I am trying to change a desktop application that was delivered via JNLP. I packaged the app in a jar and signed it then I stuck it in a web app that downloaded it to the client work station. I now would like to simply create a short cut on the desktop that points the JVM to the a class folder accessible by an HTTP server. I tried using the java.rmi.server.codebase seeting and a policy file to point the jvm at the class folder as well as the jars needed to support this app. No matter what I tried I kept getting NoClassDefinedException. I thought based on all the information I gathered from the web that this would be possible without having to create a RMI server to marshal Objects and Classes. I did an experiment with the URL class loader with some success but there are some third party jars and ini files envoled and I would still nee to put at least one class file on the desktop. Is a way to remotely deliver java classes from an HTTP server to the client without a custom class loader?