Problem Description:

At this time, Punch WebGroups only supports the Sun Microsystems Java Runtime Environment (sometimes referred to as a "JRE", Virtual Machine, or "VM). If you do not have the Sun VM installed, you can get it directly from Sun Microsystems at http://www.java.com/download/.

Check or verify your current JAVA settings:
1. Go to the Internet Explorer "Tools" Menu and select "Internet Options"
2. Select the "Advanced" Tab
3. Scroll the settings until you see reference to "Java (Sun)" - be sure it is selected/checked, and that anything under "Microsoft VM" is de-selected/un-checked., as pictured below:
   JAVA Settings in Internet Explorer

If you already have the Sun JRE installed, but applets still will not load, be sure that your web browser is correctly configured to use the JRE; Sun Microsystems has a good set of instructions for reference at http://www.java.com/en/download/help/enable_browser.xml.

More information:

For many of our long-time customers, this Sun VM requirement is a reversal from the position we have taken regarding Java Virtual Machine vendor preference over the last 5 years. We have recently made several changes to how our applets are invoked within Internet Explorer, which allows our Java Applets to successfully rely upon the Sun VM (version 5 or later). We finally decided to make this change as we approach Microsoft's declared "end of life" date for the MSJVM which is December 31, 2007 (reference: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/java/).