OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Issues with installing under all versions of MS Windows
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RoryOF
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by RoryOF »

To isolate if this is "just your PC", start Windows in Safe Mode, and see if Calc will run stable in that mode. If it does, the problem is caused by some program or driver installed on your PC. If a Forum Volunteer appears to be in "denial" about such a problem, it may be because OpenOffice runs stable on his computer, and that is the extent of his informed knowledge.
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Mithel
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Mithel »

Chris, it certainly isn't "your PC". It seems to be related to Windows 10 updates of the past six months / year.

It does seem to be mostly triggered by Calc. LibreOffice has problems too. The "bad allocation" message is common.

This is highly annoying as I've used OpenOffice for well over a decade (maybe 15+ years?) and it's been extremely stable (like zero problems in a span of ten years), but now with Windows 10 in the past year or so it's extremely unreliable (crashes once a week / daily / multiple times per day - depending on usage).
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Hagar Delest »

cb4m wrote:I find the [LO] UI and display less satisfactory and am also finding, if anything, more bugs/issues/annoyances than with OO 4.1.X.
I don't understand. The LO UI is almost the same as AOO. As long as you keep the standard View > User Interface, the differences are very minor. Don't use the tabbed UI.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Mithel »

The LO UI is almost the same as AOO.
I disagree. There are many very significant differences between the User Interface for LibreOffice and OpenOffice. Generally I prefer LibreOffice but there are a few things in OpenOffice that I really miss in LibreOffice.

I was hoping that switching back to OpenOffice would reduce the crashes, but now I may switch back to LibreOffice since OpenOffice actually seems to be less stable.
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Hagar Delest
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Hagar Delest »

Mithel wrote:There are many very significant differences between the User Interface for LibreOffice and OpenOffice. Generally I prefer LibreOffice but there are a few things in OpenOffice that I really miss in LibreOffice.
Like what?
Any screenshots or examples?
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Mithel »

Feature that I love in OpenOffice that LibreOffice lacks:
"Insert Horizontal Ruler" (I've seen discussion of why this wouldn't be included in LibreOffice yet now with the versions I'm comparing there is "Insert Horizontal Line" in LibreOffice that is virtually the same)

Overall menus make more sense in LibreOffice.
Libre "Sheet; Fill Cells; Fill Series" - OpenOffice "Edit; Fill; Series"
mostly it's just getting used to whichever you are using.

Libre has the main menu "Form" which is lacking in OpenOffice (or I can't find it).

Actually now that I'm comparing them side by side they are more alike than I was thinking. I'm wondering if my latest install reset something back to "standard" making them more alike?
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Villeroy »

Since both of them produce Open Document Format, they can't be that different. LO 7 produces ODF 1.3 whereas OO is stuck with ODF 1.2. This can be a problem when the same document is edited in both suites. In this case, you can tell LO to use ODF 1.2 in Tools>Options>Load/Save/General.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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Mithel
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Mithel »

That's interesting about 1.3 vs 1.2 - I've not encountered any problems switching back and forth. Unless this is the source of the weird crashes and the problem is just terrible error messages. I don't think the crashes have anything to do with the version of Open Document Format since the same document will work perfectly six out of seven days a week and perhaps only crash once per week.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by DeFleur »

I would like to add +1, that this is definitely and absolutely an ongoing OO issue.

We run a home business and use 3 different computers with OO 4.1.7 installed on each. One is Windows 10, the others are Windows 7. One of my family members using the Windows 7 computer, mentioned that they were having this exact issue beginning around December of 2020. I thought it was perhaps an internal computer issue myself, I recommended de-install/reinstalling to fix the issue. Every time that OpenOffice 4.1.10 was attempted to be installed, it would fail. No amount of work or configuring can get it to download. So my family member simply "works around it", saving every few minutes.

