Java runtime environment error

[ironman99011]

 Hope this is the correct forum, 1st time posting here. Searching for answer to Java errors. When I attempt to play games on Yahoo I get several Java Plug-in fatal error messages "Java runtime environment cannot be loaded" and "several Java virtual machines running in same process caused an error". I first observed this problem several months ago and no new software has been added nor has my firewall been modified prior to the onset. I have uninstalled and installed the Java package from Sun's site twice with no improvement.
 I am not a guru by any means, is there a simple solution or perhaps a downloadable fix to this problem?

[patio]

Can you check in Add/Remove programs and list what is there for Java ? ?
Post back and we'll go from there.

[ironman99011]

 Java 6 version 3 is currently loaded. If this info has any bearing, I searched errors on Suns site and found these error msgs listed with the explanation that the cause is unknown and are currently being investigated. This leads me to believe there may be a program problem that is widespread to some degree and not a compatibility issue on my machine. I also tried a number of work arounds that were suggested and had no luck there. Any further info will be greatly appreciated.