MS Live.. Java Killer

I could probably go on for hours on how I dislike Java but I won’t.   I am sure a quick Google search would reveal many blog postings that would share my opinion.   A week or so ago, I started to realize that one my applications that relied on Java stopped working.   I don’t really get into this program too much so I couldn’t really see what was wrong.     I just got a gray screen, nothing else. 

After getting a gray screen, I did what most people would do.  Upgrade Java (again), but I still got the same results.    When I checked my Java installation out on Sun’s Java site, It gave me the following error saying  "Several Java Virtual Machines running in the same process caused an error." (See Picture.)

I thought something was wrong with the installation of my machine, I was starting to consider re-formatting my machine.  I decided to give one Java one more chance and tried to bring up the Java Console within Internet Explorer to see if it could give me any clues.   I was greeted with the following error saying "The Java Runtime Environment cannot be loaded" (see Picture).  A reformat seemed more likely as each moment passed.

In a last ditch effort, I did another Google search and came up with this forum post pointing to MS Live stopping Java.  The forum also talks about changing memory settings, which didn’t help me.  It ended up, that the Windows Live Sign-in add-on  in IE7 was causing the failure.   I disabled the plug-in within IE7 in the Internet Options.   On the Programs tab select "Manage Add-ons" and find the 2 Windows Live Sign-On items and disable them using the radio button on the bottom of the window.

I was close to a reformat but Google saved me once again.   I don’t know why Live stopped Java from running but I know how to fix it.    Hopefully if you have this problem, this posting helps you fix the problem and lets you avoid the pain I went through.