When I try to update Java on Windows 7 Pro 64bit, the installer ends with an error message "Java update did not complete. Error Code: 1603. Please refer to the Java Help Center for troubleshooting information or contact your system administrator."
The Java Help Center is not helpful. It indicates that this is a known problem and is being researched. This status is apparently true for over a year with no resolution, so it seems as if not enough resources are being devoted to the research. The topic alludes to possible incompatibility with Microsoft security update MS14-049 KB2918614.
I have uninstalled KB2918614 and still have the same error.
I uninstalled Java 7, restarted the PC, and tried to install Java 8 and got the same error. So then I installed Java 7 update 79 and that worked, but I can't get beyond Java 7 to a supported future-proof edition of Java.
These all fail:
jre-8u45-windows-i586.exe
jre-8u45-windows-x64.exe
jre-8u60-windows-i586.exe
jre-8u60-windows-x64.exe
Internet web searches using your favorite search engine will dredge up many people having the same problem, but no definitive solution. Variations on uninstall all Java variants and re-install, change language settings to English, remove KB2918614, use offline installer, use online autoupdate installer, hack the registry, etc., but it is like all of these are purely by-accident lucky work-around solutions, and there is no actual real, official answer as to what is going on! I've tried them all, and I still cannot get Java 8 to install. I cannot update Java.
- What is the solution to the 1603 error?
- Should I stick with Java 7 forever?
- And although my computer OS is 64bit, should I be installing the i586 or x64 Java, or both?
Error Screenshots:
