If you have been having problems with Java, and you have followed some of the instructions on other forums you may find that you no longer can get Java to install because of an error.

When you attempt to run the java installer file you receive the message:

When you click Yes to the above question you receive the error:

This problem is caused because the Windows Installer information for a previous installation of Java has been removed or damaged, but the related registry keys are still present causing the Java installer to think it is already installed.

This problem can be caused if you used the "Windows Installer Cleanup Utility" to remove the Java™ entries without first uninstalling Java properly.

To fix this problem you must remove the two places in the registry that the Java installer looks at in order to determine which versions are currently installed. By removing these entries, the Java installer will begin a new installation instead of attempting to repair the old corrupt installation.

This problem is confirmed in both Windows XP and Windows Vista.

The current version of the Java installer as of this writing is Java 6 Update 14. To make things easy, I have provided a .reg fix that you can use to remove the necessary entries and get the Java 6 Update 14 to install. It will also work for other versions of Java if your problem started after you ran the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. If you need a fix for a newer version of Java when it comes out, reply to this thread and I will create the new fix for that version.

You may download the current version of Java here: http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
I recommend that you use the offline installer version.

The registry fix is listed here:


Please download the attached .zip file and open it. Run the RemoveJ6u14.reg file and allow Registry Editor to import the changes into your registry. Once done, you can start the Java 6 Update 14 installer and it will proceed normally with no errors about it already being installed.

Here's the .zip file:  RemoveJ6u14.zip ( 355bytes ) Number of downloads: 336

This works on both Windows XP and Vista.

This post has been edited by appleoddity: Jun 25 2009, 08:56 PM