Remove Old Versions of Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

Anyone who is running a Windows computer has probably had to install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) at least once no matter what! Many websites use Java and so it must be installed in order to display the page correctly.

I don’t mind programs that have to be installed in order for web pages to load correctly, but have you ever noticed how many times that Java program has to update? I mean it’s like every other week that icon pops up in my system tray with “Java update available”. As a matter of fact, it’s there now!

And every time I end up updating it just so that it goes away! But that’s not the really annoying part! The worst thing about JRE is that every time it updates, the previous version does not necessarily get uninstalled! So now when I go to Add/Remove programs in Windows, I see all of these entries like “Java(TM) 6 Update 5”, etc, etc.

Currently on my machine, there are 4 of them! There is really only one version that is being used and that is the latest version, so you don’t really need all those other versions on your computer taking up space.

Each one of these takes up a decent amount of space too and of course will slow down your computer since they have registry entries, etc. You can manually remove each version and then install the latest version or you can use a free program to do it for you.

JavaRa will update your computer with the latest version of Java Runtime Environment and will also remove all earlier versions of the program! The program is pretty straight forward and doesn’t have many options.

Click Search For Updates to update to the latest version of JRE. It basically uses the Java Update program that’s already on your computer to do this. Then click on Remove Older Versions to remove all program files, temp files, registry keys and system files.

This can easily free up a good amount of space on your computer if you have been updating Java for years. Additional Tasks allow you to remove useless JRE files, the startup entry, remove the Sun Update manager, and more.

Overall, it’s a useful program for people who like to keep their computers clean and organized. I hate useless programs installed on my computer, so this was great for me. Enjoy!