Uninstalling JAVA Console Add-on

JAVA seems to be a popular topic lately on this here blog. So here is another Firefox and JAVA related post for your reading pleasure.

Yesterday I was helping a family member at their home with an odd issue with their Firefox 3.6 install on Windows 7. It seems they had several versions of the JAVA Console add-on installed and they could not uninstall them (‘uninstall’ button was greyed out). I am not even really sure what this extension is suppose to since I did not have this add-on installed. From what I have read it is suppose to open the JAVA Console from within Firefox. Yet, on their machine however, it did nothing.

First thing I did was have them check their JAVA install and saw they were running Update 6 Release 19, so I had them update their JAVA to Release 20. I thought may be a JAVA update would also auto-magically do some housekeeping as well in Firefox. Upon restarting Firefox we discovered that not only did doing update not remove the older versions, but they now had a another JAVA Console extension installed.

The next thing we tried was to have Firefox rebuild the extensions list using the method described in the Wiki article: Troubleshooting Add-ons installation. After restarting Firefox we discovered that did not work either and now all the JAVA Console extensions were active. I had them disable all but the most recent again and restart Firefox again. In retrospect, I figured out earlier today why the said method did not work. That method is used when an extension fails to completely install or uninstall. In this case the extensions were completely installed, but could not be uninstalled.

At that point I let them know I was going to have to do more research on this. Once I got home I looked around and discovered this was a common issue. Further, I also learned unless you are JAVA developer, there is really no reason to have this extension (much like the JAVA Development Toolkit Plug-in). I found the thread Question about Java and Firefox on DSL Reports.com which provided a couple additional options:

  1. On Windows Vista and Windows 7, you run Firefox as ‘Administrator’ (right-click on the Firefox shortcut and select Run As Administrator). Then the uninstall button should be active.
  2. Removing the JAVA Console extension(s) manually from within extensions folder in the Firefox install (NOT profile) folder. In most cases on Windows this is going to be C:\Mozilla Firefox\extensions. With Firefox not running, delete the folders which begin with {CAFEEFAC . . . . } from within this folder and then restart Firefox.

So, I emailed them this info and got a reply later that evening saying that by deleting those folders and restarting Firefox, all of the JAVA Console extensions. I replied back asking ‘what happen when they tried to run Firefox as Administrator?’ Turns out when they did this, none of the extensions were there (including the 3 they had installed and using).

So, it seems that option #2 did the trick. Still not sure how they managed to get the extensions installed in the first place. May be with Windows 7 when you install JAVA it adds the JAVA Console extension into Firefox. May be not, but that is the only thing I can conclude. One neat thing that did come out of all of this, was I discovered how to Locate Your Profile Folder Easily in Firefox 3.6.

33 Comments on Uninstalling JAVA Console Add-on

  1. One of the first things I do when I see multiple Java extensions is check Add/Remove Programs and uninstall all the old versions of Java (if they are there). This can remove the old stuff from Firefox (IE, Opera), but frees up disk space too.

  2. Updating Java (while leaving old versions of Java still installed, and not first uninstalling them) will always leave the old versions of Java behind. Including the annoying Java Console extensions.

    I heard they do this so you can have a fallback to your old Java in case something goes wrong with the install of the new version.

    So updating Java never uninstalls past Java installations. Ever.

    A smart guy decided to address that problem by creating JavaRa.

    JavaRa cleans up older or redundant versions of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) that might be littering up your PC, and can optionally update you to the latest version of Java.

    Blog post:
    http://lifehacker.com/5513669/javara-updates-and-removes-old-and-redundant-java-versions

    Main JavaRa site:
    http://raproducts.org/

  3. I have had the same problem with old Java console. I have only 6.0.18 enabled (yes I need to upgrade and will) however I have 6.3.11, .13, .15, .16, .17 disabled. I looked in the extensions folder and there were no files/folders which started with {CAFEEFAC… Additionally if I go to uninstall programs only Java 6.0.18 is listed.

