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javavbabatch-file32bit-64bitwow64

Cannot find java.exe when run from a .bat file launched via VBA

I have a script.bat which looks like this:

c:\windows\system32\java.exe -version
pause

If I run the script from a command window, it works fine, and outputs the Java version information:

java version "1.6.0_45"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_45-b06)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 20.45-b01, mixed mode)

However, I also have a VBA macro in Excel that calls the same script:

Shell "C:\users\Matt\script.bat", vbNormalFocus

The .bat file executes, but it has a problem finding Java:

C:\Users\Matt\Documents>c:\windows\system32\java.exe -version
'c:\windows\system32\java.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

Any ideas on what's going wrong? Oddly, this works fine on a number of other machines, just fails on this one laptop (64-bit Windows 7, using Excel 2010).

Solution

  • It seems to be the same problem as described here:

    http://betterlogic.com/roger/2011/04/cannotunable-to-run-java-exe-from-cwindowssystem32/

    Namely, Windows was trying to do some 64-bit compatibility magic to redirect C:\Windows\System32\java.exe to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\java.exe, but Java didn't install a suitable exe in that location.