Can't open OpenOffice

[adeandmoo]

Hi,

I have been using Open Office for several years and not had any isses then this morning I cannot open any of the files when I double click them not can I open Open Office from the icon on my desktop. Any ideas as to what is wrong or what I can do?

I am probably one of the least technical people but I can follow straightforward instructions so if possible please don't use too much computer jargon as I just won't understand.

Thank you

Victoria

[RoryOF]

With OpenOffice closed. start TaskManager (Ctrl Shift Esc) and kill any soffice processes shown on TM's processes tab (Details tab on Win10). Close TaskManager and try to start OpenOffice.

[adeandmoo]

Thank you. I did that and there wasn't anything to close/kill. So I restarted my laptop (again) and had problems with that. Eventually I got it restarted and Open Office worked so I am thinking that maybe it is my laptop. Thank you again.

[jrkrideau]

I'd suggest doing a complete virus and malware scan.

[OGR]

This often happens to me, even without a computer shut-down.

I end up with multiple instances of soffice.bin showing in Task Manager, one for each failed attempt to start the program. Just for the heck of it, I just tried to start the program about 20 times. Had 20 soffice.bin files showing in TM.

What causes this and when will it be fixed?

[adeandmoo]

I'd suggest doing a complete virus and malware scan.

I have done this as per your suggestion but nothing has been found. I do have protection stuff on the laptop so ran a full scan and also ran a full microsoft malware scan too to double check but all clear

[judithq]

Open Office won't open. I've not changed anything. I can find Task Manager but I don't know what anything means. What is a soffice, how do I find it, and how do I "kill" it? What does killing mean on a computer?

[jrkrideau]

What is a soffice, how do I find it, and how do I "kill" it? What does killing mean on a computer?

soffice is how the Task Manager will list AOO---it is a leftover from the 1990's when the "original" AOO was called StarOffice.

Kill in this context means "stop it"

I don't run Windows but if you call up the Task Manager it should show a list of all the processes (programs, etc.) that are running.

Click on any that say soffice and the Task Manager should offer you a chance to "kill" it.
On my Ubuntu system there is a button saying End Process. Windows should show something similar.

Good luck.

[OGR]

judithq, here's how to "kill" the soffice processes that may be preventing you from starting Open Office.

• Open the Task Manager by pressing the <CNTRL> <ALT> and <DEL> keys at the same time.
• The screen will go dark for a moment, then a menu will appear.
• Click on "Start Task Manager."
• When the Task Manager window opens, click the "Processes" Tab
• You will see multiple instances of "soffice.bin" in the list of processes
• Click on one to highlight it
• At the bottom right of the Task Manager window, click on "End Process."
• Repeat this as many times as you need to and kill (end) all the instances of soffice.bin.
• The program should restart OK after this is done.

I sure wish Apache could find a permanent solution to this obvious bug.

[daywood]

I can't get 4.1.5 to start either by clicking on an existing document, or by trying to start the OpenOffice launcher or any of the apps (such as Calc). It's always been extremely slow to start but now it never gets there. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling it. I have tried killing the processes numerous times.