Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

i now have OpenOffice 4.1.4 and my computer runs with Microsoft XP. I have been using Open Office for a little over a year very successfully and happily. After a couple months away from it for medical reasons , i just created a new text document, but it will not "save" or "save as" the file and i am unable to close the document. i then upgraded my then version of OO from 4.1.2 to 4.1.4 and recreated a new text document, but still had the same problem. Now i have two "Untitled" documents i can't do anything with. i was not able to find a=this problem already reported on the forum, but i'm new to the group so i might be missing something. thanks for any help! i'm lost without Open Office.

Try resetting the user profile. In Windows do this by:

Close OpenOffice and the Quickstarter. Open File Explorer (may be Windows Explorer depending on Windows version). Copy and paste %appdata%\OpenOffice\4 in the File Explorer Address Bar (not the search engine) and press Enter. Rename the "user" folder, say to user.old. Start OpenOffice.

When you restart OpenOffice, you should be prompted for name/initials on next startup of OO.

If that doesn't resolve your problem, please tell us exactly what happens when you try to save, including the exact text of any error message you get.

I have this problem too.
I've been using Open Office 4.1.1 for over a year without a problem.
Was constantly prompted to update my Windows 10, so did so a couple of days ago. Don't know if this is caused the problem (but it seems a coicidence).
Today am using OO for first time since Windows update and trying to Save an Open Office text document without success. Nothing happens at all. No message, nothing, OO appears to crash, I open it again, go through doc recovery, which always works, try to Save or Save As and it crashes again...round and round.
I thought it was worth updating to OO 4.1.4 to see if it worked but no, the problem remained the same.
Have now also worked through the steps you suggest above but no difference. Still can't save.
Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Thank you.

See [Solved] Windows Defender prevents file opening
for a possible solution for the problem on Win 10.

Re: General error or General input/output error opening word where files may be corrupted in the user profile.

I finally got around to trying your suggested solution of resetting the user profile in Windows but it didn't do anything except wipe out all my OO files. One correction to my original post: I'm on Windows 7, not XP, though that doesn't seem to make a difference in my experience, nor that of a subsequent OO user with the same problem. What to do? To recap, I can't save a file whether I use "save" or "save as". The screen just sits there and doesn't do anything. I can type modifications to the file, but am unable to save any of them. I tried to get around the problem by copying and pasting to an old existing, totally unrelated file in Windows Documents. Then I was able to copy that file to OO and am able to modify that one and save changes. I would love to salvage this important file to a flash drive, but am unable to use "save as" to accomplish this.
Geneva Currier

Resetting your user profile, if done correctly, would not have touched any of your OO files.
I'm surprised that it took you nearly 8 months to get back to us with a statement that resetting the user profile didn't resolve the problem.
That aside, since resetting your user profile didn't work, I'm going to suggest that you start Windows in Safe Mode and see if OpenOffice works properly.
If it does, then there is some driver/program that is loaded with Windows and running in background that is causing the problem.

Resetting your user profile, if done correctly, would not have touched any of your OO files.

It will, however, empty the list of most recently used files; some people may mistake the list for the actual files themselves and believe - in error - that the files are gone from the computer if they are not shown on the list.

geniecur wrote:I can't save a file whether I use "save" or "save as". The screen just sits there and doesn't do anything. I can type modifications to the file, but am unable to save any of them.

1. It could be an anti virus program or Windows Defender is preventing AOO writing to disk. Start the PC in Safe Mode and check again. Post what happens when you try.

2. It could be you are trying to save to a protected place on the disk. Save to the desktop or save to a USB memory stick. Does that work? Post what happens when you try.

See [Tutorial]Problems with Windows Defender under Windows 10.

Since I upgraded to windows 10, on a new laptop, I was unable to save a word file sent as an attachment via email in OpenOffice like I was able to in the past. It was frustrating since I hadn't run into this problem before. After researching and finding complicated suggestions that I found too difficult to do, I thought there must be a simpler way. After reading many possible causes, Windows Defender causing the problem kept showing up so I searched the internet and this came up which resolved my issue so I can now save my word docs in OpenOffice-

Click the Windows Defender icon on the Taskbar. In the Windows Defender Security Center, click "Virus & threat protection". Click "Virus & threat protection settings". Scroll down to "Controlled folder access" and click "Allow an app through Controlled folder access.

Hope this helps and saves you time.

I solved the same issue with this advice thank you!

That i couldn't save an existing test file (.doc) after editing it on the same drive (but another) but didn't renew the user profile.

Solution:
I went to Windows (10) Security Center, clicked "Virus & threat protection". Clicked "Virus & threat protection settings". See the button under "Controlled folder access" and switched it off, now even the grammar checker works - before i get empty boxes!

BTW: Where are those settings which are mentioned here? In windows?
Quote: Tools > Options > OpenOffice > General > tick Use OpenOffice dialogue boxes?

That i couldn't save an existing test file (.doc) after editing it on the same drive (but another) but didn't renew the user profile.

BTW: Where are those settings which are mentioned here? In windows?
Quote: Tools > Options > OpenOffice > General > tick Use OpenOffice dialogue boxes?

The User profile of my LibreOffice (running on Win 10) is located:
Browse the User Profile of your AOO and rename the directory to user_Old1 or delete it. Note: all of your LO-related custom settings, user defined macros, etc... are stored in this directory!

Or use the LibreOffice. It has similar User Profile as the AOO uses, but it never needed to reset/delete the User Profile of the LO since I use it.


The quoted feature is an AOO/LO Menu function. It will change the Save - Open - Print(?) dialog boxes from the Windows-related ones to the AOO/LO related ones. These seem much more usable for me. (It is easier to control them by macros.)