title: Does java use the registry to locate its default jar files?
body: <p><strong>Target Environment</strong><br>
  &nbsp;&nbsp;Windows 7 (6.1)<br>
  &nbsp;&nbsp;Java 1.8.0_121 64bit<br></p>
  
  <p>I recently created a minimal java environment consisting of just the single file java.exe in a newly created, empty directory and successfully ran a simple HelloWorld.class file simply by copying it to the same directory and typing:</p>
  
  <pre><code>.\java HelloWorld
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I found this kind of surprising, and wondered if maybe because the version of java I was using (jre 1.8.0_72) had been installed from an .exe file whether there was something in the Windows registry telling java.exe where to find rt.jar and such.<br><br>
  Running the java control panel, you can certainly see java 1.8.0_72 is in there:<br><br>
  <a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/G1Z9m.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/G1Z9m.png" alt="java control panel snap-in"></a><br><br>
  I if I used a java version which was NOT installed (i.e. a standalone java version) would I get a different result?</p>