Java SE (Java Platform, Standard Edition)

Hello, I have a person I'm working with getting this error when trying to hit a java applet:

"The Java Runtime Environment cannot be loaded from <\bin\hotspot\jvm.dll>"

Click ok on the error and he gets message:

"No Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition v 1.3.1 support for APPLET!!
http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/1.3.1/plugin-install.html"

The webpage the person gets the error on is hosted locally using J2EE 6.20, so it is required to use JDK 1.3.1 in this instance.

The version of JDK is: jdk1.3.1_16
and the OS is Windows 2000.

I asked the user do this:
I have researched this error and have found that doing the following
has helped with similar issues: Go to Control Panel > Java Plug In,
for version 1.3.1 and select the cache tab.
Click the clear button to clear the cache.
Go to the Browser tab and select the checkmark under Internet explore
to make jdk 1.3.1 the default plug-in for IE.
Also, go to the Advanced tab, and from the drop-down menu select the
location for your jdk 1.3.1 install. Apply the changes, and restart
the servlet engine.

the issue remained.

I asked the user delete their 'Sun' Directory under c:\documents and settings\<username>\application data\ and retry the java applet. There
was no 'sun' directory.

I had him check the properties file under the \.java directory and also the settings in the windows registry for 1.3.1 - no luck, all looked ok.

I had the customer uninstall and reinstall jdk1.3.1, restart the servlet engine, and the error still remains.

I'm having trouble thinking of what else to try. Any suggestions from my fellow forum users would be great.

Thanks!!!