XP, Mozilla, and Java 8.0

[HoppaLong]

Because new software can wreck your operating system, I install everything in a
virtual environment for testing purposes. If there are no problems, it becomes
permanent.

I uninstalled old Java and installed Java_v8.0_b131.

My four Mozilla based browsers don't like this new build of Java:

about:addons -> Plugins -> Java_v8.0_b131 -> It's listed with security risk warnings.
"Always Activate" is greyed out on the menu.

A message appears when installing Java 8.0. It's the usual warning about software
not compatible with older versions of Windows. It seems to integrate smoothly
with XP Pro_SP3.

Is there a build of Java 8.0 that will work with XP without those Mozilla security
warnings? Java isn't very useful when "Always Activate" is greyed out.

[Dave-H]

Do you mean 231, that's the current Java 8 version?
That works fine here on XP with Firefox 52.9.1 ESR, and there are no warnings in the plug-ins list about it.

[Mathwiz]

IIRC, the last Java version with an installer that runs on XP was 8u151/8u152. But any Java version prior to the latest (8u231 as noted above) will trigger Mozilla's security warning.

To get the latest version installed on XP, see these posts:

  On 4/23/2019 at 8:40 AM, Vistaboy said:

That are good starting point. I made use of little registry mods. Generally in a fresh installed XP i always launched the last working XP installer (151/152) to install JAVA and then brutally extract the new .exe installer (jre-8u211-windows-i586.exe) and replace it in the programs file. The dream would be a little cmd workaround that automate the process to get last updated java. 

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  On 4/26/2019 at 2:13 PM, TuMaGoNx said:

if you have 7zip
something  like this:

7z e jre-8u211-windows-i586.exe Data1.cab
7z e Data1.cab installerexe
7z e installerexe .rsrc\1033\RCDATA\* && ren 5 new.patch && ren 6 old.zip && ren 7 bspatch.exe
bspatch.exe old.zip core.zip new.patch 
7z x -ojre core.zip
del Data1.cab installerexe bspatch.exe old.zip core.zip new.patch 
for /r %f in (*.pack) do jre\bin\unpack200.exe "%~f" "%~dpnf.jar" && del "%~f"
jre\bin\java.exe -Xshare:dump

EDIT: no errorlevel check there oops

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BTW if you put those commands into a .bat or .cmd file don't forget to double all the % characters in the for command. You may also want to use a capital F vs. a lowercase f.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Mathwiz

[HoppaLong]

Dave-H, a very smart "expert" at Super User suggested build 131 for XP. Now you know why
I install everything virtually. I frequently make mistakes.

Mathwiz, I'm slightly confused.

You say the last build of Java with a working installer for XP is 151/152.

Look at this page from Codec Pack -> System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10

https://codecpack.co/download/Java_Runtime_Environment.html

Maybe the folks at Codec Pack created an installer package that works with XP.

I'm going to try it.

[Dave-H]

I'd be interested to know if it works!
I did look for Java offline installers which still worked on XP when the official ones from Oracle stopped working, but never found one.
It is only the installer which doesn't work, the actual Java components still work fine on XP.
You may well find that when you run the installer, nothing actually happens.
If it does work, please let us know!

EDIT: I've just actually downloaded that installer, and it is the standard offline installer from Oracle, which I can almost 100% say will not install on XP, whatever Codec Pack say!

Edited November 23, 2019 by Dave-H
Addition

[Mathwiz]

  On 11/23/2019 at 6:45 AM, HoppaLong said:

Mathwiz, I'm slightly confused.

You say the last build of Java with a working installer for XP is 151/152.

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I was referring to the official Oracle installers. If you can confirm a 3rd-party installer for newer Java versions working on XP, by all means let us know! It would make staying up-to-date a lot simpler.

But be aware that "System Requirements" pages don't always get updated when support for an older OS gets dropped. IOW, don't be surprised if it turns out not to install on XP after all.