David,
...
> Actually, I think I may have copied some *.dll and *.jar files into the
> system/profiles directory (from an older java version) to try to minimise
> path problems, but perhaps this is adding to a different problem.
...
> Perhaps another problem may be used by my use of case:
> "classpath" and "CLASSPATH" seem to be treated (at least partially) as
> different variables, and I was not so consistent :-p
According to
http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/docs/tooldocs/win32/classpath.html
the use of the CLASSPATH environment variable is no longer the
preferred method of specifying a class path; use of the -classpath
option when invoking java or javac is preferred "because you can set
it individually for each application without affecting other
applications and without other applications modifying its value".
The above URL is also a good summary of how classes are found in .jar,
.zip, or .class files, what order is used in finding classes, and why
you shouldn't copy third party or application classes into the JDK
directories.
--Russ
