I installed the Java Development Kit (64-bit) recently and saw it includes the JRE plugin for 64-bit as well. But, since Firefox is 32-bit, I also installed JRE 32-bit version. This is what is shown in Programs and Features.

Now, the problem is, the other day, I opened a site which required the Java plugin. The frame showed the regular Java loading animation and hung. Nothing happened after that. Like this:

I checked Firefox's plugins section and it shows Java is enabled, so no issue there

I tried other browsers - IE10 and Chrome but to no avail. It doesn't work anywhere. I saw another question which said that you have to install 64-bit then 32-bit. That's what I actually did as well. First, installed JDK 7 64-bit (which includes JRE 7 64-bit) and then installed JRE 7 32-bit.

I even tried the Java website's Do I have Java? section and over there too, it just keeps spinning for ages (I have waited for more than 10-20 seconds).

How do I go about now? This never happened to me in Windows 7. I am on Windows 8 Pro.