    I’m running Vista Home premium 64bit, Firefox 3.6.3.

    I don’t know what if any kind of problem these old addon’s cause but I would like to get rid of them.

  4. I disabled the latest java console 6.0.13 and now Firefox WON’T EVEN START! Can you HELP ME PLEASE? I have since dl’d an old version of FFx uninstalled and redownloaded the latest & problem persists: FIREFOX REFUSES TO START! HELP! I have all the CAFEFFACS folders but I’m afraid if I removed them it will further screw up my internet: already I cannot open ANY OF MY GAMES AND THE “RUN” black pop up (when you type run in Start) WON’T EVEN START EITHER! IT JUST FLASHES!!!!!!!! Please help I’m behind schedule here.

  5. PS: when I go to java.com and click download I get this: Verified Java Version
    Congratulations! You have the recommended Java installed (Version 6 Update 20).
    🙁 What do I do now? Yes I have restarted my computer many times, problem persists.

  6. Followed your directions to the letter (step 2 since the disable/uninstall buttons were active):

    “Removing the JAVA Console extension(s) manually from within extensions folder in the Firefox install (NOT profile) folder. In most cases on Windows this is going to be C:Mozilla Firefoxextensions. With Firefox not running, delete the folders which begin with {CAFEEFAC . . . . } from within this folder and then restart Firefox.”

    and it worked PERFECTLY! thank you for the info; I hate things installing without my knowledge.

  7. Really great article! Honest..

  8. Great article – FINALLY got rid of the Java Console by running as Administrator.

    Thanks!

  9. Thank you for help. ^^”

  10. Thanks for this!

  11. To fix Java: http://forums.whatthetech.com/Java_Setup_Problem_t104537.html

    * Un-Install ALL previous version.
    * Download the current version of Java here: http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp .
    * Copy the following text to a Batch File and run it (as Admin under Win7).
    * Install Java.

    reg query hklmsoftwareclassesinstallerproducts /f “java(tm) 6” /s | find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” > deljava.txt
    for /f “tokens=* delims= ” %%a in (deljava.txt) do reg delete %%a /f
    del deljava.txt
    reg delete “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREJavaSoftJava Runtime Environment” /f
    reg delete “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREwow6432nodeJavaSoftJava Runtime Environment” /f

    Rob

  12. Thanks for this! Those extra Java Consoles were driving me nuts!

  13. There is an easier way to do this, you just right click on the Firefox icon on your desktop, then you click, ‘run as administrator.’ When Firefox starts up again and you go to, ‘Tools,’ then, ‘Add-ons,’ you will now see that you are able to unistall older versions of Java console, in my case I uninstalled version 6.0.22 and kept 6.0.23, simple.

  14. Oops I didn’t read the article fully, I see that is option 1, oh well.

  15. Thank you for help.

  16. It seems that a lot of people are having problems with Java and Firefox. Here’s a new one, for some reason, JVR stopped working in both IE and Firefox…. Working on a solution now and will post when I have one, but for people who have multiple instances of Java installed, do an Add/Remove. I don’t recommend using Windows Add/Remove. Programs like Revo Uninstaller are much better and more efficient at removing registry errors, but you’ll want to read the FAQ sheet if you’re a newb.

    You can also use Firefox to check your plug in status ( https://www.mozilla.com/en-US/plugincheck/ )and take you to Java’s site, which will check your version of Java. Here it is to make it easier (or for IE users): http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

    This may be an immediate solution for removing earlier versions of Java from Firefox specifically: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/774490?s=multiple+versions+of+java+installed&as=s

    And this is a much better version of Firefox’s guide to Java plug ins than any other wiki I’ve seen: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Java#Multiple_Java_Console_extensions

    Good luck!
    Additionally,

  17. ..It’s a Windows 7 error for me.

