[Solved] OpenOffice documents not responding

[jackthehat]

Hi everbody,

I am currently having a major problem with my OpenOffice documents and related Spreadsheets. Just recently (in the past 24 hours) this problem has manifested itself and in spite of copying the content of the document and saving under a new document name and then deleting the original - the problem persists. I think that the problem is more complicated than one corrupt file.
I will summarize the problem below ...

Yesterday I opened one of my spreadsheets along with a related .odt document and accessed the internet for a site with data that I wanted to record on the spreadsheet. After a short time the spreadsheet "froze" and I could not perform input or indeed any operation on the sheet. I then realized that the whole computer had frozen and was obliged to do a hard reboot (switch off from the plug) as all other operations (ie. soft reboot - ctr-alt-del) were unable to be performed as everything (including the operating system) had "frozen".
Since then I have attempted to restart the computer and re-access the document and spreadsheet half a dozen times.
Now each and every time I attempt this windows reboots (giving me the option of starting normally or in safe mode) successfully. However when I attempt to access either the .odt document or the spreadsheet I get the OpenOffice Version 4.1.1 Setup Wizard giving the default option of transferring my personal data to the new 4.1.1 version.
Every time I have then gone through the wizard options and finished the process. The spreadsheet or .odt document duly appears. I can then start editing the file as normal at first, but after a handful of data items have been entered the system "freezes" again and I have to reboot the computer once again. This process repeats itself every time I re-boot and attempt to access the OpenOffice files .
I have tried the following remedies - 1) Restarting Windows both normally and in 'Safe' mode
2) Showing 'Hidden files' and deleting all ~lock.mydocuments files
3) Copying data from the spreadsheet and .odt document to another filename, for each, and then deleting original files.
Unfortunately however the problem persists. Effectively this means that I cannot access and edit my OpenOffice documents and spreadsheets normally without the whole compuuter system freezing up and becoming useless at that sitting.
My systems are - Operating system = Windows Vista Home Premium
OpenOffice version = 4.1.1
internet access = Google Chrome
I am not sure what other information may be useful here.
Does anyone know what is causing my problem and can you help me fix it ?
I would appreciate any and all advice.

Regards,
Jackthehat

[RoryOF]

I'm rushing out the door, so this is in haste: try closing OpenOffice then start TaskManager (Ctrl shift Esc) and kill any soffice processes shown on TM's Processes tab. See if that helps.

[jackthehat]

Hi RoryOF,
Thanks for responding. I did as you said but could detect no sOffice processes on the Processes tab list of processes.
So i'm afraid I'm back at square one. The problem still persists.

Regards,
Jackthehat

[RoryOF]

OK, I'm back (but briefly). Can you open a new OpenOffice document, Save it, edit it etc? If so, you perhaps should consider junking the troublesome document and recreating it.

[Bill]

Have you checked the default program settings for the documents? Right-click one of the files and select Properties. What is the "Opens with" setting?

[jackthehat]

Hi Bill,
Thanks for responding.
I did what you suggested with two files (as I am not sure which, if either, are the culprit) ..and the "Open With" setting for the .odt document is .. "Openoffice Writer" ; the same setting for the spreadsheet is .. "Openoffice Calc". Does this information help ?
Regards,
Jackthehat

[jackthehat]

Hi RoryOF,
I tried to open an OpenOffice document from the OpenOffice desktop icon .. now before this problem arose it would start OpenOffice 4.1.1 and give options to open one of the different types of files you can access .. eg Spreadsheets; databases; text docs etc ..
But now every time this problem occurs .. I have to switch the computer off (as the operating system "freezes") .. restart the machine and then after windows operating system boots up and I log on and try to open an OpenOffice file directly by double-clicking on the icon (any file or file type) .. I get the "Welcome to OpenOffice 4.1.1 Wizard" appearing and I have to go through the process of transferring my data from OpenOffice.org 3 format to OpenOffice 4.1.1 format... every time !
Could my problem be to do with a corrupted version of OpenOffice 4.1.1 or do you still think it's more likely to be the file(s) accessed ?


Regards
Jackthehat

[RoryOF]

Can you start the program OpenOffice from Programs, open the Writer component and then /File /New? If so, type dt, press F3 key and save the file. Then try to re-open that (using /File /Open). This lets us see if the problem is with OpenOffice itself, or instead with the linking of existing file icons to OpenOffice when an icon is clicked.

[jackthehat]

Hi RoryOF,
Just tried what you suggested. Because I had previously had to reboot the machine ... before trying your suggestions .. when I then attempted to open OpenOffice from programs menu (in the 'Start' menu) .. the usual happened .. the "Welcome to OpenOffice 4.1.1 Wizard" started up and I had to go through the process of transfering my personal data from OpenOffice.org 3 format to OpenOffice 4.1.1 format.
Once this had completed (took about 4-5 minutes) then OpenOffice opened and I got to the menu for selecting which type of document to open .. I opened the Writer option (text document) .. a text document opened ... the /File/New also worked .. i typed some gibberish into the two documents that I had opened but didn't try to save them ...
Does this give you any clearer idea of the possible source of the problem ?

regards,
Jackthehat

[Bill]

Hi Bill,
Thanks for responding.
I did what you suggested with two files (as I am not sure which, if either, are the culprit) ..and the "Open With" setting for the .odt document is .. "Openoffice Writer" ; the same setting for the spreadsheet is .. "Openoffice Calc". Does this information help ?
Regards,
Jackthehat

Those are the correct settings. I was asking about those settings because I thought that the "Setup Wizard" was the Installation Wizard that installs AOO and that the default program somehow had changed to run the setup file instead of Writer or Calc. However, I now realize that it's not the installation wizard. It's the "Welcome" wizard that sets up the user profile. The next time this wizard runs, don't let it transfer data from OpenOffice 3 and see if that makes a difference. A corrupt user profile is often at fault when things suddenly stop working correctly.

[jackthehat]

Hi again Bill,
Well that seems to have done it. I have just managed to edit and populate the errant spreadsheet without anything untoward happening. It must have been a corrupt User profile after all, as after I followed your instructions and did not opt copy over user data when in the 'Welcome Wizard' everything seemed to work as it did before the problem manifested itself.
Thank you very much for your advice you saved six months of work which I doubt I could have reconstituted as the spreadsheet was large and contained dozens of formula that I foolishly hadn't taken copies of and are too complicated to remember accurately.
Thanks again.

Regards,
Jackthehat

[RoryOF]

I strongly suggest daily (at least) backups on important work or (as I did) changing to a stable operating system; this last may not be to every one's taste.

[Accommodation]

I have had a similar problem for the last three days. Calc spreadsheets wouldn't open quickly for some reason, they would either take several minutes to open or the program would become unresponsive and have to be closed.

I tried all of the suggestions from the forum posts here, including creating a new profile, but nothing worked.

I finally traced the fault to a new network printer driver we installed three days ago. The driver was removed (Xerox Phaser 6125N), and OpenOffice Calc 4.1.3 is now working properly. The printer driver worked fine by the way, all PC's on the network were able to print with it. I have no idea why a printer driver would cause this problem, but it did.

It's possibly worth checking your printer drivers if you are struggling with this problem.