Automatic links are not automatic

[CrankyEngineer]

I am running OpenOffice version 4.1.7 (Upgrade to 4.1.8 does not work but that's another story) on a Dell laptop using Windows 10. I have a number of spreadsheets into which I enter data each month, and a summary sheet that takes values from them by links. Although I have set Tools > Options > Calc > General > Updating to Always, opening the summary sheet (and any others that contain links) results in the following messages:
Update all links?
then
This file contains links to other files. Should they be updated?
then
Update all links? again. (Changing the setting to manual, saving the file, and closing and re-opening Calc produces the same sequence of messages.)
Upon closing the sheet, the last dialogue box appears again, but I can see the rational for that.
This behaviour hardly strikes me as Automatic.
I am aware that similar topics have been posted before dating back to 2012. However, although they say that they are [Solved], I have been unable to find a solution that works in any of the posts. Alleged solutions seem to have been found ineffective by other forum members including me.
Can someone please explain in simple terms either how to get rid of these unnecessary and irritating dialogues, or why they are considered to be so absolutely necessary that they cannot be eliminated.

[ferdy]

I have the exact same problem. Did you find a solution ?

[Villeroy]

Just install the successor to OpenOffice. Sooner or later you'll have to anyway.
https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/li ... penoffice/