Problem resolved. Workaround found here (user6112349's post): https://forums.oracle.com/forums/message.jspa?messageID=10153715#10153715
1) goto c:\Users[your user]
2) create jdk1.7.0_04_combo directory
3) right click on folder and select permissions
4) click advanced button
5) deny delete/delete sub for each listed role/user
6) run downloader installer
7) goto jdk1.7.0_04 and run the java_jdk.exe (no need to copy to another dir)
Update number was changed but otherwise this is the same as his posted workaround.
Download the official JRE Linux x64 RPM from Oracle Java website
http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp
The following command is for "Java 7 update 60". Make sure you change the file name of the RPM according to the version you're installing.
Use YUM to install the RPM
sudo yum install jre-7u60-linux-x64.rpm
Create a symlink to libnpjp2.so in Mozilla plugins directory
sudo ln -s /usr/java/default/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so /usr/lib64/mozilla/plugins/
Best Answer
OP probably already solved, but for others, I had the same problem- for some reason the file downloads as: server-jre-7u21-windows-x64.gz
When you extract it, you just get the tar file without an extension. Attempting to extract the tar (using 7-zip in my case) gives you invalid output (empty folders).
To fix, just rename the downloaded file to: server-jre-7u21-windows-x64.tar.gz
Extracting the gz then the tar should get you what you need.