[Solved] Text files freeze when I go to Tools -> Options

[WholeBibleWoman]

It's happened about three times already. I am only trying to go in and change the "save as" from .odt to .doc. But now I'm totally flummoxed. Can people really use this software and count on it at all? I cannot afford to update Word (I had Word 7 and have uninstalled it since it got too buggy after a few years of not being supported).

The only way I can "unfreeze" a document is to restart my computer. Has anyone else had to deal with this or does anyone know what is going on? Perhaps my word processing days are over, since I gave up on Libre. Am I at the end of the road?

[Hagar Delest]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Sadly, AOO is walking dead since many years now.
You could try to reset the application user profile. However, this kind of fix should just shows that the application is outdated IMHO.
Try LibreOffice, especially if you need to have compatibility with MS Office file formats.
Note that it is nonetheless highly recommended to use the native format (ODF, that is .odt for text documents) instead of external formats (like .docx), that should be used for export only, with risks of glitches. Or prefer PDF if the final file has not to be edited by the recipient.

[WholeBibleWoman]

Thank you so much for your reply, Hagar. Yes, I just discovered .odt was an AOO file extension (and not Libre as I was thinking), so that is good. I am guessing that if I send an AOO file to someone that uses Word that Word can figure it out so I shall attempt to carry on with that assumption. I am doing some volunteer work so it would not be the disaster it could be if it were for a boss, but would also be a shame to lose all that work.

I am so surprised to be learning that Libre is truly a superior choise at this point. The thing that finally drove me batty with Libre was the inability to be able to name and save files into locations of my choice. I find AOO to be much more compatible. And yes, my work does need to be edited by the recipient. My main hope of avoiding glitches is that my work is extremely simple (or primitive) -- as in no use of tables, columns or macros. What is your "go to" word processing software?

[John_Ha]

Can people really use this software and count on it at all?

Yes. Millions successfully use AOO so it is obviously something different on your PC. You will need either to find out what is different and causing it (and resetting the profile is a good start) or stop using AOO. See this post.

[WholeBibleWoman]

Thank you for your response, John. I have discovered since posting my question that I am able to use AOO as long as I do not go to Tools -> Options. I have no idea how to even find my "profile" or fix it, but am hoping I can use AOO and simply avoid going into the Tools menu. (It may be going into Tools that froze the screen -- and I just didn't notice until there was no response when clicking on Options.) Or is there something in the Tools menu that I am sure to need? (I cannot even remember what is in that menu!) Sorry to be such a pain.

[LastUnicorn]

Without access to 'Options...' you cannot configure OpenOffice to work as you would like it to.

You have been given very good advice to install LibreOffice instead of OpenOffice. LibreOffice is much more up to date than OpenOffice and is actively developed, the same cannot be said for OpenOffice. If you install LibreOffice then it will open all your OpenOffice documents/files without issues. As things stand there are multiple issues with OpenOffice installed to Windows 10 systems being reported in this forum — most commonly they are solved by people just switching to LibreOffice.

[Hagar Delest]

The thing that finally drove me batty with Libre was the inability to be able to name and save files into locations of my choice.

That's really strange. Can you explain? Or have you tried again since, if it was some time ago?

I have no idea how to even find my "profile" or fix it

I gave you the link to the procedure. However, this is the kind of difficulty that drives me now to advise users to switch to LO rather than try to fix the profile.

[WholeBibleWoman]

Well, like I said, LO drove me nuts because it was so difficult to save files. I am used to being in any folder on the computer and when I start a new file I can "save as" to anywhere I want on my computer "tree." With Libre when I went to save, it would not allow me to open into ANY folder but the one it was choosing. In other words, I could not get it to let me "open" the tree to browse and find where I wanted to save my file. I hope that makes sense.

I ended up having to leave Libre altogether in order to put a file where I wanted it. I would save it in the folder Libre insisted on, then get out of Libre and open my "tree" with Windows and cut and paste from there.

Another reason I was unhappy with Libre is because mid-transcription it moved me from one kind of line spacing to single space -- and I could not figure out how to make the whole while single space to make it uniform -- which would have been SO easy in Word. Until Word started crashing my computer. I don't think I am willing to return to Libre.

Anyone know the cheapest version of Word out there that is just simple and is likely to last 3-5 more years before losing support (i.e., updates) from Microsoft?

