How to disable Java update notifications with Windows Registry & PDQ Deploy

Your users are complaining that they are constantly seeing a reminder window to update Java. They usually want to know one or more of the following:

1. Should I install the Java the update?

2. Should I ignore the update?

3. Can I have these notifications disabled?

Since most applications keep their respective configurations in the Windows Registry it is a good bet that you can reach your desired goals by modifying the registry.

By looking online (thank you Google) I was easily able to find the modification needed to turn off Updates for Java. Here is the following Registry Key that you need to modify:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy

Turn off the Java Update feature by setting the EnableJavaUpdate value to “0”. This will not only prevent the user from seeing the update requests, but it will also prevent them from updating at all. When you, as the administrator, are ready to update Java across your environment you can do so in an orderly and efficient way with software deployment.

To turn off the Java Update feature on multiple machines, I suggest using the Remote Commands feature in PDQ. The following command will turn off Java Updates:

The above command basically states: Add (or modify) the EnableJavaUpdate value to “0” and the type is DWord. The /f option forces an overwrite, which you will want to set if you are going to make this change en masse.

You can find the usage options for REG.EXE by running the following command from your Command Prompt:

REG /?

and

REG ADD /?

Run your desired command on multiple computers at once (above we have selected an entire Collection) 

What are some common commands that you find yourself using? We’d love to hear how you use Remote Commands in your environment. Tell us your experiences by posting a comment to our blog.