Subversion over SSH on Windows: Folder '' does not exist remotely

Setting up SpringSource Tool Suite on Windows 7, when attempting to connect using Subclipse to SVN server with a URL of the form svn+ssh://, get the error "Folder '' does not exist remotely". 

Some people have had luck with HowTo: Configure SVN+SSH with Subclipse on Windows but I kept being prompted for username/password with each folder navigation in the SVN repository (unworkable!).  One of the comments in the blog referred me to Subversion Access from Eclipse Using Subclipse which worked for me although I continue to use username/password (saved) rather than public/private key as the latter method didn't work.  I probably have the key saved improperly on the client and/or server side. 

Other problems that I had as I accessed our SVN server over a VPN:

• hostname wasn't resolving so I had to find out the IP address of the SVN server and use that in the URL
• Attempted to use TortoiseSVN as it supposedly handles svn+ssh:// out of the box but after installation and rebooting Windows, still couldn't find the TortoiseSVN menu in the context menu in Windows Explorer