Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

I have just bought a new Laptop with Windows 8 and tried downloading OpenOffice yesterday.

I seem to have been deceived into downloading some sort of bogus Webpage Toolbar ( Websearch or a similar title) from "Mindspark".
Have tried to uninstall this following their instructions, but can't find any related programs in the list of programs that can be uninstalled in Control panel.

Could anyone advise the best method of removing this pest?

I am completely new to Windows 8 and finding it a steep learning curve ( & very clumsy ) after Windows XP.

Ian

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Try to use something like Revo Uninstaller. And download the official version from the link bottom right of this page.

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the edit button if your issue has been fixed.

Frequently Windows 8 machines have a Restore function which will resetWindows 8 to its factory configuration. You may lose any personnal files, so you should back these up off machine first.

In Windows 8, there is a Reset feature which will restore the computer to the factory condition. When using the Reset feature, data will be lost, so data must be backed up externally before resetting the computer. Windows 8 also has a Refresh feature which is supposed to restore the operating system and programs without losing data. I haven't tried either of these features. Tutorials on these features can be found on Windows 8 forums and YouTube.

Many thanks for all the suggestions and I will try these as soon as I have the opportunity, on my Laptop.
(I'm using my old desktop XP to access the web for the present.)
Ian

Just tried to download the program from the Icon at the foot of the page, on my "XP" Desktop & I still seem to be routed to the "Mindspark" page. I must be missing something here! (Perhaps a screw or two??)

Ian

Try www.openoffice.org/download/ directly

Strange, the link leads to SourceForge for me (the correct download site).

Sometimes malware takes over the Hosts file and redirects sites like www.openOffice.org to their site. From memory (perhaps Bill could confirm) a quick cure is to start Windows in Safe Mode and delete or rename files Hosts and LMHosts.

Normally, to remove Malware and Adware, we recommend Malwarebytes and AdAware. If you have really horrible Malware, it may even prevent you accessing these sites
MalwareBytes
AdAware

Decided to try downloading latest version ( which I am assuming will work with Windows 8 ) using my old desktop. The link in what I assume to be the official site for Open Office still seems to divert my download request to "sourceforge".

Is there a definitive description of exactly from which site it is safe to download the latest version of Open Office, that should function with Windows 8?

I can't see any obvious sign of the "Midspark" related problem on my new laptop, at present, but assume that it may be lurking somewhere I don't have the know-how to find. I want to try to avoid ending up with a load of muckage on my new computer.

I have an original download of Open Office(Version 3.3.0) saved on my old computer & wonder if it might be possible to copy this to my Laptop and attempt to install the program and then update it? Maybe this older version would not install on W8 anyway?

Ian

Sourceforge host the downloads for Apache OpenOffice, so Sourceforge site is OK for a download. Your bad download was coming, I think, from a redirection to a mindspark site.

Many thanks Rory and I'll try again - using my Desktop to download & then transfer the saved results to my Laptop.

Ian

You will still need to fix the malware on your computer. If it is redirecting OpenOffice URIs, it may be doing other redirections.

Edit: If you have any doubts about the download, the OpenOffice/Sourceforge sites link to a method of checking the download using the MD5Sum How to verify your download

Have successfully downloaded and installed using my old computer, Sourceforge & transferring via USB stick to install on my Laptop.

Many thanks for your advice.

Ian