I updated the recommended Java and LW opened fine. I installed the 64-bit Java and then had exact same issue as you.

Only way I could get LW to work again was to uninstall the 64-bit Java and re-install the 32-bit Java despite it already being installed. LW then opened fine.

And no problem, LW will revert back to using the old preferences location and the prior download location.

A few days ago someone had same issue but they were trying out Windows 8 so I presumed it might have been something odd about the new Windows version. Seems it is a LW and the newer 64-bit Java issue.

I am guessing this is a LW 5 only issue, same as the Java 7 issue only affected LW 5 versions. I will check LW 4 out later after some sleep.

Now I remember why I adopted a practice a decade ago of only updating software after reading user feedback about whether the updates were safe/ok without introducing problems. When you are using particular software for work, you cannot afford problems some updates can cause. I won't waffle on about that but it still holds true for many softwares, including so-called upgrade versions. (The software company pushing you to pay extra pennies to buy more (new) bugs.) Anybody name me any software where the upgrade version did not require later bug updates. I often suspected it was deliberate.

FYI: It's not necessary to uninstall the 64bit version; as long as the 32bit version is installed last (after the 64bit version), everything seems to go back to normal.

Also, this solved another minor but nagging problem I've been having for months - I use OpenOffice, and since the last time I updated that, I was unable to use the search function in OOo's help system. I don't remember if I also updated Java at the same time (let alone which order I installed the Javas the last time I updated them), but reinstalling 32bit 7u9 fixed OOo, too.

Thanks a lot, LotR.

P.S.: I've also adopted a policy of disallowing automatic updates of anything for my friends' computers (I'm something of the neighborhood geek-in-residence), but I didn't find any info about new or additional compatibility problems with this latest Java update. OTOH, I've pretty much banned Google Chrome on the PCs of anyone I do maintenance for, because of the difficulty of disabling automatic updates for it.

Thanks for the heads up. I can suggest this to others whom have this same issue. I will also add this information to the Java part of the LW Fixes.

I tend to waffle a little when I'm super tired lol.