Can u use "rundll32" to make it work ?
I have seen developers use "rundll32" to open IE from java  code.
Here's a link on rundll commands
dev.remotenetworktechnology.com/cmd/rundll32.htm


if (url.getProtocol().equals("file")) {
command = "rundll32 url.dll,FileProtocolHandler
"+Tools.urlGetFile(url);
} else if (url.toString().startsWith("mailto:")) {
command = "rundll32 url.dll,FileProtocolHandler "+url.toString();

Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command);