Having problems running a Java applet on a Microsoft Windows system with Internet Explorer? Here are a couple of things to check...

Is Java Installed?

First, make sure you have the Java runtime installed. There are several ways to do this. Here is one:

Open the MS-DOS (Command Prompt) window. Type java -version. If java is installed you should see something like this:

If you don't see something like this, you need to download and install Java. This is really simple to do. First, go to this website. As of the time that this document was created the current version is 1.4.2. So click on the link for J2SE 1.4.2. Scroll down until you see this:
Click on the link to navigate to the download page. Download the installer file and run it. See if your applet will work.

Plugin Problems?

If that does not work, let's check our Java Plugin settings. From your start menu, open the control panels and find your Java Plug-in. It should look like this:

Open the plugin. I want you to check a couple of things. First, click on the Advanced tab and click on the popup menu at the top:

Assuming that this looks OK, I now want you to click on the Browser tab. It should look like this:

After changing anything, be sure and click on the Apply button and then close the control panel. Restart your browser and try again. If it still doesn't work, I want you to install a (better) browser! Please read on...

Try a different browser

I have had trouble getting Java applets to run with certain Internet Explorer/Windows combinations. I'm not sure why that is. On my Windows 98SE machine, I can run them just fine, but Verena in our other office, on the same type of machine, cannot. We were able to get her up and running by installing a different browser, in this case, the Mozilla browser.

Go to Mozilla.org. The last time I checked, there was a link on the left side of the page that lets you download the latest Mozilla browser. This was version 1.4 when I wrote this page. Click on the link for Windows. You should get a prompt that allows you to save the installer file on your computer. Click the Save button, navigate to the directory of your choosing, and save the file. When it has finished downloading, double-click on the installer file to run it. (Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the same folder where you saved the installer file). When you get to the screen of the installer where it asks you what type of setup you prefer, select the Browser only option. That's all you really need. Follow the installer prompts. When it finishes, it should startup Mozilla automatically.

For now, quit the browser and go back to the control panels folder, start up the Java Plug-in, and enable Java for the Mozilla browser. (Remember those instructions I posted earlier on this page???). When you have done that, start Mozilla (there is an icon on your desktop) and retry the page with the Java applet.

If all that doesn't work...call me!