Java not working

Yesterday when I booted up I found Java not to be working. I've tried everything to fix it and nothing works. I've deleted and reinstalled, deleted and removed registry entries (which caused problems for putting it back so I used the backup I made before modifying reg to restore), I tried system restore, I found a file online msvcr71.dll that is suppose to fix it, but when I try to register the dll file by doing cmd and the following command:
regsvr32 "msvcr71".dll. and got the following error: the module msvcr71 was loaded but the entry point dllregisterserver was not found. I'm totally lost. System restore should have fixed it but didn't. I could really use some help. reformatting just to solve a java problem will suck.

What happens when you type "java --version" on the command line? It's just gone? If so, is Java on your path in Environment Variables? You can check variables by going to My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Environment Variables (http://www.itechtalk.com/thread3595.html).

do you still need help with this? i can tell you howto fix it if you do

ace_extreme said:

do you still need help with this? i can tell you howto fix it if you do

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Why not just post up the fix in case someone else runs into the same issue.

redduc900 said:

Why not just post up the fix in case someone else runs into the same issue.

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a fix greatly depends on what o/s and browser. so i am not going to post a page and half of fixes and links... people will get confused.

when i post it seems that i am subscribed to the thread , so someone else can pick up and continue it if needed