Although court cases are still draggin on, Microsoft has removed its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) from the Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1). Recently Microsoft released Service Pack 1a, which is the same as SP1, but then without the Java VM.
You might want to remove Microsoft's JVM, since it will no longer be supported by Microsoft.
If you want to remove Microsoft's JVM, and install the latest offering from Sun, here's how:
Select Start > Run
Enter RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection java.inf,UnInstall in the Open box, and click OK
Click Yes to confirm that you want to remove the Microsoft VM
When prompted, reboot the computer
Remove the following items:
The \%Systemroot%\Java folder
The file java.PNF from the \%Systemroot%\inf folder
The files jview.exe and wjview.exe from the \%Systemroot%\system32 folder
The registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Java VM
The registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ InternetExplorer \ AdvancedOptions \ JAVA_VM
Note I: With \%Systemroot%\ is meant your Windows directory.
Note II: To delete a registry subkey, start the Registry Editor, and navigate to the key by clicking on the + signs. When you have the correct key selected, right-click, and select Delete from the menu.
Microsoft JVM is now removed. You can download Sun's JVM for Windows from the Sun Web site.
Note: I got a weird memory access error when the Sun JVM tried to install:
I worked around this by installing an older version (1.4.0_03) which you can find here.
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/index.html