Tracker and Java

[Chris21wen]

There used to be a problem with Tracker and later versions of Java. Is this still the case as I've got Java problems on my machine and want to remove all versions of Java and reinstall.

[witpqs]

If you want to do that, then I suggest that you first find the version of Java 6 that you are using and make a backup copy. The folder that you will find it in is probably (your system might vary)

C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6

Just copy the whole 'jre6' folder tree to someplace safe, like 'C:\jre6 - Copy'

Then go ahead and uninstall/delete what you want to. Next, install the latest Java 7. You don't need it for Tracker, so I am assuming that you want to have current Java. If you don't want it, then don't bother installing it.

Next comes Java 6, but do NOT install it. You don't need to 'officially' install it, Java works just fine. What you do is copy from the Java 6 backup that you made earlier, and put back (in a sense) Java 6 wherever you first found it (for example C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6).

Last, make sure that your Tracker .bat file (whatever one you are using to run Tracker) knows where Java 6 is located. If you have put Java 6 back where it was, then Tracker's .bat file is probably already correct. Just for reference here is what mine looks like.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\java" -Xms512m -Xmx768m -jar "WitPTracker.jar" nomap
pause

If for some reason you have completely deleted Java 6 (doh!), then look in the Tracker thread. I recently gave some screen shots of where Oracle keeps Java 6 available for download these days (they have moved it to an archival area).

[witpqs]

BTW, just in case you are asking "does Tracker still need Java 6?", my understanding is "yes".

[Chris21wen]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

BTW, just in case you are asking "does Tracker still need Java 6?", my understanding is "yes".

Thanks for the reply

I just found that out, I ran it using Java 7 and it won't load a new turn.

[witpqs]

What might have tripped you up is that, at some point, Oracle had their Java 7 updates look for Java 6 and uninstall it. So, those who had not heard of that ahead of time and did not make a backup copy, were stuck looking for it to re-download and get it back on their system. It was understandable because Java 6 is past end of life and has bad security bugs. So, if it was accessible by a web site through your browser, an infected web site could do bad things to your computer.

But we still need it for Tracker. So, have it there but not 'installed'. And if you do have Java 'installed' for a browser, make it Java 7, kept up to date with security patches. The browsers are now much better about how they allow web sites to gain access to Java, with confirmation to allow certain web sites. IIRC Chrome even shuts off those permission every so many days so you have a chance to confirm that authorization periodically.

[Chris21wen]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

What might have tripped you up is that, at some point, Oracle had their Java 7 updates look for Java 6 and uninstall it. So, those who had not heard of that ahead of time and did not make a backup copy, were stuck looking for it to re-download and get it back on their system. It was understandable because Java 6 is past end of life and has bad security bugs. So, if it was accessible by a web site through your browser, an infected web site could do bad things to your computer.

But we still need it for Tracker. So, have it there but not 'installed'. And if you do have Java 'installed' for a browser, make it Java 7, kept up to date with security patches. The browsers are now much better about how they allow web sites to gain access to Java, with confirmation to allow certain web sites. IIRC Chrome even shuts off those permission every so many days so you have a chance to confirm that authorization periodically.

I do have both, Java 6 only for Tracker. The problem is I have issues with Explorer versions 9,10,11 in that they will not show embedded google maps. I've been following online advise on how to overcome it and one of the things to do is reinstall Java with the latest. I wanted to remove all vestiges of Java and wondered if Java 6 was still needed.

OT: If anyone out there has had similar problems I'd be grateful on how to fix the problem google map problem.

[witpqs]

If you have Java 6 "copied" to your hard drive but not "installed" as described above, then IE should not be finding it at all so it shouldn't be a factor.

I'm skeptical about that advice that removing Java will help IE with Google Maps, but I really don't know. I switched a very long time ago to Firefox, and a long time ago switched again to Chrome. If you are using IE then I strongly recommend using the most recent version, fully up to date with patches. Using older versions is a big security risk. Remember that even if you only go to wholly legitimate web sites, one of the common tactics out there is for bad guys to break into a good web site and sneak in bad stuff that the owners don't know about.

[Chris21wen]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

If you have Java 6 "copied" to your hard drive but not "installed" as described above, then IE should not be finding it at all so it shouldn't be a factor.

I'm skeptical about that advice that removing Java will help IE with Google Maps, but I really don't know. I switched a very long time ago to Firefox, and a long time ago switched again to Chrome. If you are using IE then I strongly recommend using the most recent version, fully up to date with patches. Using older versions is a big security risk. Remember that even if you only go to wholly legitimate web sites, one of the common tactics out there is for bad guys to break into a good web site and sneak in bad stuff that the owners don't know about.

Finally got google maps to work on ie11. As you say it had nothing to do with Java in the end. It turned out to be some configuration from an earlier installation which was being carried over to the new install. I reset ie11 back to factory defaults and now it works fine but.....


I've now got a problem with the 'Reply to Message' I'm using here. The font is not the normal one and I have no word warp.. Had this before but cannot remember how to fix it.

[Chris21wen]

Ok fixed that.  Site needs to be in compatibility view.