cannot download launcher and save game to computer

Bought game last year. Paid. This year, tried to do updates. Most recently got horse update, but it wouldn't let us download and SAVE. So now everytime we want to play we have to download it every time. Tried turning off firewall...didn't work. Tried going to downloads on computer and running them from there. didn't work. Error on minecraft says "fatal error detected by Java Runtime Environment" and "exception access violation" and "crash happened outside Java Virtual Machine in native Code".

*What I expected to happen was.. that I could download new versions and then play them thereafter without having to download the same version everytime I turn on the computer.

*What actually happened was...I couldn't download and save the updates, and now everytime I want to play I have to download the same version.
I used to be able to play the game in my browser everytime without having to download it every single time (same version). Can't do that anymore. ??