Thanks cattletruck.
So far still no joy. took off all the Java stuff I had installed, ran CCleaner to delete references to Java in the registry, then ran regedit to check for any stray entries and reinstalled 1.6.0.32 as pre Eurocontrols email.
Same error message. So far Eurocontrols support desk has not replied to my second email from a cople of days ago so I've sent them another.
I can't work out whats gone wrong here. The only change to my system is that I changed from a spin up hard drive to an OCZ SSD setup via my PCI slots. Thats now my main startup drive and everything boots up and runs OK bar EAD. Very annoying to say the least.