[LastUnicorn]

Why so defeatist? Take it one step at a time. Download either the latest version of LibreOffice — or the slightly older version, which will have known bugs cured — and install it; you might not experience the issue you were having with Save As... with a newer version of LibreOffice. It is worth the little effort to download and install just as an experiment.

Once you have it installed, if you run into problems then step-by-step ask questions in this forum for the problem you are facing. People will help, just describe the problem accurately and you will get answers and most likely a cure for the problem.

[WholeBibleWoman]

I had the most recent version of LibreOffice already. I made a 15-page document with it successfully, but the problems with it were such that I'm not interested in working with it any longer. I am still feeling more interested in using OpenOffice (or eventually finding an affordable version of Word that will be supported at least a few more years). The big and sad surprise to me is that both LO and AOO are no longer being supported like they used to be. Of course at my age I am learning that basically nothing is the same as it used to be -- especially when it comes to technology and computers! (Am pushing 70.)

[John_Ha]

The big and sad surprise to me is that both LO and AOO are no longer being supported like they used to be

LO is fully supported. LO is virtually identical to AOO. LO can save files in any location you choose. LO can do everything AOO does and more besides.

Pushing 70? A mere youngster ...

[WholeBibleWoman]

Okay then. Would you do me a HUGE favor and give me a link that instructs one on HOW to save files in any folder chosen in LO? If you would be so kind. It was due to that issue that I uninstalled LO.

[Villeroy]

I have OpenOffice and LibreOffice installed. I can not see any difference when it comes to saving files. Why do you think that LO can not save files? What exactly happens when you try?
I'm not familiar with Windows anymore, but if I remember correctly, there was a newly introduced "security feature" named "Defender" or something?
Found it: https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/v ... 07#p467580

[Bill]

Well, like I said, LO drove me nuts because it was so difficult to save files. I am used to being in any folder on the computer and when I start a new file I can "save as" to anywhere I want on my computer "tree." With Libre when I went to save, it would not allow me to open into ANY folder but the one it was choosing. In other words, I could not get it to let me "open" the tree to browse and find where I wanted to save my file.

This may be because you are using the LO dialogs instead of the Windows dialogs. In LO, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice > General and uncheck the "Use LibreOffice dialogs" option.

[WholeBibleWoman]

Oh! Thank you, Bill. I am just about to download LibreOffice again -- and that will be the first thing I will do. Will let you know how it turns out!

And thank you all for your kind tutoring.

[WholeBibleWoman]

I did not find "Use LibreOffice dialogs" as an option anywhere yet. (It definitely was not under Tools -> Options -> General. I installed version 7.3.6.2 (x64). Still looking...

[WholeBibleWoman]

OKAY...!!! I found it!!! There are a lot of words duplicated in those Tools (options) menus and the first "General" sections I went to were not the right ones. I think I found the correct "General" under a category called LibreOfficeWriter. I WAS ABLE TO SAVE WHERE I WANTED.....!!!! YAY!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU...!!!

[John_Ha]

Edit: Edited to correct error

Using the menu bar just go File > Save As. Alternatively, hover over click the arrow to the right of the Save ..., icon on the toolbar and click Save As ..., when it appears. Either opens up a Windows Navigator window. Just navigate to where you want to save the file.

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[WholeBibleWoman]

Will do. Thank you. (And yes, that is how I do it -- with "save as" in the File dropdown menu, just like I did when I was in Word. I see that LO is picky in that it does not want me to rename a file while it is open, but things like that I can live with! I'm back in business now!

[John_Ha]

I see that LO is picky in that it does not want me to rename a file while it is open

You cannot just change a document name while you are editing it - you change a document name by Saving it to a different name. So ...

• If you are editing \My Documents\fred.odt and you Save ..., it saves the document as \My Documents\fred.odt. You are still editing \My Documents\fred.odt.
• If you are editing \My Documents\fred.odt and you Save As ..., and choose \Somewhere else\bill.odt it saves the document as \Somewhere else\bill.odt. The document you are editing is now \Somewhere else\bill.odt. fred.odt is unchanged and none of your changes since you opened fred.odt have been applied to fred.odt.

Play around with a few test files and you will quickly get the hang of it.

See correction and image in my earlier post.