[Solved] Cannot repair uninstall, reinstall or open

[Bricabraclady]

I am at my wits ends here. I have used Open office for years & any problems were fixed by repair or uninstall/reinstall.

I have been using it with spreadsheets & write without trouble until I downloaded a google map which was saved as a .org X something. After that Openoffice crashed.

Every time I try to uninstall I get the same old "exit al open office + quickstater etc etc (why can't these messages be copied??)

I have done disk cleanup, system restore, deleted all openoffice quickstart icons, emptied recycle bin, reset preferences, done a malwarebytes scan, done ctrl/alt/esc & there is no soffice application running. Re booted more times than a cobbler & still the same old message that somethings hung up somewhere.
Please help. I am pretty good at finding my way round but I have no idea when anyone talks jargon. I am desperately in the middle of a project & have lost two days on this.

[John_Ha]

Welcome to the forum.

If you are half way through doing a Windows update Install/re-install is likely to be disabled or affected.

1. Check Windows update and ensure the PC is fully updated.
2. Reboot to install any pending updates.

Once you have done 1. and 2. do:

3. Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features. Uninstall AOO.
4. Preferably rename C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user to ...\user_old
5. Download AOO from http://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html
6. Install AOO.
7. Copy back any customisation from ...\user_old except do not copy back registrymidifications.xcu nor ...user\config.

Showing that a problem has been solved helps others searching so, if your problem is now solved, please view your first post in this thread and click the Edit button (top right in the post) and add [Solved] in front of the subject.

[Bricabraclady]

I wasn't doing a windows update. I downloaded a map from Google maps saved it to a folder. It refused to open. so did any other document either write or spreadsheet & now I cannot uninstall AOO in order to reinstall so sorry I don't your instructions
very well.

[John_Ha]

It's your decision ...

... but if you follow my instructions precisely the problem will be fixed.

NB I am assuming you are running Windows 8.1 on your PC as stated in your signature.

[Bricabraclady]

Thank you for your time. The procedure at step 3 was the one where no matter what had been deleted, updated, cleaned, rebooted was always stuck with the message, please exit open programmes, or words to that effect when there was nothing open. Task manager showed no soffice either so I could not progress to even successfully uninstall. Let alone reinstall. Windows & everything else is updated .
I had to call an IT chap. He has successfully fixed it but it took him quite a while & he has a good reputation. Yes it is 8.1

[John_Ha]

The procedure at step 3 was the one where no matter what had been deleted, updated, cleaned, rebooted was always stuck with the message, please exit open programmes, or words to that effect when there was nothing open.

That is why I asked you to do Step 1 and Step 2 first - that guarantees all open programmes are closed. Had you done so, Step 3 would have worked.

What did your IT person say the problem was? I expect he will tell you that a program was partially installed or uninstalled, or a Windows update had failed while being installed.

[PurrPurr]

If attempting to delete OpenOffice completely, and its folder under Program Files (x86) will not delete (You get an error message stating that is still being used or is still running), delete 'soffice.bin' and try deleting the folder again. Originally, I tried an unlocking program on the folder but it still wouldn't delete, but the unlocking program did tell me what was locking it: soffice.bin. I deleted 'soffice.bin', and then the folder deleted without error. (I unlocked 'soffice.bin', but I do not know if that was necessary as I did not try to delete it priorly)

[Bill]

If soffice.bin is still in the OpenOffice folder under Program Files (x86), then it has not gone through the uninstall process. Deleting soffice.bin then deleting the OpenOffice folder manually just removes the program files. It does not remove the Windows Registry entries associated with OpenOffice. Manually deleting programs should only be attempted by someone who knows what they are doing.