm on 64 bit but Java is installed in the normal program files
    – Celeritas
    Jan 16, 2013 at 6:33
  • @Celeritas: Yes, install 64-bit JDK on 64-bit Windows. What is your CLASSPATH set to?
    – Karan
    Jan 16, 2013 at 16:48
  • C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_02\bin; is in my PATH variable. I don't have a CLASSPATH variale?
    – Celeritas
    Jan 16, 2013 at 20:48
  • One thing you can check is running java --version and see if it reports the correct version for what you are expecting. If you get a different version it could be you have the java binary sitting in a folder higher up in the path. Also make sure there is only one reference to the JDK in your path (in case of multiple installs.) Please check the following link for setting the PATH and CLASSPATH variables: docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/environment/…
    – Enigman
    Jan 16, 2013 at 22:52
  • I can't run Java --version. Link doesn't contain instructions for the class path on Windows 7.
    – Celeritas
    Jan 17, 2013 at 5:09

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