[Solved] No response to OpenOffice 4.1.5

[Scottowner]

Suddenly Open Office 4.1.5 has decided to "Not respond" . Why is this and what can I do to make it respond ? Thanks

[RoryOF]

Did you have a computer or a program crash? There may be left over components of OpenOffice running. Start TaskManger (Ctrl Shift esc) and lill all soffice or openoffice components shown on TM's tabs. OO should then start next time you request it.

[Scottowner]

There are no instances of OO in Task Mgr.

[RoryOF]

Are there any soffice instances? Note the initial s in soffice.

[Scottowner]

None at all. There are a considerable number of SVCHOST.exe both System and Local services,could one of these be hiding soffice or OO.?

[RoryOF]

Not that I am aware. Have you restarted your computer since the problem occurred? Can you start OpenOffice from the Programs button/menu, rather than by double -clicking on a file?

[Scottowner]

I have restarted the PC several times to try and fix the problem but each time I reopen OO the problem is still there. I am running Windows 10 . Can you clarify what you mean by "programs button ".Thankyou.

[Scottowner]

I have used OO for several years,updating as new versions arrived.I updated to 4.1.5 last year and have had no problems with it until now. 3 days ago it was fine,but today I get the message OO is not responding.

[RoryOF]

It is so long since I used Windows that I am not aware of current nomenclature, but there were a number of ways of starting a program. One could start it by double clicking one of its files, or from a shortcut on the desktop, or by pressing the Start button and selecting the group for that program and then in turn the program itself. That way the program may open; if it does, it shows that the program is in working order. One then has to open a file by using /File /Open within the program.

[Scottowner]

OK,I understand now,but unfortunately none of the three methods results in anything but "OO is not responding".I cannot understand how a programme that is working one day can not work the next. I have not downloaded any software or programmes in the past few days. I have good anti virus protection.I have not had a crash or computer failure. All my other programmes work OK,it seems like only OO is playing up.I would like to uninstall it and reinstall but I would lose a lot of valuable data. Thankyou

[RoryOF]

You will lose no data by un/re-installing OpenOffice; that action will not affect the files you have written with it. Before un/reinstalling, try renaming your OO user profile.

Close OpenOffice and the Quickstarter. Open File Explorer. Copy and paste %appdata%\OpenOffice\4 in the File Explorer Address Bar and press Enter. Rename the "user" folder (user.old is good to use). Start OpenOffice.

[Scottowner]

Well after a great deal of installing,uninstalling,several times over,I have now got OO back on my PC. However when I click on "recent documents" I get the message "no documents".If I then click on "Open" I see the list of documents that were on Open Office. How do I get these documents back into "recent documents" ?.Thankyou

[Scottowner]

OK. I solved that little problem. Bringing up the document from the Open file and then modifying it slightly,when asked to close the program saves the modification and the file is available in recent documents.
THANKYOU FOR YOUR HELP. PROBLEM SOLVED.