[Solved-Sort of] Everything's gone since the update

Issues with installing under all versions of MS Windows
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magollie
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[Solved-Sort of] Everything's gone since the update

Post by magollie »

I did not update my version of OpenOffice. when I opened OPenOffice this morning, it was showing me version 4 and now everything I had in the previous version (3.2 or something) is missing. This is not good. All my databases, documents..everything poof. eDITED TO ADD: I can find some of the documents by going to File Explorer but I'd like them to be in 'recently viewed' documents when I open OpenOffice. EDITORS NOTE: Apache wants me to edit this to say it's solved. I understand somewhat what happened but the problem remains that my documents didn't transition over when Apache (not me) updated my version of Open Office. Thanks to Rory and Floris for answering and as for Apache, meh.
Last edited by magollie on Wed Oct 02, 2019 9:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
open office 4.1 windows 10
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floris v
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Re: Everything's gone since the update

Post by floris v »

If you upgraded from version 3.x to 4.1, a new user profile was probably made in the process. That means that all recently used files lists are lost, bu it doesn't mean that the files themselves are lost. You will probably find them in the My documents folder.
OpenOffice 4.1.11 on Ubuntu; LibreOffice 6.4 on Linux Mint, LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Ubuntu
If your problem has been solved or your question has been answered, please edit the first post in this thread and add [Solved] to the title bar.
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RoryOF
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Re: Everything's gone since the update

Post by RoryOF »

As you use /File /Open to navigate to the folders in which they were saved, and open the files from that, they will once more appear in Recent Documents.
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.15 on Xubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
magollie
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Re: Everything's gone since the update

Post by magollie »

Rory, I shouldn't have to go to each file, open it and then it's in recent documents. Why didn't it just carry over to the new version? I didn't ask to update and seems to me it shouldn't update to newer version without asking me. All I know is yesterday , I closed OpenOffice and when I opened it today, ta da, the newest version pops up and it's a blank slate. Oh well, today's my birthday so happy frickin birthday to me from OpenOffice. IT'S JUST WHAT I WANTED!
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magollie
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Re: Everything's gone since the update

Post by magollie »

Floris, that's the thing *I* didn't upgrade..it was just there when I opened the program this a.m. and like a fool I went thru the steps not knowing I would lose everything . And you're right, I can find them in documents but that's needless hoops I have to jump thru to get each one back. No other program that I know does that when you upgrade. Thanks guys. I appreciate you taking time to help me.
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thomasjk
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Re: Everything's gone since the update -solved SORT OF

Post by thomasjk »

Floris, that's the thing *I* didn't upgrade..it was just there when I opened the program this a.m. and like a fool I went thru the steps not knowing I would lose everything . And you're right, I can find them in documents but that's needless hoops I have to jump thru to get each one back. No other program that I know does that when you upgrade. Thanks guys. I appreciate you taking time to help me.
There is no automatic updating in any version of AOO. Did you download the original version from http://www.openoffice.org/download/? If not you may some other software that presents itself as AOO. Updating of AOO requires you to download the installer from the link I gave earlier. Then you have to start the installation manually. Are you on some kind of corporate network where the admins push put changes?
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RoryOF
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Re: Everything's gone since the update -solved SORT OF

Post by RoryOF »

With respect OpenOffice _DOES NOT_ silently update. One must specifically download and then install such an update. It is your computer - you should know what happened.

On an update from a major version 2 - 3 or 3 - 4 OpenOffice generates a new User Profile to accommodate changes of the new version. Such new version has not opened any recent files and does not show them.
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floris v
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Re: Everything's gone since the update

Post by floris v »

I never knew that being among the first computer users would some day pay off. In the MS DOS days, there were no lists of recently opened documents, no file icons to open a file by double-clicking on it, etc. You were forced to design an intelligent set of folders (called directories) to store your documents, and then you had to store your documents there yourself. As a result, I don't lose much when those lists disappear - I have the folders where the files sit within reach and can access them quickly enough. In fact some anti-spyware software considers those recent files lists as security risks. Go figure,
This may sound condescending, but hey, you can focus on the irritation over the inconvenience, and then you have a bad time, or you can try to overlook it and make the best of it.
The user profile is a vulnerable part of OO. If you really want those kusts, maybe you should regularly make a back-up of the user profile.
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Bill
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Re: Everything's gone since the update -solved SORT OF

Post by Bill »

If OpenOffice upgraded itself, that suggests that the version was not an official version or that there is some other software working in the background that updated OpenOffice. The official version does not update itself automatically.
AOO 4.1.14 on Ubuntu MATE 22.04
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