I began using my Windows 10 computer again a few days ago, after not having used it for about a year, OO functioned perfectly when I used it last. It has had no internal updates or changes to any program in any way. All of a sudden, OO began crashing in the middle of my work. The first time, I was fortunate and didn't lose any material. The second time it crashed, half of my work could not be recovered. I tried to "find update", assuming that it just needed a bug fix, only to have an error message come up saying that it could not connect to find an update. This is completely untrue, as I had a webpage open and fully functional simultaneously. I then tried to find and install OO 4.1.10, thinking it would perhaps have the necessary bug fixes in it. Just as it had done on my family members computer, it will not download any update to OO in any way shape or form. It brings up a page that says "Thank you for downloading!", but no download ever begins. I've tried from 2 or 3 different sources. None worked.

So I know that the OO volunteers here seem to think that this is a single computer issue. I'm telling you, it is not. I appreciate your optimism, but there is definitely a problem. This is a spreading issue, I'd be willing to bet there's an issue in the source code. It is extremely frustrating, and for someone who uses OO for work, I cannot function with it crashing every few minutes. I will be forced to look for an alternative.
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RoryOF
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by RoryOF »

A diagnostic: start your Windows in Safe Mode, and see if OpenOffice runs stable in that Windows mode.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Bill »

DeFleur wrote:I tried to "find update", assuming that it just needed a bug fix, only to have an error message come up saying that it could not connect to find an update. This is completely untrue, as I had a webpage open and fully functional simultaneously.
It is completely true because your old version of AOO had a bug which causes the check for updates to fail. That bug has been fixed in the latest versions.
DeFleur wrote:I then tried to find and install OO 4.1.10, thinking it would perhaps have the necessary bug fixes in it. Just as it had done on my family members computer, it will not download any update to OO in any way shape or form. It brings up a page that says "Thank you for downloading!", but no download ever begins. I've tried from 2 or 3 different sources. None worked.
There is only one official source for Apache OpenOffice. The link to the official download page can be found at the bottom of every page of this forum. I checked and was able to download AOO 4.1.10 with no problem. I tried several times but never saw a "Thank you for downloading" message. Maybe there is a problem with unofficial sources you may have been using. Maybe you're using some program on your systems which is blocking the download.

Here is an old (2013) topic with a similar downloading problem which was solved by the user going "to the next village" where the download was successful!
[Solved] Difficulty downloading
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by WilliamWH »

I am a long time user of Open Office. I used it back in the days when calc didn't fall over every 20 minutes with a bad allocation. I have tried to get round the problem by saving more frequently but over the past couple of days the save attempt triggers the problem. Some of my systems work well but I have had this problem for a few months on other systems. Today I loaded LibreOffice and it just worked. It looks fresh and didn't fall over once with a bad allocation.

1.If you are telling me that I have a problem with my version of windows, my drivers etc that cause an open office bad allocation error then I am happy that I can replace open office with Libre Office and not have to mess about with safe mode, drivers and other stuff that I just don't care about.

2.I read that Libre Office also has the same error. It may have but I have not seen it yet- so its not affected to the same irritating, depressing and mind-numbing extent as open office.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by WilliamWH »

I am just not interested in looking for drivers and programs that run in Windows normal mode- if I can load alternative open source software that works without me having to do that. I run other apps that cope with whatever drivers, programs, antivirus etc I may have loaded onto my system. Why doesn't Open Office do that any longer? Or more to the point, given that Open Office doesn't play well with standard software, is there any incentive to continue using it? As I understand it Libre Office is a fork from Open Office. Libre Office can open a .ods file created with Open Office. The user interface pretty similar but Libre Office has been better maintained and updated.

I recommend that anyone suffering from this this 5 year plus Open Office problem loads and tries Libre Office as the first solution for Bad Allocation failures. You load a compatible package and start using it. If Libre Office is more reliable you keep using it. If its less reliable you can decide if you want to carry on with Open Office and follow the hints and tips.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by svsiemers »

Mine crashes all the time, too. Says Bad allocation, and it's all over. I have learned to hit the SAVE button often. I have a Surface Pro, and I just figured it doesn't like OpenOffice. I use it often in spite of the problem. It crashes particularly often when I am printing labels with art work in them.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

Post by Zizi64 »

Try the LibreOffice
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OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by msheliga1 »

My AOO 4.1.10 problems in Windows 10 Home OS were largely solved by using Safe Mode. :D Safe Mode is a pretty quick item to check so I'd suggest trying this first.

