Barb McC-D said:
I'm trying to run a piece of third party software - when I try to start it
I
get an error message that reads "Unable to start the application. The
Microsoft virtual machine cannot be found. Class not registered"
There is no number with this error.
What do I do to fix this?
Hi Barb
Is this a trick question?

What is this third party software?? This would
help considerably in finding an answer!

)
At a quick stab, however ... it sounds like the app is looking for the
Microsoft Java Virtual Machine, and cannot find it. If so, the error message
is correct. The Microsoft JVM is dead, finished, deceased, it has snuffed
it. . Under the court settlement between Sun Microsystems and Microsoft,
Microsoft had to stop distributing their JVM back in (I think) 2001. It
cannot be distributed as part of Windows (since NT 4.0 days). You cannot
download it from
www.microsoft.com. Microsoft also had seek out and destroy
any leftover copies of the MSJVM. For details, see
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/default.mspx
If the app requires Java, you may be able to jig it to run with Sun's JVM:
http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp. Sun Java v6 update 3 is fully
compatible with Vista.
If the app really requires the Microsoft JVM, you need to get a copy from
the vendor of the application. There is no other way you can obtain a copy
(legally). There may be bootleg copies floating around the Internet, try
Google.
If the app is not a Java application and the error is not related to a JVM,
then ... well, it would help to know what the application is.
Hope this helps,