From: Richard on
This problem arises when you try to use version 7.1 on Windows 7 OS.

If you are attempting to run 7.1 on Windows 7 a quick work around is to:

1. Right-click on the desktop.
2. select personalise.
3. scroll till you can see basic and high contrast themes.
4. select the theme "Windows Classic".
5. Run Matlab.

The problem, as far as i can tell from the error messages I have gotten, is that Windows 7 does not support the Java files that Matlab uses in its GUI and as such won't start. By switching to the Windows Classic theme it enables these GUI objects to be loaded.
From: Sebastian Pinski on
Matlab installs it's own version of Java which is outdated and incompatible with newer themes. Simply follow the instructions at the following link to fool matlab into accepting a newer version of Java.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproappcompat/thread/4dba5d57-3127-48f3-9461-eb1ef5d7c70e