[geeks] Latest Java 6 JDK under W2k?

[Arno Kletzander]

Hello fellow listmembers,

as work recently brought me into contact with programming once again, I'm looking for a Java development setup to get back into that language (which I already heard lessons on in University) in my private time. All I have on-site for that purpose is a cranky old 1 GHz notebook running Win2k, which should according to the system requirements still be good enough to run Java 6 up to the ultimate release of 6u41, which was rolled out just weeks ago.

So all should be fine, but when I download the 6u41 JDK from Oracle's site (tried both online and offline installation), it goes on to install its stuff just about to the end, then rolls back everything (except a rubble pile of files it leaves behind) and tells me "Installation failed". What breaks the process probably is the JRE itself, as even downloading and installing that alone doesn't work.

Using the 6u31 JDK is an option I'd be wanting to avoid as Oracle forces you to set up a developer account in order to download the legacy stuff.

>From some web-trawling, I learnt that W2k compatibility broke and never got fixed after 6u31 or something, even though a bug report was filed
( http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/156546-java-6-update-32-fails-to-install/ ). Hoping for suggestions how I can get this to perform. I only have regular internet access on weekends at the moment, so responses may be a bit slow.

Thank you in advance, yours sincerely,
Arno Kletzander