Need to re-register after crash?

[szwanger]

I'm using Windows 10 and my laptop crashed. After I rebooted, I went to start OpenOffice, expecting to get the "crash and recover" screen. However, instead I got the Registration Wizard, which i bizarre. I presume that if I re-register, I'll then get the blank document screen instead of being able to recover the files I was working on. Much of my work was saved, but it would be really helpful to have OpenOffice automatically open them instead of needing to manually open them one at a time.

I also went to check the backup folder and although the folder has today's date as the "last changed" date, none of the backups inside are from today.

[FJCC]

As I understand it, the registration screen came up because your user profile got wiped out in the crash. If there is no user profile, OpenOffice thinks you are starting the software for the first time. Since the backup folder is in the user profile, I would expect it to be empty. Did yours have some files? I don't know how the loss of the user profile interacts with the document recovery process.

[szwanger]

As I understand it, the registration screen came up because your user profile got wiped out in the crash. If there is no user profile, OpenOffice thinks you are starting the software for the first time. Since the backup folder is in the user profile, I would expect it to be empty. Did yours have some files? I don't know how the loss of the user profile interacts with the document recovery process.

The backup folder is not empty; it files ranging in date from 2016 to yesterday. C:\Users\Steven Zwanger\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\user isn't empty either; it has many folders (backup, gallery, store, extensions, etc). Is the profile a specific file or folder? Is there a way to restore an older version of the profile?

[FJCC]

The user profile is the whole user folder. If you completed the registration process, a new profile would have been made, filling the user folder with all of the usual files and folders. I can't account for the user\backup folder having files if a new profile had just been made. I can only guess that your profile was only partially damaged, enough to trigger the registration. I am just making that up.
You can back up the user profile by copying the entire user folder. You can keep the copy in C:\Users\Steven Zwanger\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\ and just give it another name.

[szwanger]

The user profile is the whole user folder. If you completed the registration process, a new profile would have been made, filling the user folder with all of the usual files and folders. I can't account for the user\backup folder having files if a new profile had just been made. I can only guess that your profile was only partially damaged, enough to trigger the registration. I am just making that up.
You can back up the user profile by copying the entire user folder. You can keep the copy in C:\Users\Steven Zwanger\AppData\Roaming\OpenOffice\4\ and just give it another name.

Just to clarify, I didn't complete the registration process; I clicked Cancel. So I presume whatever's in that folder is what remains of the previous user profile, though I don't know what's missing that would make OO think I don't have a user profile.

[robleyd]

If you are interested in what is in the profile, you might find [Tutorial]The OpenOffice User Profile a useful reference. Your 'registration' details are stored in registrymodifications.xcu