Windows ignores JAVA_HOME: how to set JDK as default?
On Windows, the java executable uses the Windows Registry to locate the default version of Java to run.
The copy of java.exe to run is found by using the PATH environment variable. Unless you take steps to change this, by default a copy will be found in the Windows directory. Since this copy isn't in a Java runtime directory, it locates one by looking at the registry.
So, you either need to modify the registry, or put the version of Java you want before the Windows directory in your PATH.
In Windows 8, you may want to remove
C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath
directory.
from path
It solved my issue.
I have this issue too. I am running 1.6 but want to build the code I'm working on with 1.5. I've changed the JAVA_HOME and PATH (both user and system) to no avail.
The answer is that the installer for 1.6 dropped java.exe, javaw.exe, and javaws.exe into my Windows\System32 folder (Windows 7).
I solved it by renaming those files to java_wrong.exe, javaw_wrong.exe, and javaws_wrong.exe. Only after doing that does it pick up the correct version of java as defined in JAVA_HOME and PATH. I renamed the files thusly because that deleted them in an easily reversible manner.
Hope this helps!
Windows doesn't ignore anything. This is an issue with your setup; Windows just uses what you provide. It has no special knowledge of JAVA_HOME.
CLASSPATH has nothing to do with Windows, either. To Windows it's only an environmental variable that gets expanded to a folder location.
Check your %PATH% environmental variable. It's what's making Windows find one before the other. The path (as the post you linked to said) should point to %JAVA_HOME%\bin;<remainder of path>. Again, the post you linked to gave you a way to set this using a batch file.
(For others who might not know this: The easiest way to inspect the %PATH% is to open a command prompt and type echo %PATH%. You can also get there by right-clicking on Computer in the right pane of the Start Menu and choosing Properties, then Advanced System Settings, and the tne Environmental Variables button.)
I had the same issue. I have a bunch of Java versions installed and for some reason Java 1.7 was being used instead of Java 1.6, even though I specified in the path to use 1.6 (C:\jdk1.6.0_45_32\bin).
I had to move the path of the JDK I wanted to use (1.6) to be the first entry in the PATH environment variable to make sure Windows uses 1.6 instead of 1.7.
So, for example, the PATH environment variable before was:
C:\Program Files (x86);...<other entries>;C:\dev\ant181\bin;C:\jdk1.6.0_45_32\bin
and after I moved the jdk to be first, it worked:
C:\jdk1.6.0_45_32\bin;C:\Program Files (x86);...<other entries>;C:\dev\ant181\bin
I guess the Windows installer of Java 1.7 installed it to some other directory already in the PATH, thus getting used first instead of the specified custom PATH entry C:\jdk1.6.0_45_32\bin;