I began using AOO 4.1.10 a little over a month ago, 95% for Calc Basic programming, and 5% for Calc spreadsheet use. Both running macros and using the macro editor crashed all the time. Maybe once every 10 minutes of active use. Restarting the software and rebooting did not help me.

Macro Editor:
Crashed whenever the beginning of a line was deleted with either backspace or CNTL-X cutting.
Could not create a new macro library.
Crashed frequently for other reasons.

Macro Program:
Crashed when opening and closing files.
Crashed when doing "large" instructions, such as copying an entire sheet of data.
Crashed when inserting new columns of data.
Crashed frequently for other reasons.
Note that the same program would crash at different points on two consecutive runs.

About the only intermittent crash I seem to have in Safe Mode is when saving a file. If Safe Mode had not helped, I was ready to go to Libre Office.
Michael Sheliga Open Office 4.1.10 on Windows 10 Home Version 20H2 - HP: LAPTOP-L7QUGG48
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by John_Ha »

Search the forum with bad allocation to find multiple reports of AOO crashing with bad allocation errors. There appears to be a problem in Calc which manifests itself when large spreadsheets are processed. LibreOffice often seems to be better.

Search the forum with bad allocation which throws up Issue 125006 - Calc Consistently crashing, usually with "Fatal Error - Bad Allocation" at https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=125006
Last edited by John_Ha on Sun Feb 20, 2022 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by misitu »

"Can that be installed concurrently with OpenOffice to check it out?"
Beware file associations: this may be old information, YMMV, etcetera, but I installed LO and it promised to leave the file assocs alone and hey presto! all the OO file types were changed to LO.
Just 2p.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing

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DeFleur wrote:So I know that the OO volunteers here seem to think that this is a single computer issue. I'm telling you, it is not.
I think you are completely misunderstanding what those people, of whom I am one, are saying.

We are saying that AOO runs happily under Windows 10 for hundreds of millions of users including us.

We accept it doesn't run happily for 10 or 100 or even 1,000 users.

We say that must be because there is something different with those 10 or 100 or 1,000 users' PCs which is triggering the problem, compared with the hundreds of millions of other users, like us, where the problem isn't triggered.

If the user wants to continue to use AOO the diagnosis is therefore to work out what is different about their PCs which causes the problem to be triggered, and remove it so that AOO does not crash. Of course, if the user is happy to switch to LO or MS Word or other program then the problem should be fixed but many do not want to do that. Finding what is causing AOO the problem is required.
  • Is is a faulty profile?
  • Is is their way of working?
  • Is it their files (and bad allocation errors seem to be associated with large spreadsheets)?
  • Is it another program running on their PC (where clipboard managers are known to cause problems)? Testing in Safe Mode will identify these problems.
  • Has Windows become corrupted (why sfc is recommended)?
  • Is it a faulty Windows update (where W10 updates regularly stop AOO saving files (Windows Defender), stop AOO printers working (installing a faulty printer driver), lose file associations and, IIRC, in one case, prevent Calc from running)?
  • Has another program installed a faulty dll which AOO is now using (IIRC Copernicus caused problems)?
  • Or is it something else?
We can do something about all the above bulleted items.

What we can't do is fix bugs. Is it a bug in AOO? We accept it could be a bug in AOO ...

... but it cannot be a trivial bug because it is not triggered by hundreds of millions of users, and is only triggered by the unfortunate 10, or 100 or 1,000 users where something is different on their PCs.

Forum responders don't have the skills to look at code, debug it or fix bugs. Our role is to help users to get the AOO program as downloaded to work for them. Hence our emphasis is on looking for what is different on their PC so we can stop it triggering the problem.

