Missing images due to the read error

[john1320]

As I discovered yesterday, sometimes OpenOffice removes embed images

Quick story:
I successfully created my document, vey simple about 15 pages with 5 small images (about 100x100 pixels, all png). User profile was completely new. OpenOffice version 4.1.3, on Windows 7.

All images were pasted directly from Windows "Snipping Tool" utility. OpenOffice worked perfectly.

Next day I decided to rework my existing document, and by that reason, I started to cut parts from my old document and pasting them into new blank file. Okay, worked... But at one point I discovered that I have "read error" placeholders instead of images in my new file. (Firstly I see "Read Error" placeholders instead of my images, and later, when I reopened document next time, it was even worse - these placeholders were just removed, without any footprints).

A bit of googling, I found that this bug is a well known. Here are topics about it:

viewtopic.php?t=40322
viewtopic.php?t=24449
viewtopic.php?t=41271
viewtopic.php?t=80925
viewtopic.php?t=77473

As I understand, there are 3 recommendations to avoid this bug:
1. Insert images as links, instead of embedding them. Seems to be reliable for me.
2. Increase cache size (Tools > OpenOffice > Memory). Seems to be not reliable for me, because any fixed number of memory could be sufficient for one document, but not sufficient for another one.
3. Use the solution from Hagar Delest (seems to be moderately reliable but I don't sure that this soluton will work for "cut-and-paste" scenario, which was described above). Quote: I've had troubles in the past when the pasted or inserted file had always the same name (like clipboard.png): if you don't save the OOo file before inserting another pic with the same name, then only the last one is correctly embedded. That's why now I always save the pic with a picture manager (like XnView), give it a name and then insert it with the OOo menu Insert>Picture>From file (well, I've a button for that of course). And in case you don't know, save the file after each pic insertion.

So, now the questions.
1. What is your opinion and experience about reliability of each solution mentioned above?
2. Is there exists another solutions to avoid this bug?
3. Does this bug exist in LibreOffice too, or it exist only in OpenOffice?
4. What is your own workaround for this problem?

Update
Hm, it seems that inserting images as links actually is not reliable. The quote from one of the links showed above:

I tried both inserting as an image and as a link - nothing helped.
Source: viewtopic.php?t=40322

And quoted above Hagar's solution (to use unique image names) is also not reliable:

Well - In my case all images had names corresponding to the actual book page - so they were all different.
Source: viewtopic.php?t=40322

[erbsenzahl]

As I discovered yesterday, sometimes OpenOffice removes embed(ed) images

My experience is that all text processing applications I ever used sometimes had problems with images, graphic objects and other objects (OLE) - Word, StarOffice, OpenOffice, LibreOffice. In case of OpenOffice sometimes LibreOffice worked better, sometimes it was the other way round. Not to forget Microsoft Word. Same problem (no conversions, always worked on native document formats; if not, you got more problems).
To avoid loss of content and/or structure one sometimes should better create a new document and insert unformatted text and the images/objects. It is useful to save documents according to proceeding, i.e. other file names which differ - let me say - in the current day of saving. So today my file's name is erbsenzahl_25Jun2017.odt, tomorrow it will be erbsenzahl_26Jun2017.odt.
All other strategies to avoid loss of images are mentioned in your overview. In my opinion the bugs depend on hardware and software circumstances which nobody can affect. In peculiar, my problems got less important with every new computer bought, i.e. better hardware, RAM and updated software...
So hopefully our problem will be less grave in future, but nevertheless remain ever-present.

[RoryOF]

It is useful to save documents according to proceeding, i.e. other file names which differ - let me say - in the current day of saving. So today my file's name is erbsenzahl_25Jun2017.odt, tomorrow it will be erbsenzahl_26Jun2017.odt.

This is most useful advice. Any document of length and/or importance should be so saved, perhaps with additional timestamping so that only the last edit session is lost if there is a problem.

[Zizi64]

TimeStampBackup extension:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=86742&p=420129&hil ... up#p420129

[John_Ha]

Another hint - switch off AutoSave. There are extremely unusual circumstances which seem to be very file specific in which images are lost at the same time that AutoSave takes place. I have raised a bug report with a sample file which demonstrates it. See Item 14 in [Tutorial] Some useful hints on using images.

I assume that your images are embedded and not linked. If they are linked, and you have changed the relative location of the image files, or have deleted or renamed them, they will no longer appear in the document.

[RoryOF]

I acknowledge Zizi64's contribution in making such an extension available. I am normally working only on one or two major documents and as part of my editing/writing routine make manually timestamped backup copies before each edit session. However, working routines are very individual and differ from person to person. However the backup is made, it is imperative that such backups are made of documents of _major_ importance.

We will shortly be seeing the anguished pleas for help from users who have (often through impatience and over hasty shut-down) lost their thesis/term paper, with no backup.

I have found switching off Autosave of help in saving images in documents: my computers are (touch wood!) stable and I use a regular backup routine just in case of problems.

[john1320]

Yes, my images are embed.

Another hint - switch off AutoSave [...] See Item 14 in [Tutorial] Some useful hints on using images.

Thanks, very useful.

So, as I understand, your recommendation is
ENABLE Always create backup copy
and DISABLE Save AutoRecovery information,
right?

[John_Ha]

So, as I understand, your recommendation is
ENABLE Always create backup copy
and DISABLE Save AutoRecovery information,
right?

Correct.