    If you have a problem with Java simply not working on multiple instances (e.g. stops on multiple browsers, games, so on), uninstall, go to a web page like Photobucket’s bulk uploader and it’ll tell you to reinstall the plug-in and everything Windows needs. Boom. Done.

  18. This guide worked to remove greyed out java add-ons from Firefox. Thank you.

  19. Steven Latus | January 29, 2011 at 12:22 PM |

    Running FF as Admin enabled me to uninstall the older versions of Java Console. However, after I had selected all of them except the latest version and uninstalled each one, when I restarted FF, they were all still there! What I had to do was repeat the same steps again, BUT instead of selecting all of the older versions and trying to do everything at one fell swoop, I selected each one, uninstalled it and restarted FF after each uninstall. That worked for me.

    I should mention that, when I restarted FF after having uninstalled all of the older versions at once, I exited FF and restarted it by clicking on my usual icon (i.e., NOT in admin mode).

    When I did the uninstalls one at a time, I used the “Restart Firefox” button within the add-on window in FF. Perhaps that restarted FF in Admin mode and made it work? I don’t know since I cannot tell whether it was running in Admin mode or not.

    Running Firefox 3.6.13 under Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

  20. Running Firefox as ‘Administrator’ worked perfectly. So many thanks for the good advice. 🙂

    Had orphaned java console entries in my Firefox ‘add-ons’ list with the uninstalled options grayed out.

    Running Firefox as ‘Administrator’ restored the uninstall options, so I was able to remove the old ones. Cheers for that.

    As mentioned earlier; it seems that for some of us the best solution is to manually uninstall the old java update prior to installing the new one. For some reason the ‘old’ entries are not being removed by the “patch in place” feature, since I had java console updates 20-22 still listed in my ‘add-ons’ list.

    I’m fairly sure the updates themselves were physically removed, however, updates 20-22 were still listed in my ‘add/remove programs’ list and while uninstalling them removed them from that list; there were still present in my Firefox ‘add-ons’ list. (with the unistalled options grayed out).

    Thanks again mate. Your a champion 🙂

  21. Sorry, I should have mentioned I am running

    Firefox 3.6.13 with windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

    (thanks to Steven Latus for his comment which reminded me to include this info)

  22. Option 1 worked for me. Thanks a bunch for the guidance!

  23. Thank you.

    This has been niggling me for ages! And with upgrading to Firefox 4, I finally had to sit down and sort it out. Option 2 (on windows 7) has worked a treat!

  24. Option No.2 worked for me (Firefox 4).
    Thank you for the tip!

  25. Thanks man, it works for me too.

  26. Peter Lee | May 24, 2011 at 1:57 AM |

    Option 2 is the best. Thank you.

  27. Running Firefox 4 as administrator, I still did not have any uninstall buttons.

    What did work for me was disabling the old extensions from within Fire fox and then manually deleting the folders containing the old consoles:

    1. Go to: C:Mozilla Firefoxextensions

    2. Delete the folders containing the old consoles (the console version is identified by the last two digits in the fourth field of the folder name).

    examples:

    {CAFEEFAC-0016-0000-0024-ABCDEFFEDCBA} is version 24

    {CAFEEFAC-0016-0000-0025-ABCDEFFEDCBA} is version 25

  28. Alléluia!
    Thank you very much for your great articles, i finally uninstal those annoying things…

    Option #2 worked well for me! 🙂

  29. @The Guru

    many thanks !! Option Nr. 2 has worked for me.

  30. Thanks so much, I now have NO java extensions in FF6, Win7 x64 after using option 2. Great stuff.

  31. I followed your instructions and it worked like a charm.

    All I did was:
    1) Close FF
    2) Go to C:Program Files (x86)Mozilla Firefoxextensions and delete the folders starting with {CAFEEFAC . . . . }
    3) Restart FF
    4) Type this comment to thank you!

5 Trackbacks & Pingbacks

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