Hi - Microsoft has finally come up with a reasonably simple approach for Win2kSP4 users, and I've modified my post accordingly.  You might wish to update this in your Installation Tips Section.  Thanks.

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You can test whether Java is working on your machine at the following sites:

http://www.pocoso.de/pocoso052.html
http://www.fitwise.com/testjava.asp (both 1.0 and 1.1 and what's installed)
http://coglab.wadsworth.com/support/browsercheck.html
http://www.ces.clemson.edu/webct/browser_detect.html

and you can test Javascript here:
http://www.dancespots.net/browsertest.htm

There is good information concerning all aspects of the Java situation here:
http://www.javatester.org/installing.html

Be aware, however, that after Dec 31, 2007, MS will apparently no longer be distributing Java or providing any support for Java including security fixes.  See here:  http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/  so you might want to start thinking about the future.  MS Java VM Transition FAQ are available here: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/faq.asp

You can get the Sun Java J2SE RunTimes or SDK here: http://java.sun.com/downloads/index.html (all versions - select using the dropdown)

Sun also offers an automatic download and install of the 1.4 Java plug-in here: http://java.sun.com/getjava/download.html

If you want the latest and greatest, you can link to a download for the J2SE 5.0 JRE here:  http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp  (What I use, BTW)


For the MS Java VM, you may need to install v.3805 or  v.3809 prior to upgrading to v. 3810 if you didn't previously have MS Java v. 3805 or 3809 installed.

If your OS is Win2000 SP2, SP3 but NOT SP4 then you can download and install MS Java VM v. 3809 from here:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/CabPool/Q810030_W2K_510A502BA8F9B6F19230BB2BCCE87D5474AC9DCD.exe
or here:
http://www.biologylab.awlonline.com/MSJavaVM/Software/en/com_microsoft.windows2000/x86win2k/com_microsoft.Q810030_W2K_SP4_5849/Q810030_W2K.exe

For Win2000 SP4, follow the directions here:  Frequently Asked Questions About the Microsoft VM and Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=820101  "Because the Microsoft VM files are not protected by the Windows File Protection (WFP) feature in Windows 2000 SP4, redistributable versions of the Microsoft VM can be installed on a Windows 2000 SP4-based computer with or without the Microsoft VM."


For all other OS's:

Download and install the MS Java VM v. 3809 from one of the links here:
http://ftp.idilis.ro/windows/sp/jvm98/msjavwu.exe,  or here:
http://secinfo.huji.ac.il/patches/Win-xp/msjavwu.exe    or v. 3805 from the download section on this site.


Then upgrade to v. 3810:

For all OS's except Win2kSP4 obtain v. 3810 here:
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail.php3?fid=1050022631 ,or here:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3-19990518/cabpool/MSJavWU_8073687b82d41db93f4c2a04af2b34d.exe

For Win2k - SP2, SP3 - you can also obtain v. 3810 from Microsoft here:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/7/7/577b7277-227d-4163-9b18-423356321682/Q816093_W2K_SP4_X86_EN.exe

For Win2kSP4, to get 3810 from Microsoft you now have to get Q816093 from Windows Update Catalog - use the procedure given in the Q820101 link given above for Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition (Yes, Win98x/SE - it's not a mistake).  You can find directions for using the Windows Update Catalog functions here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;323166.

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Regards, Jim Byrd