[MCL-1227] Minecraft Launcher Fatal Bootstrap Error when having a modified Windows system theme

Workaround:
From the minecraft forums, posted by user Tehyoda:

1. Open notepad.
2. Copy and paste the code below into the notepad window.
3. Goto File => Save As... and save the file as "StartMC.bat" (with the quotes)
4. Save the "StartMC.bat" file in the same directory as Minecraft.exe
5. Use StartMC.bat to run Minecraft.
Note: If you use minecraft.jar instead of minecraft.exe, change the filename in the script.
The code:

@start /B javaw -Dswing.systemlaf=com.sun.javax.swing.plaf.metal.CrossPlatformLookAndFeel -jar Minecraft.exe

Clean Windows 7 install
All drivers are updated

I'm getting an error when trying to run the minecraft.exe.
I recently downloaded it, and when i try to run it, it only gets this far:

Bootstrap (v5)
Current time is Jul 18, 2013 12:10:08 AM
System.getProperty('os.name') == 'Windows 7'
System.getProperty('os.version') == '6.1'
System.getProperty('os.arch') == 'amd64'
System.getProperty('java.version') == '1.7.0_25'
System.getProperty('java.vendor') == 'Oracle Corporation'
System.getProperty('sun.arch.data.model') == '64'

Looking for update
Downloading: https://s3.amazonaws.com/Minecraft.Download/launcher/launcher.pack.lzma
Got reply in: 607ms
No update found.
Reversing LZMA on C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack.lzma to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack
Unpacking C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.jar
Cleaning up C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack
Starting launcher.
FATAL ERROR: net.minecraft.bootstrap.FatalBootstrapError: Unable to start: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.startLauncher(Bootstrap.java:242)
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.execute(Bootstrap.java:124)
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:381)


Please fix the error and restart.

I tried this with both Java 32 bit and Java 64 bit, same result.

I never got past that point.

I haven't played this game for quite a while, so this is a clean install.

Linked issues

is duplicated by 4

MCL-1372 Bootstrap loader doesn't run with custom Windows Themes Resolved

MCL-1951 Bootstrap Errors Resolved

MCL-2982 Client Crashing [Bootstrap error] Resolved

MCL-3557 Launcher showing only grey screen due to Windows 7 theme Resolved

relates to 2

MCL-95 New Launcher doesn't work with custom windows 7 themes... Resolved

MCL-3500 White screen when I start the launcher 1.6.11 Resolved

Comments 14

kumasasa 2013-07-19T22:01:42Z

Is this still a concern in the current Minecraft / Launcher version? If so, please update the affected versions in order to best aid Mojang ensuring bugs are still valid in the latest releases/pre-releases.

Please redownload Minecraft from https://minecraft.net/download , it was updated recently.

migrated 2013-07-19T23:59:59Z

Hi,
yes, this is still a concern.

This happens with the most recent minecraft.exe from https://minecraft.net/download
I can't update the version in my report, as there is no version shown.

A Java window opens and shows this text when i doubleclick the minecraft.exe:

Bootstrap (v5)
Current time is Jul 20, 2013 1:56:16 AM
System.getProperty('os.name') == 'Windows 7'
System.getProperty('os.version') == '6.1'
System.getProperty('os.arch') == 'amd64'
System.getProperty('java.version') == '1.7.0_25'
System.getProperty('java.vendor') == 'Oracle Corporation'
System.getProperty('sun.arch.data.model') == '64'

Looking for update
Downloading: https://s3.amazonaws.com/Minecraft.Download/launcher/launcher.pack.lzma
Got reply in: 579ms
No update found.
Reversing LZMA on C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack.lzma to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack
Unpacking C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.jar
Cleaning up C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack
Starting launcher.
FATAL ERROR: net.minecraft.bootstrap.FatalBootstrapError: Unable to start: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.startLauncher(Bootstrap.java:242)
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.execute(Bootstrap.java:124)
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:381)


Please fix the error and restart.

Since there was no previous version of minecraft on my PC, i guess the launcher version is the most recent.
I am not even sure if this is a launcher issue, as i never got that far (the launcher does not even show up). The minecraft.exe just stops after showing the above text.

