Deploying Sun Java - and controlling settings centrally

Question

Hello.
We are trying to deploy Sun Java to corporate PCs (XPsp2) silently and also to ensure the settings are correct for our environment.
Deploying silently is easy (documented here and using SMS).
Some settings appear to be stored in the registry, and so we can control these by creating Active Directory Group-Policy templates.
However, some settings are stored in "document.properties" in the users profile - and this file is not accessible via normal centralised management techniques.
We want to set the downloaded Java folder (deployment.user.cachedir) to, say, c:\temp on all PCs. We cannot have the default option of having it installed in the user profile, as users profiles are quota'd and are cross-site roaming, so it is key to keep them small.
We would also turn off updates; tray icon etc etc.
We could manually modify this file in everyones user profile - but this is far from ideal, and indeed quite messy.
Is there a separate install package available to corporates where options can be determined in advance? Or is there a way we can apply this?
Many thanks!

Answer 1

I'm going to take a guess here... It's a known situation that, within a single instance of Internet Explorer, you can't have two different kinds of JVM running. So, for example, if you started a new instance of IE, and ran a forms session using JInitiator for a while; then came out of forms but, staying within the same IE instance, started an app using Sun JVM - you'll get a very nasty crash.
However, there should be nothing to stop you simultaneously running separate IE instances, one running JInitiator, one running Sun JVM.
Something to be aware of is that you can have multiple IE windows open, but all existing under the same IE process. For example, if you do CTRL-N from an IE window, you get a new window, but it's still part of the same process - you can see this by checking Task Manager. You can also get multiple windows sharing one process when a link opens in a new window, or you use a desktop shortcut when IE is already open. To guarantee a whole new IE process, the simplest way is to just start IE from the desktop / start menu.
You state that the order in which people open the two apps makes a difference. I wonder if the different order affects whether a new process is started or an existing one shared?
Good luck,
James