NB I am sure I found something useful by trawling through all threads reporting bad allocation ...
Last edited by John_Ha on Sat Sep 03, 2022 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by misitu »

Notes..
Is it their files (and bad allocation errors seem to be associated with large spreadsheets)?
... opening a largish spreadsheet stops Base opening
Is it another program running on their PC (where clipboard managers are known to cause problems)?
... clipboard loses the plot (fails to update) in Base sometimes
Is it a faulty Windows update (where W10 updates regularly stop AOO saving files (Windows Defender), stop AOO printers working (installing a faulty printer driver), lose file associations and, IIRC, in one case, prevent Calc from running)?
... been there done that, backup is your best friend forever but even that won't stop a win update corrupting the regmod.xcu flat file

I've experienced all these, plus the AOO Base crashing sometimes, I live with it because of the functionality and I'm in a siamese twin relationship with my database, and normally just shrug the shoulders and carry on up the proverbial Khyber.

I can, though (as a hack of some decades) sympathise with folks dedicated to AOO etcetera but not having the mental viewpoint to deal with a calamity under severe pressure.

I have occasionally used Bugzilla which means quite a lag before being able to resume real life, and digging for evidence can be seen as Yet Another Bureaucratic Annoyance. Life can be a real pain!
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by Zizi64 »

Try the LibreOffice
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by John_Ha »

These are all the bug reports I found searching with bad allocation

As you can see from Issue 125006 - Calc Consistently crashing, usually with "Fatal Error - Bad Allocation" where a number of users report it, there is nothing consistent meaning it is not reproduceable by development so virtually impossible to debug.

One user reported it stopped happening for them when they moved their file from USB memory stick to C:\ drive.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by tychojr1 »

I am yet another user that is experiencing this crash.
My input:
The crashes are random, but seem to occur mostly when there are multiple open office docs open.
Also, the crashes seem to occur when I have typed a lot of data, but not yet clicked the save button.
I mainly use Calc, so it seems like it happens most when I have 3 docs open at the same time.
I started opening only two at a time and the crashes occur less often, but still occur.
This crash was occurring with the previous version of OpenOffice and I was hoping it would stop with 4.1.11 but no such luck.
I have simply resorted to clicking save every single time I type in a line of data.
I do not think I have had a crash at all as long as I click save after typing a line or block of data.
My Win 10 is fully updated. No, I haven't tried safe mode. To find out this crash still occurs in safe mode I would have to
operate in safe mode for months. Not doing that. I am a mechanic and this is what is known in the automotive world
as an intermittent problem. The worst kind! Can't find it because it won't happen when you are trying to find it!
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by John_Ha »

tychojr1 wrote:I am yet another user that is experiencing this crash.
1. Try resetting the user profile - see Resetting the user profile.
2. It could be your files are "tangled". Copy their content into a new, empty file. Does that fix it?
3. Try LibreOffice
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by tychojr1 »

Ok. I resett the profile. Will let you know in the next few months if it worked or not. (As I said, this crash happens very sporadically.)
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by tychojr1 »

Nope, didn't work. It just crashed again.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by John_Ha »

As it happens so quickly, try booting in Safe Mode for a few hours. Or, as a minimum, stopp as many of the startup programs as possible.

As you don't report any error messages it is quite likely to be your file(s). Copy the contents to a new, empty file and see if that fixes it. I assume you are saving as .ods files.

AOO is walking dead - migrate to LibreOffice.
Last edited by John_Ha on Mon Feb 21, 2022 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by tychojr1 »

It happens with any file. Not just specific ones. I just remembered this started after a large Windows update. It really almost seems malicious, because it ONLY occurs when I have not
saved after typing a lot of data. If I click save after typing each piece of info, there is no crash. And it definitely started after a Windows update, I recall it was a large one, but do not recall
which one exactly. If I reinstalled Windows it would probably fix it. But I don't want to have to do that right now. I have just been clicking save after each data entry.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by RoryOF »

Start Windows in Safe Mode, then see if OpenOffice runs stable in that Windows mode. This gives some helpful diagnostics.
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Re: OpenOffice keeps crashing on Windows 10

Post by Zizi64 »

Try the LibreOffice. At least try a portable version of it.
This is a test if the AOO or the hardware/software environment causes the crashing.
If the LibreOffice will crashe too, the you PC has some SW/HW issues.
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