Troubleshooting Installation Problems ("Windows error 3")

Novell Cool Solutions: Tip
By Wolfgang Schreiber

Digg This - Slashdot This Posted: 12 Dec 2005

PROBLEM:

While trying to install an NDK component and calling the install routine with the executable installation download (*.exe) the launched installation routine fails with the error "Windows error 3 occured while loading the Java VM".
The same problem may occur when uninstalling an NDK component.

SOLUTION:

This error typically is caused by a known bug in InstallAnywhere by Zero G Software which may occur with certain JDK versions.

The installation routine is not able to locate the correct JVM.

A workaround is to call the install/uninstall executable from the command line and explicitly specifying the option "LAX_VM" together with the path to your JDK binaries.

EXAMPLE: Sample command line format for an NDK installation:

novell-extjndi-devel-2005.02.25-2windows.exe LAX_VM
"C:\Program Files\Java\j2sdk1.4.2\bin\java.exe"

Sample command line format for an NDK un-installation:

uninstall.exe LAX_VM "C:\Program Files\Java\j2sdk1.4.2\bin\java.exe"

Reader Comments

• Solved my problem in not being able to uninstall a program.
• Worked first time. Thanks For those not familiar with DOS, what looks like a two line command on this page is all one command - don't hit "enter" after "LAX_VM

Novell Cool Solutions (corporate web communities) are produced by WebWise Solutions. www.webwiseone.com