Edit:
Running 1.5.2 on the website ( http://minecraft.net/demo ) works fine.

kumasasa 2013-07-20T07:19:58Z

Finding an (quite old) ticket about this issue: http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=6642654
Can you uninstall Java (all versions, if you have more than one installed) and reinstall Java 7 : http://www.java.com/en/download/ . Keep in mind that when using a 32-bit browser on a 64-bit OS the automatic version detection will only show the 32-bit version of Java, the 64-bit version needs to be downloaded manually: http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp .

migrated 2013-07-20T20:55:33Z

Uninstalled both 32 and 64 bit Java, deleted the .minecraft folder, deleted the minecraft.exe.
Ran CCleaner (on harddrives and registry).

Installed Java 32 bit.
Downloaded minecraft.exe from https://minecraft.net/download and ran it.
Same error as before, now in 32 bit:

Bootstrap (v5)
Current time is Jul 20, 2013 10:41:28 PM
System.getProperty('os.name') == 'Windows 7'
System.getProperty('os.version') == '6.1'
System.getProperty('os.arch') == 'x86'
System.getProperty('java.version') == '1.7.0_25'
System.getProperty('java.vendor') == 'Oracle Corporation'
System.getProperty('sun.arch.data.model') == '32'

Downloading: https://s3.amazonaws.com/Minecraft.Download/launcher/launcher.pack.lzma
Got reply in: 524ms
Downloaded 111,5kb in 0s at 163,2kb/s
Renaming C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack.lzma.new to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack.lzma
Renamed successfully.
Reversing LZMA on C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack.lzma to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack
Unpacking C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.jar
Cleaning up C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack
Starting launcher.
FATAL ERROR: net.minecraft.bootstrap.FatalBootstrapError: Unable to start: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.startLauncher(Bootstrap.java:242)
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.execute(Bootstrap.java:124)
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:381)

Please fix the error and restart.

Uninstalled 32 bit Java, ran CCleaner, installed 64 bit Java.
Tried to run minecraft.exe, same error as before (now in 64 bit again):

Bootstrap (v5)
Current time is Jul 20, 2013 10:42:56 PM
System.getProperty('os.name') == 'Windows 7'
System.getProperty('os.version') == '6.1'
System.getProperty('os.arch') == 'amd64'
System.getProperty('java.version') == '1.7.0_25'
System.getProperty('java.vendor') == 'Oracle Corporation'
System.getProperty('sun.arch.data.model') == '64'

Looking for update
Downloading: https://s3.amazonaws.com/Minecraft.Download/launcher/launcher.pack.lzma
Got reply in: 584ms
No update found.
Reversing LZMA on C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack.lzma to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack
Unpacking C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack to C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.jar
Cleaning up C:\Users\Dennis\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\launcher.pack
Starting launcher.
FATAL ERROR: net.minecraft.bootstrap.FatalBootstrapError: Unable to start: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.startLauncher(Bootstrap.java:242)
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.execute(Bootstrap.java:124)
	at net.minecraft.bootstrap.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:381)


Please fix the error and restart.

Uninstalling and reinstalling sadly didn't help.

migrated 2013-07-24T04:27:00Z

This is still a problem for quite a few people on the Minecraft forums.

Modifying the startLauncher method in the bootstrap class so it prints the exceptions full stack trace instead of throwing a FatalBootstrapError which is just an over-glorified RuntimeException - would make determining the cause of this error much easier.

4 more comments

migrated 2013-12-12T17:53:10Z

Still doesnt work with the code or windows basic

migrated 2014-10-13T18:09:48Z

Now crashes without the error message.
After it says "Starting launcher", the icon at the top will change from the Java icon to the green/brown grass block icon, and the version number will appear behind "Minecraft launcher" (in this case 1.5.3).
No error message will appear. If you resize the window, everything inside the window turns into a light grey with no text visible anymore (just moving the window doesn't change anything).
There is no log file in the logs folder.

I used a fresh install of Minecraft, as usual.

The small .bat file still works fine, and the launcher appears as expected, so Christopher Rose may not be reporting the same issue (since it also doesn't work without a theme for him).

Without the error message, this bug may be hard to track for new users, and they may never be able to play the game, since they can't get help with their issue.
This needs to be adressed soon.

migrated 2017-02-10T03:57:36Z

O Launcher nao esta carregando todas as versões!!!

migrated 2017-02-11T21:36:21Z

launcher starts, but do not want to turn versions

galaxy_2alex 2017-02-12T11:04:38Z

Is this still an issue with the latest version of the launcher? If so, please comment on this issue so we know if this is still a valid report.