Can't run the "simple" (!) RMI example

Okay, I've spent two full days struggling with this. so its time to ask for help. I'm frustrated 
beyond description, a migraine is killing me, and I cannot get the "simple" Hello RMI example
to run on my Windows XP.

I've perused numerous topics looking to see if the FAQ or other responses answer my question,
to no avail. I've seen the question come up many times in my scroll-through and searching.I'm using 
Java 5 (jdk 1.5.0_09).

I am trying to receive my Sun Developer's certification and RMI is my weak spot !

hello-world.html states,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Start the server
To start the server, run the Server class using the java command as follows: 
On Windows platforms: 
    start java -classpath classDir example.hello.Server
where classDir is the root directory of the class file tree (see destDir in the section "Compiling the source files"). 
The output from the server should look like this: 
    Server ready
The server remains running until the process is terminated by the user (typically by killing the process). 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I try it, it's not that easy ...

C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Desktop\devexam\second_try\scjd\starting>java -classpath dist suncertify.remote.Server

Server exception: java.rmi.ServerError: Error occurred in server thread; nested exception is:
        java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: suncertify/remote/Hello
java.rmi.ServerError: Error occurred in server thread; nested exception is:
        java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: suncertify/remote/Hello
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastServerRef.oldDispatch(UnicastServerRef.java:382)
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastServerRef.dispatch(UnicastServerRef.java:240)
        at sun.rmi.transport.Transport$1.run(Transport.java:153)
        (...etc...)

Hello (a Java interface) and Server (implements Hello) are in the dist\ directory.

C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Desktop\devexam\second_try\scjd\starting>dir dist\suncertify\remote
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 4487-E894

 Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Desktop\devexam\second_try\scjd\starting\dist\suncertify\remote

11/08/2006  07:59 PM    <DIR>          .
11/08/2006  07:59 PM    <DIR>          ..
11/08/2006  07:59 PM               962 Client.class
11/08/2006  07:59 PM               193 Hello.class
11/08/2006  07:59 PM             1,053 Server.class
               4 File(s)          3,893 bytes
               2 Dir(s)  39,750,754,304 bytes free

Okay, then bebopping around it seems I need to set a command line argument ... java.rmi.server.codebase. I've probably
tried about 100 variations on the file: protocol to get it to run (after starting up the registry, of course). There are many variations
in the old archives, none work for me though. I've tried things like,

java -Djava.rmi.server.codebase="file:/C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Desktop\devexam\second_try\scjd\starting\dist\"  suncertify.remote.Server
java -Djava.rmi.server.codebase="file://C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Desktop\devexam\second_try\scjd\starting\dist\"  suncertify.remote.Server
java -Djava.rmi.server.codebase="file:///C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Desktop\devexam\second_try\scjd\starting\dist\"  suncertify.remote.Server
java -Djava.rmi.server.codebase="file:/C:/Documents and Settings/Eric/Desktop/devexam/second_try/scjd/starting/dist/"  suncertify.remote.Server

You get the picture. Endless permutations of forward and backward slashes, etc. I tried double-backslashes too. I either get
a java usage dump (with the back slashes) or a NoClassDefFound Error. I tried substituting %20's for the spaces in the file path.
When I added the -classpath, I get...

C:\Documents and Settings\Eric\Desktop\devexam\second_try\scjd\starting>java -Djava.rmi.server.codebase="file:/C:/Documents and Settings/Eric/Desktop/devexam/second_try/scjd/starting/dist/" -classpath dist suncertify.remote.Server

Server exception: java.rmi.UnmarshalException: Error unmarshaling return; nested exception is:
        java.net.MalformedURLException: no protocol: and
java.rmi.UnmarshalException: Error unmarshaling return; nested exception is:
        java.net.MalformedURLException: no protocol: and
        at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.executeCall(StreamRemoteCall.java:217)
        at sun.rmi.server.UnicastRef.invoke(UnicastRef.java:343)
        at sun.rmi.registry.RegistryImpl_Stub.bind(Unknown Source)
        at suncertify.remote.Server.main(Unknown Source)
Caused by: java.net.MalformedURLException: no protocol: and
        at java.net.URL.<init>(URL.java:567)
        at java.net.URL.<init>(URL.java:464)
        at java.net.URL.<init>(URL.java:413)
        at sun.rmi.server.LoaderHandler.pathToURLs(LoaderHandler.java:747)
        at sun.rmi.server.LoaderHandler.getDefaultCodebaseURLs(LoaderHandler.java:120)
        at sun.rmi.server.LoaderHandler.loadClass(LoaderHandler.java:149)
        at java.rmi.server.RMIClassLoader$2.loadClass(RMIClassLoader.java:620)
        at java.rmi.server.RMIClassLoader.loadClass(RMIClassLoader.java:247)
        at sun.rmi.server.MarshalInputStream.resolveClass(MarshalInputStream.java:197)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readNonProxyDesc(ObjectInputStream.java:1544)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readClassDesc(ObjectInputStream.java:1466)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readOrdinaryObject(ObjectInputStream.java:1699)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject0(ObjectInputStream.java:1305)
        at java.io.ObjectInputStream.readObject(ObjectInputStream.java:348)
        at sun.rmi.transport.StreamRemoteCall.executeCall(StreamRemoteCall.java:215)
        ... 3 more

Which barks about the file protocol , I also have seen it unable to find the Hello class (compiled interface).

Anyone who can help me would have my eternal thanks and gratitude !

- Eric


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