Does anyone know how to use Nortel Netdirect (Version 7.1.3.0) with Windows 7 64 bit (Home Premium)?

There are several ways available to me for connecting, all of which work for me on a 32-bit XP machine:

• Nortel Contivity VPN client (v6_02.022). The installer appears to be 16-bit, so I can't even install it on a 64-bit machine.
• Web-based SSL via IE
• Web-based SSL via Firefox

The Web-based SSL process is supposed to load Netdirect and start it up, establishing the VPN connection.

Using Firefox, I'm able to authenticate with my smartcard, but when it tries to download the applet, the process stops with a message box saying that it couldn't download the zip file. If I run Firefox in Vista compatibility mode, it gets a little farther, and manages to start Netdirect, but then exits after notifying me that the netdirect adapter was not installed.

Using IE, I'm able to authenticate with my smartcard, then the java applet starts, but dies with the following sent to the java console:

load: class NetDirect not found.
java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: NetDirect
    at sun.plugin2.applet.Applet2ClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.applet.Plugin2ClassLoader.loadCode(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.applet.Plugin2Manager.createApplet(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.applet.Plugin2Manager$AppletExecutionRunnable.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: Received fatal alert: unknown_ca
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.recvAlert(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.readRecord(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.performInitialHandshake(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(Unknown Source)
    at com.sun.net.ssl.internal.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(Unknown Source)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.afterConnect(Unknown Source)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(Unknown Source)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream(Unknown Source)
    at java.net.HttpURLConnection.getResponseCode(Unknown Source)
    at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.getResponseCode(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.applet.Applet2ClassLoader.getBytes(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.applet.Applet2ClassLoader.access$000(Unknown Source)
    at sun.plugin2.applet.Applet2ClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    ... 7 more
Exception: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: NetDirect

I've tried installing certificates using java's keytool, but that didn't change the outcome.