Java Control Panel does not show Update tab on Windows 7 x64

Question

I'm running Windows 7 Professional x64. I've installed JDK 1.6.0u25 in the 32-bit version first, and the 64-bit version on top.

The Java Control Panel does not show anything about updates; I can't trigger a manual update.

Msconfig shows the jusched.exe autostart, titled "Java(TM) Platform SE Auto Update 2 0".

I found this tip: http://www.computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=732269 for forcing the update panel to appear, although I haven't tried that.

My questions are:

• Why doesn't the update tab appear any more?
• Is this on Win7x64 only?
• Does it relate to installing both 32-bit and 64-bit versions?

Also, in a previous Windows installation, I noticed that only one of the JREs got updated automatically. How is this supposed to work?

Answer 1

You may be seeing a 32bit vs 64bit jre conflict in the control panel.

On a new HP laptop I have (win7 64bit), I ended up with both the 64bit and 32bit JRE installed, without actually doing anything. Shortly after starting to use the system, I accepted a prompt to update java. Later I noticed that the java version in the control panel was still old, however, the java version in ie8 was the newer version. You can see the version in your browser by browsing to about:plugins (in mozilla, chrome) or:

• http://java.com/en/download/testjava.jsp

• From a 32bit cmd.exe, java -version indicated the new version.

• From a 64bit cmd.exe, java -version indicated the old version (and 64-bit).

When I ran the 64bit version of ie8 (normally you are running the 32bit version), and visited the above testjava link, it indicated I had an out of date version and did a choke, die when I tested it.

The 32bit version was doing the auto-update (via a background process) run from: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run SunJavaUpdateSched "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe"

So, it seems like the control panel was showing the 64bit of the jre, which was not auto-updating and the 32bit version of the jre was auto-updating. I did not see any auto-update process for the 64bit version of the jre. I will probably try and un-install the 64-bit version of the jre because my average user does not need this.

I was able to run the 32bit version of the control panel from:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\javacpl.exe

and it did show the Update tab.

fyi: the 64-bit (old) version of the control panel was at:

• C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\javacpl.exe

Answer 2

Auto update is not supported for 64-bit Java yet (bug track). You can track the updates from RSS channel of Java SE News and download installation package manually.

Answer 3

I had the same problem. What worked for me was to go into

C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre7\bin\javacpl.exe

rather than what Windows Control Panel defaults to (which is in C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\javacpl.exe).

The one in x86 has the update tab in Windows 7 64 bit.

Answer 4

The correct location is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy

Create a DWORD (32-bit) value and named it as "EnableJavaUpdate". Set its value (value type - hex) to 1 to display the Update tab. Set its value to 0 to hide the Update tab from the Java console.

Answer 5

Click on Start > Run
Type the following command and press Enter: "regedit".
Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > JavaSoft > Java Update > Policy".
Create a DWORD (32-bit) value and named it as "EnableJavaUpdate".
    Set its value (value type - hex) to 1 to display the Update tab.
    Set its value to 0 to hide the Update tab from the Java console.