How to find where javaw.exe is installed?

Question

So, for a project I am working on, I need to find out where a javaw.exe is located on a user's machine. How do I do that? Assuming that user is on Windows machine

The method that I used is limited to English versions of Windows only.
I looked for where the OS is installed, locate the Program Files directory, locate Java, jdk directory, bin, then javaw.exe. I know this will not work on non-English versions of Windows.

What is the human-language-independent way to do this ?

Answer 1

For the sake of completeness, let me mention that there are some places (on a Windows PC) to look for javaw.exe in case it is not found in the path: (Still Reimeus' suggestion should be your first attempt.)

1.
Java usually stores it's location in Registry, under the following key:
HKLM\Software\JavaSoft\Java Runtime Environement\<CurrentVersion>\JavaHome

2.
Newer versions of JRE/JDK, seem to also place a copy of javaw.exe in 'C:\Windows\System32', so one might want to check there too (although chances are, if it is there, it will be found in the path as well).

3.
Of course there are the "usual" install locations:

• 'C:\Program Files\Java\jre*\bin'
• 'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk*\bin'
• 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre*\bin'
• 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk*\bin'

[Note, that for older versions of Windows (XP, Vista(?)), this will only help on english versions of the OS. Fortunately, on later version of Windows "Program Files" will point to the directory regardless of its "display name" (which is language-specific).]

A little while back, I wrote this piece of code to check for javaw.exe in the aforementioned places. Maybe someone finds it useful:

static protected String findJavaw() {
    Path pathToJavaw = null;
    Path temp;

    /* Check in Registry: HKLM\Software\JavaSoft\Java Runtime Environement\<CurrentVersion>\JavaHome */
    String keyNode = "HKLM\\Software\\JavaSoft\\Java Runtime Environment";
    List<String> output = new ArrayList<>();
    executeCommand(new String[] {"REG", "QUERY", "\"" + keyNode + "\"", 
                                 "/v", "CurrentVersion"}, 
                   output);
    Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("\\s*CurrentVersion\\s+\\S+\\s+(.*)$");
    for (String line : output) {
        Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(line);
        if (matcher.find()) {
            keyNode += "\\" + matcher.group(1);
            List<String> output2 = new ArrayList<>();
            executeCommand(
                    new String[] {"REG", "QUERY", "\"" + keyNode + "\"", 
                                  "/v", "JavaHome"}, 
                    output2);
            Pattern pattern2 
                    = Pattern.compile("\\s*JavaHome\\s+\\S+\\s+(.*)$");
            for (String line2 : output2) {
                Matcher matcher2 = pattern2.matcher(line2);
                if (matcher2.find()) {
                    pathToJavaw = Paths.get(matcher2.group(1), "bin", 
                                            "javaw.exe");
                    break;
                }
            }
            break;
        }
    }
    try {
        if (Files.exists(pathToJavaw)) {
            return pathToJavaw.toString();
        }
    } catch (Exception ignored) {}

    /* Check in 'C:\Windows\System32' */
    pathToJavaw = Paths.get("C:\\Windows\\System32\\javaw.exe");
    try {
        if (Files.exists(pathToJavaw)) {
            return pathToJavaw.toString();
        }
    } catch (Exception ignored) {}

    /* Check in 'C:\Program Files\Java\jre*' */
    pathToJavaw = null;
    temp = Paths.get("C:\\Program Files\\Java");
    if (Files.exists(temp)) {
        try (DirectoryStream<Path> dirStream 
                = Files.newDirectoryStream(temp, "jre*")) {
            for (Path path : dirStream) {
                temp = Paths.get(path.toString(), "bin", "javaw.exe");
                if (Files.exists(temp)) {
                    pathToJavaw = temp;
                    // Don't "break", in order to find the latest JRE version
                }                    
            }
            if (pathToJavaw != null) {
                return pathToJavaw.toString();
            }
        } catch (Exception ignored) {}
    }

    /* Check in 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre*' */
    pathToJavaw = null;
    temp = Paths.get("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Java");
    if (Files.exists(temp)) {
        try (DirectoryStream<Path> dirStream 
                = Files.newDirectoryStream(temp, "jre*")) {
            for (Path path : dirStream) {
                temp = Paths.get(path.toString(), "bin", "javaw.exe");
                if (Files.exists(temp)) {
                    pathToJavaw = temp;
                    // Don't "break", in order to find the latest JRE version
                }                    
            }
            if (pathToJavaw != null) {
                return pathToJavaw.toString();
            }
        } catch (Exception ignored) {}
    }

    /* Check in 'C:\Program Files\Java\jdk*' */
    pathToJavaw = null;
    temp = Paths.get("C:\\Program Files\\Java");
    if (Files.exists(temp)) {
        try (DirectoryStream<Path> dirStream 
                = Files.newDirectoryStream(temp, "jdk*")) {
            for (Path path : dirStream) {
                temp = Paths.get(path.toString(), "jre", "bin", "javaw.exe");
                if (Files.exists(temp)) {
                    pathToJavaw = temp;
                    // Don't "break", in order to find the latest JDK version
                }                    
            }
            if (pathToJavaw != null) {
                return pathToJavaw.toString();
            }
        } catch (Exception ignored) {}
    }

    /* Check in 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk*' */
    pathToJavaw = null;
    temp = Paths.get("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Java");
    if (Files.exists(temp)) {
        try (DirectoryStream<Path> dirStream 
                = Files.newDirectoryStream(temp, "jdk*")) {
            for (Path path : dirStream) {
                temp = Paths.get(path.toString(), "jre", "bin", "javaw.exe");
                if (Files.exists(temp)) {
                    pathToJavaw = temp;
                    // Don't "break", in order to find the latest JDK version
                }                    
            }
            if (pathToJavaw != null) {
                return pathToJavaw.toString();
            }
        } catch (Exception ignored) {}
    }

    return "javaw.exe";   // Let's just hope it is in the path :)
}

Answer 2

To find "javaw.exe" in windows I would use (using batch)

for /f tokens^=2^ delims^=^" %%i in ('reg query HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jarfile\shell\open\command /ve') do set JAVAW_PATH=%%i

It should work in Windows XP and Seven, for JRE 1.6 and 1.7. Should catch the latest installed version.

Answer 3

Try this

for %i in (javaw.exe) do @echo. %~$PATH:i

Answer 4

Open a cmd shell,

cd \\
dir javaw.exe /s

Answer 5

It worked to me:

    String javaHome = System.getProperty("java.home");
    File f = new File(javaHome);
    f = new File(f, "bin");
    f = new File(f, "javaw.exe"); //or f = new File(f, "javaws.exe"); //work too
    System.out.println(f + "    exists: " + f.exists());