JFileChooser strange registry error

Question

I am testing a java application on windows 7 and just saw a very strange error pop up after trying to use a JFileChooser:
An error was detected in the windows registry.
Required windows folders were missing.
Googling this did not turn up anything obvious.
Clicking OK then showed:
Some local folders are missing.
Missing: C:\programdata\OEM Links
Full folder List:
C:\Users\Public\Desktop
... (other folders)
Anyone ever seen anything like this before?
Or anyone have an idea what might be going on?
This is a fresh win7 install on a test box (ghosted for re-imaging)
why does JFileChooser care about the registry?

Answer 1

Hello,
I'm sorry you haven't got a reply so far. Here are some considerations, that you can now wish to consider:
I am testing a java application on windows 7 and just saw a very strange error pop up after trying to use a JFileChooser:Can you test it on another version of Windows? What is the result?
If you don't have any other Windows version available, can you post an SSCCE (a 10-line program that tries to open a JFileChooser, and reproduces the problem), so that you, me, and other people, have a chance to run the exact same test on various OS?
In all cases, you always have more chance to receive an answer when you post an SSCCE that demonstrates the problem with convenience for other forum users: http://sscce.org
An error was detected in the windows registry.
Required windows folders were missing.
Googling this did not turn up anything obvious.Googling "JFIleChooser registry" did turn up a few interesting links, see below.
Some local folders are missing.
Missing:  C:\programdata\OEM Links
Full folder List: 
C:\Users\Public\Desktop
...   (other folders)Anyone ever seen anything like this before?
Or anyone have an idea what might be going on?From the looks of it, it seems the JRE is using the registry to have some info about the files system. I don't know for sure which info and why, but I don't find that so surprising (admittedly, the error message itself is rather unclear).
why does JFileChooser care about the registry?Not the registry itself, but merely the info it contains about the filesystem's structure. I imagine drive names and mapping of network drives can be found there, for example.
As claimed above, Googling led me to the following bug entries:
http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=4879395
http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=4712307
Don't necessarily traverse the whole contents of the bug entries themselves: the point is that they prove that the JRE is indeed leveraging filesystem info from the registry (the reason was, if I understand correctly, to improve performance in the case of network drives, and in the case of very numerous files).
The other point is that both bug entries describe the same command-line flag to disable at least one mechanism that leverages the registry:
java -Dswing.disableFileChooserSpeedFix ...Hopefully, that may, with no guarantee, fix your specific issue. Try it and let us know.
Best regards,
J.