Why is java always running?

I have a MacBook Air running 10.8.3. I have Java running almost all the time and it is consuming ~500 MB of RAM. I didn't start Java, and—as far as I can tell—nothing that uses Java is still running. Surely something in the background is using Java, but I don't know what. I would like to kill it (if I can) because I'd like to have my RAM back.

I noticed this happening a few months ago, but never could figure out how to solve the problem. I can kill Java itself, but it restarts immediately and eventually consumes too much RAM.

Does anyone know what is going on?

Solution 1:

Try typing this into terminal:

ps axv | grep java

• This should output details about which jar file is open in the runtime.

Alternatively, to find out which applications are using the Java Runtime select java in the activity monitor and clicking on the blue i icon.

Click 'Open Files and Ports' and see if it gives you a clue which application launched the java environment. You'd be surprised which applications depend on Java!

You could also try going into the Java System Preference, clicking the Java Tab and choosing View.... You'll see a list of registered Java applications that might help you find the culprit.