Dreaded Pound Sign issue open since 2009

[scottandrewhutchins]

None of the suggested fixes worked. My laptop is crap and crashes regularly. It's still under warranty, too.

[Tutorial] The Dreaded Pound Signs: file reduced to ####

Edit: This is Issue 107847 - File content changed to hashes at crash or power loss. -- MrProgrammer, forum moderator

[Hagar Delest]

Hi and welcome to the forum!

If nothing worked, then the file is lost.
You should nonetheless investigate why your laptop crashes regularly, there is definitively something wrong.

There is some work on the code by AOO devs about that. However, it seems that this issue has been fixed long ago with the cleanup of the code when LibreOffice forked OpenOffice.org.
I had forgotten I was the originator of that report. I do like the first replies! Especially with all the evidences gathered since.

[scottandrewhutchins]

My laptop is pretty lousy, and Best Buy refuses to work on it. HP wants me to send it to them and wait 4-6 weeks, and I really can't go without that long with everything happening on Zoom. The warranty is basically worthless for that reason, even though there are about five more months left on it.

[John_Ha]

See [Tutorial] How to find and un-delete AOO temporary files for detailed instructions on how to

a) use Previous Versions (W7 and later) to recover previous versions of the file (is there something similar on MacOS and Linux?);

b) recover your file as it was when you last opened or saved it, or as it was when it was last saved with AutoRecovery;

c) find previous versions of the file in the folder it is located in, but which have since been deleted;

d) find any temporary files AOO wrote while you were editing the file but which have not yet been deleted;

e) un-delete the temporary files AOO wrote while you were editing the file, and then deleted. d) and e) will recover your file as it was when you last opened or you last saved it.

If you cannot follow the instructions ask someone with more PC skills to help you. Act quickly - the longer you wait the more likely any temporary files are to be deleted.

[John_Ha]

My laptop ... crashes regularly.

It is therefore not an AOO problem - it is a laptop problem to do with Windows or other software which is breaking AOO.

1. Refresh Windows - google how.
2. Uninstall any software you are not sure about.
3. Do a test: boot in Safe Mode. Does that stop the crashes? If so, identify which startup program is causing the crashes.
4. Run Malwarebytes to check there is no malware.
5. Reseat the memory cards - they may be causing it.
6. Run the hardware and software diagnostics to see what they pick up.