I’ve been baffled for the last few weeks as to why ever since I upgraded to Vista, Cisco’s SDM does not properly load.
Each time Cisco’s SDM attempted to load, I an SHTML page would pop up ‘runAPP.shtml’. The SDM would not load any further.
After researching and researching, I finally found a post in a forum that explained the solution… Sorry, I cannot give credit to the person as I cannot find or remember the address to the forum.
Here are the steps to fix that problem!
1. Ensure that you have Java installed. http://www.java.com
2. Install the latest Cisco SDM from Cisco
3. Open Internet Explorer, Tools -> Internet Options. Click the Advanced Tab. Scroll down to the “Security” Section. Make sure that “Allow active content to run in files on My Computer” is checked.
That’s it! Restart IE and try and launch SDM again. The Cisco SDM launch page should load SDM properly.

Thanks for posting the solution.
Thanks alot I’ve been pulling what little hair I have left out trying to get sdm to work.