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Downloaded the NetBeans + AS 8 bundle. Installaton fails to begin - an error popup says "A suitable JVM could not be found. Please run the program again using the option -is:javahome <JAVA HOME DIR>" In the background is the InstallShield wizard, which says it is searching for Java Virtual Machine. Clicking "OK" causes the installer to quit and give up. This is the executable "sjsas_pe-8_1_2005Q1-nb-4_1-beta-bin-win.exe" and there is no obvious way to give it a command line option. Java is indeed installed on this machine - J2SE 5 is installed. So there are at least two problems here: 1) The installer can't find the installed instance of java5 2) The installer asks the user to re-run with command line options, but this is a windows machine and it is not immediately obvious what needs to be run with what commands.
Do you have JDK or JRE installer? JRE is not enough as installer looks for JDK as it is required by IDE. (Even if installer can run on JRE.) It is the most probable reason why JVM resolution fails. To set command line paramater(s) you must run installer from command line. Start console (cmd.exe). Go to dir where installer is located and write installer name plus parameters. You can start installer with parameter -is:log <log file> to get log from native launcher with info about JVM resolution. On Windows JVM resolution should not fail as it looks also in registry at \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Development Kit\1.5\JavaHome.
Yes I believe that is the problem. Will confirm. In this case, I believe the installer should more explicitly state the problem. It should print an error saying "You must install the JDK on this system in order to proceed." and then exit.
Unfortunately we cannot fix this as it is handled by InstallShield native launcher. Anyway it should be emphasized in Installation Instructions or Troubleshooting section.
It applies to all our installers but jdkbundle which bundles its own JVM for run.