Log in and cookie issues after java update

I have an unusual problem that seems to be tied to recent Java updates. The problems started after updating to
Java 6, 30 on my vista 64 laptop. After the update I could not log in to certain sites like Amazon. I would get an error message that cookies must be enabled, even though they were.

Logging into my bank site would always fail on 1st attempt, then go through on the second.

I partially solved this by un-installing Java, deleting all cookies, re-booting and re-install. However, I still have trouble
staying logged in to some forums, and I still get an error message on first attempt log in at my bank. The 2nd works.

Updating to the latest Java 6, 31 did not help.

This problem just recently happened on my new, out of the box Samsung Series 7 with Windows 7, i7
as soon as I installed Java. Worked fine for 2 weeks without Java.

Any ideas?