When I install Visual COBOL (both the Eclipse and the Visual Studio 2017 versions), I end up with Java 8 on my computer. I've had two different Java update levels get installed and both of them cause problems for Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit. In both cases Java 8 prevents parts of Windows itself from working. For example, the Windows/File Browser hangs up and the Update Manager and Device Manager can't be populated so they don't work - which probably accounts for the other problems that occur. Office products like Word will launch but then they go to "not responding" as soon as you try to work with them. I have some software that won't launch at all. I've had to uninstall Visual COBOL (both flavors) and then uninstall Java 8. After a reboot, everything is fine again.
I'm not planning to do any Java app development. Installing Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 does not install any Java so it's not needed for that software.
1. Do I even need Java 8 to run the Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2017?
2. If I don't need Java 8, is there a way to keep it from being installed with Visual COBOL?
3. If there's no way to prevent the install of Java 8, can it even be uninstalled if Visual COBOL for Visual Studio 2017 is installed?
4. If Java 8 is required for the IDE, how do I get it to stop interfering with everything else on Windows 7?
Thanks, Margaret