is reinstalling java necessary?

Hi..New macbook owner as of 2 weeks ago. I use an online trading system that has a java component. When I minimize that window and then maximize it again, the page freezes and becomes unusable. Contacted the site and got a very knowledgeable guy. He spent 15 minutes with me and said he felt that Java had to be uninstalled and reinstalled again and suggested I contact Apple for instructions. I did so and the person looked up my problem on a chart..said there might be an issue and said the entire operating system had to be uninstalled/ reinstalled. and had to be brought into them. The guy at the trading website said that sounded a bit much. So, does anyone have any real world experience with this type of issue that could give me some input? Does what Ive been told so far sound right?

Reinstalling the OS to fix a minor Java issue is the definition of excessive. Whoever told you to do that sounds like my old IT boss - "doesn't work? Reinstall Windows!"

It's possible that this is browser specific. Although the plug-in itself is the same, each browser manages them differently. Have you tried different browsers? What browser are you using right now?

Hi Van...kind of thought the same thing. No, its not browser specific. Occurred on Safari, Chrome and Firefox. Apple said to try firefox as chrome and safari are similar The guy at the trading website cleared the caches, tried changing the default to 64 bit from 32 , which was listed first, and a bunch of other things. He said that he had limited success trying to uninstall / reinstall java himself but thought that you could do it by dragging it to the recycle bin and then downloading/ installing it again. Im thinking of calling Apple again and ask for someone who actually has hands on experience in this type of matter because the original person I spoke to admitted that he takes the problem , enters it into a program and it spits out remedies. What do you think?,,john

Although Safari and Chrome both use the same layout engine, everything else is different. It wouldn't hurt to try but I'm going to guess that it won't work.

Java can't be uninstalled simply by trashing it - the installer litters files all over the filesystem so by trashing one part, you're only getting rid of a small portion. What version of Java are you using? Open up /Applications/Utilities/Java Preferences.app to find out. Is the 32 or 64bit plugin the default? Either way, try switching them by dragging them up or down.

Did the switch with the 64 vs 32..that was what I was trying to say earlier but probably didnt verbalize it correctly. In any event, it made no difference.