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Java is constantly prompting users to upgrade and, when they do, it tries to install all sorts of other things which we must uninstall. Lately it installs a backup program called Carbonite.

We’ve banned Java unless the user has a specific reason why they need it. Those people are getting upgrade prompts with “ride along” software.

How can we stop this?

  • What site is it contacting to see if there’s an upgrade? It should be easy to block that at the firewall. (We did the same thing with RealPlayer.)
  • Is there a registry entry or group policy that can stop it?
masegaloeh
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Nate
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  • +1 because I feel your pain. Managing Java on a network can be a right headache - I've come to the conclusion myself that it's primarily a developer's plaything and not really suitable for corporate desktop use. – Maximus Minimus Aug 19 '09 at 23:17

  • We’ve banned Java unless the user has a specific reason why they need it.

    I know this post is old. Hoping you still monitor this account. I'm curious how this has worked for you. We are considering blocking Java also.

     – Jeff Malone Apr 02 '11 at 02:27
  • This did work, although we don’t do it any more. The current Java updates seem less-obnoxious. – Nate Apr 04 '11 at 19:32

1 Answers1

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To disable the auto-update notification you should be able to set the dword value at HKLM\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy\EnableJavaUpdate to 0 and HKLM\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy\NotifyInstall to 0.

Here is a fragment from on of my startup scripts.

Option Explicit

Dim oShell
Set oShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

DisableJavaUpdateNotification()

Function DisableJavaUpdateNotification
    Dim Key,Value
    Key="HKLM\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy\EnableJavaUpdate"
    Value="0"
    oShell.RegWrite Key,Value,"REG_DWORD"
    Key="HKLM\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy\NotifyInstall"
    Value="0"
    oShell.RegWrite Key,Value,"REG_DWORD"
End Function
Zoredache
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  • Thanks Zoredache. I’m testing this now and will add it to our GPOs tonight. – Nate Aug 19 '09 at 22:19
  • Looking at that registry key I also found a key called PostStatusUrl set to https://sjremetrics.java.com/b/ss//6 — is there any reason why I shouldn’t block sjremetrics.java.com? – Nate Aug 19 '09 at 22:26
  • Don't know about blocking sjremetrics.java.com, It might be worth trying, but I would probably try it in a testing environment first. – Zoredache Aug 19 '09 at 22:35