Java update "Failed to download required installation files."

On my Windows 7 machine the Java update consistently fails with this error message.

(edit: The same thing happens on Windows 8).

Failed to download required installation files.

This seems to a common problem, does anyone have an insight into what's going wrong, and is there a fix for it other than either disabling the update check (seems a bad idea from a security point of view) or waiting for the nag message and then manually installing the new version (annoying and stupid from a usability point of view).

Note that I did install the previous version manually (updating from 6.23 to 6.30 I think?), thinking that might resolve the issue, but no luck.

therefromhere

Posted 2012-04-22T02:05:24.337

Reputation: 7 294

Have you tried fully uninstalling/reinstalling Java? – rishimaharaj – 2012-04-22T02:24:20.663

@rishimaharaj I uninstalled and reinstalled the last time this happened, though it's possible there was some cruft left in the registry. – therefromhere – 2012-04-22T02:28:02.810

1I get this error every time I try to install java updates from my user account (even with elevated permissions). I have to actually log into my admin account, and the problem goes away. – psubsee2003 – 2012-06-23T08:29:24.697

Answers

I finally got this working after reading the following:

It turns out that when the java updater attempts to download new updates, it uses the Windows service called “Background Intelligent Transfer Service” (BITS). If the logged on user is only a standard user, then the java updater fails to correctly use the BITS service to download the new update. However, if the BITS service is not available for use by the java updater (either the service is disabled or permissions are denied to the calling process), the java updater uses an alternate mechanism for downloading and applying updates that works successfully, even if the original user was just a standard user with limited rights (no administrative rights).

In order to elevate the java updater so that standard users can install java updates, we must first set the application compatibility mode of the java updater so that will run in compatibility mode for Windows 2000, which did not have the “Background Intelligent Transfer Service”. This will force the Java updater to use the alternate mechanism to download the java updates.

http://privilegeforum.scriptlogic.com/Forum/aff/3/aft/193/afv/topic.aspx

So what you do is:

find jucheck.exe (typically under %PROGRAMFILES%\Common Files\Java\Java Update or %PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Common Files\Java\Java Update)
open it’s properties and set it to run in Windows 2000 compatibility mode (for all users or at least for your elevated one!)
check for updates again through Java Control Panel

The installer will nagg about your OS not being supported, but will allow you to install the update.

I got this working after about ~3 years of searching for a solution. Still waiting for Oracle to fix it. They simply fail to understand that running as superuser all the time is bad practice and a thing of the past.

predi

Posted 2012-04-22T02:05:24.337

Reputation: 804

3This worked for me, but I had to choose "Change Settings for All Users" when setting compatibility mode. – Dave Cousineau – 2014-08-07T00:40:37.220

4Today, almost two years later, I still have the same problem. It is unbelievable that Oracle still hasn't fixed it. – Per Quested Aronsson – 2015-02-19T21:17:04.180

I am still not able to update java with your given answer. I followed your all steps. Can you please help me ? – SweetWisher ツ – 2016-04-14T06:20:03.817

based on this answer, what I got to work was use net stop bits, and then check for updates. (well since bits didn't stay stopped, I temporarily disabled it through the services snapin) – Dave Cousineau – 2016-11-15T22:42:15.473

...and now I see myself in the above comments... <_< – Dave Cousineau – 2016-11-15T22:47:28.987

Nice, I'll check that out! – therefromhere – 2013-05-09T21:19:20.017

4I'll accept this, though I've upgraded to Windows 8 since I asked the question and this doesn't work there since the compatibility mode functionality has changed. Would be good to get another answer that works for Windows 8. – therefromhere – 2013-05-19T03:15:52.787

@therefromhere: hmm.. You are right. The Windows 2000 mode is no longer around on windows 8. Have you tried other available modes (OSes older than XP)? – predi – 2013-05-20T08:00:26.773

1Thank you so much - this has been such an annoying issue. My only hope is the update that java is downloading resolves this issue....can't say I'll be holding my breath. – Andy – 2013-06-11T12:41:36.883

Another non-permanent but quick solution is simply running jucheck.exe in administrator mode:

Find Java updater executable jucheck.exe by using one of the following:
- type jucheck in the search field of start menu.
- Look in %PROGRAM_FILES%\Common Files\Java\Java Update
Run Java updater jucheck.exe in administrator mode via context menu:
1. Push right mouse button on `jucheck.exe
2. Select "Run as administrator".

sir_brickalot

Posted 2012-04-22T02:05:24.337

Reputation: 245

1FYI: This doesn't work on Windows 8.1. – jvriesem – 2014-12-30T16:50:47.183

jvriesem, work for me. – Yura Shinkarev – 2015-11-27T12:04:27.177

Works for me on Windows 7. @YShinkarev, if the answer helped you, you should rather upvote than write such comment. Then everyone can see that solution is appreciated by community, and the author gain reputation. – Line – 2017-10-20T07:29:10.103

This is a very simple solution. I can confirm that it works on Windows 7. – Georg W. – 2018-01-24T14:31:36.500

-1

You should try installing java with Ninite. You can just go to Ninite.com and select java under runtimes. then when you get a notification about a java update run ninite again and it will install the latest java without using the java update mechanism. it is really simple and easy no questions to answer and you can use the same ninite program to update other apps from that site as well.

d4v3y0rk

Posted 2012-04-22T02:05:24.337

Reputation: 1 187

I'd not heard of it before and was a bit sceptical of allowing a random app to install other software, but Ninite does seem to be legit (worth mentioning that it's recommened by Tom's Hardware, Lifehacker, Techcrunch http://ninite.com/press ). And it works really smoothly.

– therefromhere – 2012-09-22T21:51:55.610

I'm glad you liked it. I use that program all the time to do updates on my machine and to rebuild it. – d4v3y0rk – 2012-09-26T00:09:32.603

3Annoyingly this doesn't actually stop the problem from re-occurring - I seem to have to manually re-run the ninite install for each new Java release. – therefromhere – 2012-11-24T00:34:26.040