LibreOffice crashing at saving files

[mg1]

Hello,

I've been a fan of LibreOffice software for quite a long time. Anyway, after I reinstalled my Windows I can't use the program anymore.
It crashes every time I save a file, regardless of the filetype, saving location or application used. As a matter of fact, the previous version of the software crashed only if I saved files in .doc / .docx or tried to export it to .pdf with the Writer application. A few tries of reinstalling it did not solve the problem, but I did cope with that and got used to .odf format.
However, today I updated the whole software as I'm going to have to use the word processor for professional purpises and, unfortunately, I have to save my files in .docx. or .pdf formats. Now I found out that all the applications included in LibreOffice crash at saving files. I have tried reinstalling it, I have tried cleaning the register and I have tried running it all with an administrator's rights. None of these helped.
Im running Windows 8.1 x64 and the newest LibreOffice version for that platform.

This is my first post here and, although I have read the Survival Guide, I might have done something wrong and I apologize in advance.

[thomasjk]

I recommend resetting the user profile viewtopic.php?f=74&t=12426. If that is not successful use Revo Uninstaller Free http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uni ... nload.html with the most aggressive settings. Then reinstall.

[mg1]

Thank you for your reply.
I forgot to mention one thing that might be important.
Every time I reinstall LO (or reset the profile directory as you suggested), and then attempt to run it in normal mode it says that there are some problems with Windows permissions. Something as "Running the app is not possible. The installation of the user profile was not possible due to the lack of access permissions. Make sure you have adequate permissions in the location and run the LO again.

C:\Users\<profile name>\AppData\Roaming\Libre Office\4"

Then I run the program with administrator's rights and it's all ok untill I try to save any files.
(Is that O.K. that my user probile is placed in Libre Office\4 catalogue while I have the newest version of the program? Shouldn't it be Libre Office\5 or so?)


Well, I tried resetting user profile but it did not help. I will try the second method after I come back from work, however I think that what I wrote now may shed some light on the issue.

[RoryOF]

If the term "elevation" is used in the error message this is a Windows message and you need to change the access permissions for OpenOffice. Not being a modern Windows user I cannot suggest how to do that, but you should use Forum search (top right of Forum window) to search for "elevation" (no quotes); one of the returned postings will tell you what to do.

Try the above before being drastic and using Revo Uninstaller - I doubt that will cure this problem.

[Bill]

(Is that O.K. that my user probile is placed in Libre Office\4 catalogue while I have the newest version of the program? Shouldn't it be Libre Office\5 or so?)

LO5 does place the user profile in C:\Users\<username>\LibreOffice\4, so that's not the problem.

Try creating a new user account on the computer and running LO in that account. If it works, then move your document files to the new account and delete the old account.

[mg1]

If the term "elevation" is used in the error message this is a Windows message and you need to change the access permissions for OpenOffice. Not being a modern Windows user I cannot suggest how to do that, but you should use Forum search (top right of Forum window) to search for "elevation" (no quotes); one of the returned postings will tell you what to do.

Try the above before being drastic and using Revo Uninstaller - I doubt that will cure this problem.

I don't know if there is "elevation" present in the error message as I have my errors in Polish and what you can read above is just my free translation.

Try creating a new user account on the computer and running LO in that account. If it works, then move your document files to the new account and delete the old account.

Well I am not really happy with this solution. I will try to look into permissions and find out if this is the issue. But I don't really know how to do this, so I would really appreciate if there would be somebody to explain that. I would rather not delete my configured account.

[Bill]

Changing permissions is an operating system problem. There are detailed instructions on Windows sites which explain how to change permissions on Windows 8.1.

[mg1]

I believe you are right, but I don't even know how to look at it regarding my LO problem.

[mg1]

Sorry for double-posting, however I think I might've found a solution. I wondered why LO creates another user profile folder in my C:\Users\ after I run it for the first time. My standard user profile folder is "Łukasz" with the Polish sign at the beggining. After installing LO, every attempt to run it in normal mode fails, but whenever I run it as an administrator I succed. What's interesting, LO then, creates an user profile folder with the same name but without the Polish letter at the beggining ("Lukasz") and stores all the setting files in this folder.
Do you think this may be the reason behind my issue? Is there any way of checking that without renaming my profile? (I know that this might bring me plenty of other issues as other apps were installed in the "Łukasz" folder).


EDIT: Well... I can see now that LO easily saves all the files if I am logged in another user profile which does not contain any Polish signs in its name.
Still, I am wondering how to solve this issue without losing all my configuration in the primary account. Is there any way of transfering all the data to another profile? I tried Windows' "Fix a corrupted profile" method but it does not seem to work in Win 8.1 (I can't paste any files in the new profile location).

[RoryOF]

You can bring forward files from the "Łukasz" directory to the new one; it is possible that internal use of Łukasz within such files may reintroduce the crash, so it needs to be done on a file by file basis, testing each time. I advise making a complete copy of the Łukasz directory (just in case).

You could try, with OpenOffice closed, searching the Łukasz directory and its included files and converting the Ł symbol to either plain L or to whatever conversion was used in the days of ASCII 96. That may save your existing profile but you would need to change your login to the new spelling.

Edit: If you are very lucky, it may be sufficient to rename the Łukasz directory using a conventional L (OO must be closed). You will need to login using the revised spelling.

[Bill]

If LO is creating a new folder under C:\Users\, then it is basically creating a new user account folder and the original user probably would not have permission to access files in that folder.

Do the paths in Tools > Options > LibreOffice > Paths show the original name "Łukasz" or the new name "Lukasz"?

[RoryOF]

Rights to access the new file might be a problem, as Bill indicates. I'm used to being able to assume Administrator privileges when needed on any of my computers, so tend to overlook such problems or assume that other users have the same level of privileges.

[Bill]

There should normally be no need to assume administrator privileges when running AOO or LO. This appears to be a bug in AOO/LO. I created a new user account in Windows 10 with the name "Łukasz" and found the same misbehavior with both AOO and LO. Both programs fail to open on first run. Both programs will open when run as administrator and create a new "Lukasz" folder and install the user profile in that folder instead of in the original "Łukasz" user account folder. Other programs like Firefox and Foxit Reader install their profiles in the original "Łukasz" folder.

The user and Users group have no rights to access the new folder, but the Administrators group does. This is why AOO/LO will only run as administrator.

You can try to work around the problem by giving the user Full Control permissions to the new folder, but I don't know if this would have any effect on the crashing problem. I still think creating a new account with a name that doesn't cause the problem would be the best way to work around the problem.

[mg1]

@Bill, I realize that creating a new profile would be the best solution for this and any future issues as well. However, I still can't think of a method of transferring all my configuration to the new profile so I don't have to set up all my apps like Firefox, Thunderbird etc. again. Any ideas?

[Bill]

I don't use Firefox, Thunderbird, etc and don't know how to transfer the configurations. Have you tried their fourms?

[mg1]

Well, I know this is an old topic. I am posting here again, though. This may help others looking for a solution to a similiar problem. All I had to do, is what they recommend here:
http://www.superuser.com/questions/4952 ... -windows-8

I deleted all the polish letters from my userprofile name in accordance with the steps from approach no. 1 and everything seems to be working good, LO now saves all files and Thunderbird, which also would not work properly, synchronizes at once now. Please mind that performing that process might bring me some other issues in future, as I have done and it before, but I can't observe any new problems so far.