Java update?

[Rilla927]

Can you install over top of previous install?

Thanks

[JRViejo]

Rilla927, yes you can. These days, Java does a better job of uninstalling older versions (you can see the removal process during the installation) than before.

If your OS is Windows 9x, 2k, XP, and/or Vista without UAC, there is also JavaRa (http://raproducts.org/wordpress/software), which can be used to remove and install Java. They are working on 64-bit support in a new Beta version: JavaRa 1.16 beta (http://raproducts.org/wordpress/javara-1-16-beta) (proceed with caution as it is a Beta!).

[Rilla927]

Thanks JRViejo!! I didn't want to do it before I got a confirmation.

[JRViejo]

Rilla927, you're welcome! Take care.

[MikeBCda]

The main reason un-installing first is no longer necessary is that Sun has changed the default installation process. Up until maybe 5 or 6 updates back, installation went into a separate new folder for each new "update" (actually a full working version) and the folders and files for previous updates remained untouched, including any vulnerabilities.

Now all new updates go into the same existing folder, so that new versions of files over-write the older ones.

[Rilla927]

You would think they would have done that from the beginning.

[MikeBCda]

-{ Quote: "You would think they would have done that from the beginning." }-
+1
Sun's updating has always been sloppy ... to this day (if I'm not mistaken), when a new update becomes available, you'll probably learn about it at a 3rd party forum (like here, or avast) long before the "check for updates" thing gives any results.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that shifting to use of a common folder was a case of Sun finally responding to years of complaints from users about the old system which left the vulnerabilities still on your computer.