Message "Windows error 3 occurred while loading Java VM" when installing JViews

Question

Why do I get the message "Windows error 3 occurred while loading Java VM" when installing JViews?

Answer

InstallAnywhere uses the Windows registry to look up the installed JVMs. Examine your registry settings to make sure that the registry entries listed under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREJavaSoft" have the correct paths for JavaHome. You can use a program called regedit.exe to do so. For example, the value of JavaHome under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREJavaSoftJava Development Kit1.6" should list the correct path to JDK 1.6. Even if there is a version of Java that you do not think is used, for example 1.5, it is necessary to verify that the registry entries for all these versions are defined correctly.

Also verify the following:

1) There is enough space available in C: disk; the installer will need at least 200MB.

2) Java is installed correctly.

3) The environment is set up correctly. To be safe, PATH should contain only one entry pointing to java.exe. Preferably add the path to a valid java.exe at the start of this environment variable.

4) It is possible that the Windows installer is attempting to run the JVM in c:windowssystem32in, which might not exist on your machine. You can confirm this by keeping the Ctrl button pressed while running the installer. As a quick workaround, if you are on a 32 bits machine, you can create a bin directory under the c:windowssystem32 directory and copy java.exe there. Similarly on 64 bits machines, you may need to create a bin directory under c:windowssyswow64\ .