Locked unknown user

[blocker8]

My desktop crashed & when I rebooted & then try to recover my Spreadsheet file it comes up with "Locked unknown user"

I had the filed password protected.

I have tried a few different ways to open it with no success.

Can somebody please help me?

Kind Regards

[RoryOF]

With OpenOffice closed, enable viewing of Hidden files (this is done at system level - look up how to do it if in doubt; it is not an OpenOffice command). In the folder in which your file was stored, delete and files with names similar to

Code: Select all

.~lock.MyFile.odt#

Note that such file(s) will be small - perhaps a few hundred bytes, whereas the owning file will be at least 6 KB in size. Do not delete the wrong file.

Now move to the OpenOffice User Profile. As you are using Windows do this by:
Close OpenOffice and the Quickstarter (they are probably already closed). Open File Explorer. Copy and paste %appdata%\OpenOffice\4 in the File Explorer Address Bar and press Enter.
Alongside the folder User in the windows that opens you may see a file .lock. Delete that. Now restart OpenOffice and all should be well.

Edit: It is possible that, after a crash, your file will be corrupted; how this manifests with a passworded file I cannot say. Look at viewtopic.php?f=71&t=85038 for information on recovering the temporary files OpenOffice uses. This tutorial is for Writer, but should be applicable with slight changes, to Calc files. Whether your file is recoverable is doubtful - do not expect miracles.