Cant find Javaw.exe

Question

Ok, this might be a bit long but I should tell otherwise since I have 10 tabs open :P

So, I tried the second time for downloading a mod for Minecraft and I got to a Youtube video by NoahCraftFTW on how to install mods. I followed along but then I stopped at deleting the META-INF file in %AppData%>.minecraft>bin>minecraft.jar (Opened with winRAR) and then tried to delete META-INF. When I did try I got: Cannot rename__rzi_0.432 to C:\Users\Father\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\bin\minecraft.jar

I then asked how to delete META-INF. I then went to a few answers and then I came across a answer that says to open TaskManager. So I did, it then told me to go to processes and to terminate javaw.exe but I could not find it. Then I found this. He had JRE 7 and I had JRE 6 (and Vista if that is supposed to change anything which it probably does) so I followed the steps and I STILL didn't find it so this is basically my "last resort".

Hopefully I can find someone who can help and I might soon have to refresh this site 24/7 :)

p.s: can sombody also tell me what "JRE" means? Java?

Answer 1

As noted in the comments, JRE means Java Runtime Environment and is essentially the "thing that runs Java programs". This also means that programs written in Java cause the javaw.exe process to run, which is the consoleless version of java.exe.

So, running Minecraft starts javaw.exe, which subsequently opens minecraft.jar. This locks minecraft.jar as "used by another process". Then, when you try to open minecraft.jar in WinRAR, it won't be able to write the file, as it is locked. You will have to kill any processes that use minecraft.jar - usually this is only javaw.exe, but it may well be another instance of WinRAR or similar, minecraft.exe itself, or any other tools that use that file.

As Yves points out, there are also some utilities that may automatically "search and destroy" such processes locking a file.

Your safest way of killing all these processes is to restart your computer and delete META-INF before starting minecraft at all.

Answer 2

As mentioned by FEichinger, you cannot save your minecraft.jar in WinRAR because it is locked by another program, most likely javaw.exe. As an alternative to restarting your computer, you can use a file unlocker utility such as LockHunter. Once you unlock the file, you should be able to modify it in WinRAR.