Eclipse quits with an error after updating Java JRE or installing a product

After updating Java JRE, the following Eclipse error may show up:

An error has occured. See the log file
 <workspace>\.metadata\.log.

The log file shows a line like this:

Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Invalid version number: Version number may be negative or greater than 255

Possible solutions

Solution 1

Modify the eclipse.ini file which is included in the \eclipse sub-directory of the product installation directory. Add the following two lines at the beginning of eclipse.ini:

-vm
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_202\bin\javaw.exe

Solution 2

Adapt the shortcut that starts the Eclipse executable and modify the Target by adding the option:

-vm "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_202\bin\javaw.exe"