Plug-in 1.4 uninstalled (not)

Question

I still get an error message from the Java Plug-in 1.4 when trying to run an applet that requires 1.3.1_08, even though I've completely removed JDK 1.4 from my system (Windows 2000 SP3). I still have JRE 1.3.1_08 (JRE only), and JDK 1.3.1_09 installed. Additionally, Oracle has placed a copy of JDK 1.3.1_01 my system as part of its client software. The error message reads:
"Java(TM) Plug-in 1.4 Fatal Error"
Java Plug-in 1.3.1_01 cannot be located because values in the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Plug-in\1.3.1_01 is not found or is no longer valid.
1. Why does the plug-in seem to think that I still have JDK 1.4 installed? Where does the message come from.
2. I cannot find the string "1.3.1_01" anywhere in the registry. Why is it looking for it.
In any case, this is much more frustrating than "DLL hell". At times I've had to have upwards of three separate minor versions of 1.2.2 and 1.3.1 due to vendors requiring specific minor versions. So much for write once, run anywhere.

Answer 1

This is of course due to the Oracle installation.
The installer adds entry to the "path" environment variable such as:
C:\oracle\ora90\bin;C:\Program Files\Oracle\jre\1.3.1\bin;C:\Program Files\Oracle\jre\1.1.8\bin
In front of them add the path to your JRE/JSE bin path like:
C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1_03\bin;
regards,
Kaz