Java Installation Aids for Windows

CreateLnk

Here is a simple C program that will create a shortcut on the Window's desktop.
With this short cut you can run you .jar file directly from the desktop. You can also specify your own icon for the link.

The compiled program is available for downloading here, the code and a make file are also available.

CreateLnk Usage

Usage: createLnk path filename linkFilename workingDir [description args icon]
  where path is the path to link to
        filename is the filename to link to or "" if linking to a directory
        linkFilename is the name of the link file (without the .lnk)
        workingDir the working directory
        description (optional) the description of this link or " " for none
        args (optional) the arguments or " " for no args
        iconPath (optional) the location of the .ico file for this link icon

Sample Java code

The following some sample Java code to call this program, assuming installDir is a string containing the directory you installed your jar file to

    File executable = new File(installDir,"createLnk.exe");
    if(!executable.exists()) {
        return;
    }   
    String[] args = { executable.getPath(), 
        installDir, "parallel.jar", "Parallel V1.1", installDir,
        "Shortcut to Parallel.jar", " ", installDir+File.separator+"p32.ico" 
        };
    try {
        Runtime.getRuntime().exec(args).waitFor();
    } catch(IOException io) {
    } catch(InterruptedException ie) {
    }

A Multi-Platform Java installer

If you are looking for a multi-platform java install, take a look at www.jedit.org.
Download the source code and look in the installer directory. The Java code there appears to be in the public domain.