[Solved] Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Issues with installing under all versions of MS Windows
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phil447
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Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:21 am

[Solved] Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by phil447 »

Hi everyone,
I am using a PC with Windows XP Home Edition. I downloaded OpenOffice.org 2.2 about a week ago and everything seemed fine. After a few days I got a notice saying I could update to OpenOffice.org 2.4 and I did the download and install. Now the trouble is I can use OpenOffice in my user profile, but my wife and daughter cannot in theirs. They each have Computer Admin status in the user account folder.

When they click the Start button and go to Programs, OOo 2.4 shows up, but when they click on it there is a long delay while Windows tries to find swriter.exe. Then the screen says the shortcut is not valid. When they manually try to access the program from Windows Explorer and go the Program File folder and click on it, the message comes up "C:\Program Files is not accessible. Access is denied."

Incidentally, they get the same problem and same result when they try to access the Trend Micro\Internet Security 2007 Main Panel from the Trend Micro shortcut on their Desktop. The Trend Micro icon is missing from their tray of running programs in the bottom right corner next to the clock. This worries me, because it implies the virus scanning download protection is not working for them.

Things I've tried: I belatedly read that I should have uninstalled OOo 2.2 before installing OOo 2.4. (Why is that? Other programs just install the latest version over the previous version...) So, in the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel I uninstalled OOo 2.2 and OOo2.4. Then I redownloaded OOo 2.4 and installed it, but the same problem persists.

I read another post "OpenOffice will only start for one user" that seems to be a similar case. One of the suggestions was to rename the OOo user profile [in \Documents & Settings\<user>\ApplicationData\OpenOffice.org] and reinstall it. This I did, but it didn't help any. Later in that thread, the person said he had restarted Windows in Safe Mode and changed the security settings. Apparently that fixed things, though a later post said the problem came back. Anyway, I don't know how to do that...

Any suggestions?
Last edited by phil447 on Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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AndrewZ
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Re: Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by AndrewZ »

phil447 wrote:When they manually try to access the program from Windows Explorer and go the Program File folder and click on it, the message comes up "C:\Program Files is not accessible. Access is denied."
Can you make sure they have local administrator rights?
Any suggestions?
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phil447
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Re: Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by phil447 »

Thanks for your reply. Both my wife and daughter are listed as Computer Administrator in their user profiles, so that should not be the problem.

I did most, though not all, of the steps in the "OpenOffice won't start" troubleshooter. I did the uninstall and reinstall without shutting down the soffice.bin application in the Windows Task Manager, otherwise I have done everything including downloading the registry cleaner RegCure. RegCure found 1000+ problems and said it fixed them all, but it didn't fix this issue.

I have also been to the MS support website and downloaded some Windows updates, but the critical ones were already up to date. I suspect this is really a Windows XP problem, but am at a loss as to how to get Windows XP back to normal. I did leave an email with the computer manufactur's tech support staff and should get a reply in another day or so.

The other thread that I mentioned, "OpenOffice will only work for one user", mentioned opening Windows XP in safe mode and changing the security settings there. Anybody know how I can do that?

Also, I am beginning to wonder about just investing in a different operating system. Have any of you out there switched from Windows XP to Linux? (or something else)? I don't know if that is a huge endeavor or not. Obviously I do still want to access my documents, photos, and iTunes music.
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Hagar Delest
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Re: Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by Hagar Delest »

phil447 wrote:Also, I am beginning to wonder about just investing in a different operating system. Have any of you out there switched from Windows XP to Linux? (or something else)? I don't know if that is a huge endeavor or not. Obviously I do still want to access my documents, photos, and iTunes music.
It depends on your use. Personally, I've started with a live-CD to check I was not lost, then a dual boot, keeping Windows in case I had to use a specific software. And actually completely switched to Linux more than 2 years ago.

Other examples here: best linux distribution.
LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 on Xubuntu 23.10 and 7.6.4.1 portable on Windows 10
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AndrewZ
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Re: Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by AndrewZ »

phil447 wrote: When they manually try to access the program from Windows Explorer and go the Program File folder and click on it, the message comes up "C:\Program Files is not accessible. Access is denied."
Try searching on Google for the verbatim error. Here's what I came up with. Try these or keep looking.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;308421
http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... US;Q823306
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Acces ... m+files%22
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Acces ... essible%22
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phil447
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Re: Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by phil447 »

Thank you to both Hagar and AndrewZ for your helpful links.

Andrewz, your links show me how to change the security settings for Windows XP, so I will do some further work and let you know if this works. Thanks!
DaveE
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Re: Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by DaveE »

Hi there
I had a similar problem with a recent reinstall, inasmuch as everything worked fine for my profile as Administrator. My wife - who has a limited profile - was unable to open anything using Open Office. A few days later, I remembered that each time you update your version of OO you are asked to register it/ say you're already registered as appropriate. I'd forgotten to register it under my wife's profile. Once I did this, the problem was solved. For what it's worth though, I'm running Windows Vista.
It might be worth seeing if this solves your problem though. Good luck.
phil447
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Re: Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by phil447 »

Hi all,
I was able to solve the problem by starting Windows XP in safe mode and changing the security settings as per the first microsoft support link that AndrewZ listed.

Specifically, I pressed the F8 key as WIndows began to install after a shut down/restart to get into Windows Safe Mode and logged in as the administrator. Then I opened Windows Explorer and right clicked the Program Files folder, clicked on Properties. Then I followed these instructions:

1. Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Security tab, and then click OK on the Security message (if one appears).
3. Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
4. In the Name list, click your user name, or click Administrator if you are logged in as Administrator, or click the Administrators group. If you want to take ownership of the contents of that folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
5. Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message:
You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?

All permissions will be replaced if you press Yes.
Note folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.
6. Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

After I (as "Computer Administrator") had taken control of Program Folder and all subfolders I repeated the procedure to go back to what it was supposed to be (ownership by "Computer Admistrators"). That way the files are owned by all users with Computer Administrator status.

By the way, I think this problem started when I had OOo 2.2 and tried to open a Quattro Pro file. Or it may have been the conversion from OOo 2.2 to 2.4, as both events happened the same day. Cheers.
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AndrewZ
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Re: [Solved] Trouble with other users - OpenOffice will not open

Post by AndrewZ »

Thanks for the solution, Phil: I have assimilated it into the collective---I mean---wiki. :)
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