[Solved] Do large files crash Writer?

[idris]

I'm trying to use Open Office Writer to edit a large document (a book), but it is consistently crashing.

The file size is 6.5M, predominantly text, with a handful of small tables (typically about 5x5 cells), about 30 illustrations (jpg) and it covers about 160 pages (book size, not A4). I have also added comments to about half the document.

The problem has been getting worse and lead me to do an overdue upgrade of my OS (clean instal of Win7) and a clean instal of Open Office. This has fixed nothing, and the first time I opened a large file I had the same problem. So I don't think it's got anything to resetting profiles.

I have 4GB of RAM and am running a 32GB flash drive completely allocated for ReadyBoost, so I don't think it's a lack of available memory.

The only anomaly I might have spotted (though I can't be sure of this) is that the problem may be at it's worst around page 40.

Any thoughts?

[RoryOF]

In which format are you working/saving? .odt is best; you can save out to .doc if necessary from time to time. I have two 300+ page books in progress: absolutely stable (no illustrations, but endnotes and hyperlinks). I have handled a 14365 page file (plain text) of 9.5MB; no stability problems. Best to link your graphics (also adjust settings under /Tools /Options/ OpenOffice.org : Memory and restart OpenOffice). Graphics have a way of vanishing, so regular backups are good.

[Hagar Delest]

You can also reset your OpenOffice user profile. This is a common cause of crash.

I work with files around 4MB at work with up to 500 tables and 50 pictures and never had any problem at all. I'm very reluctant to link the graphics so they are all embedded in my files.

Please add '[Solved]' at the beginning of your first post title (edit button) if your issue has been fixed.

[acknak]

What do you mean, specifically, by "crashing"?

I haven't seen Writer out and out "crash" (as in exit completely) in years. I have seen it--with some documents--go into a loop where it consumes all the system cpu resources and I have to kill it manually.

Would it be possible for us to try the document? It's too big for the forum, but you could upload it to a file-sharing site and give us the link.

Edit: PS:

I second Hagar's suggestion about the profile: it's often a source of crashes/strange behavior.

[idris]

I've seen mention of resetting the profile, but with a clean install of Open Office on a clean install of Windows, I assumed that couldn't be the issue. Admittedly I don't know the implications, but it seems unlikely to me.

I think the images are linked but I'm not sure. (I'd rather they were embedded, so I'll look into that.

I probably should have said hanging, rather than crashing, but what I mean is that all the toolbars get greyed out and there's a blue spinning circle for a cursor. (This seems to be similar to what happens when Writer is auto-saving.) The bar right at the top of the Writer window also says (Not Responding) after the document title.
I can switch to other applications, including the task manager. where Writer is again reported as Not Responding.

[RoryOF]

Was the Windows drive reformatted on the clean install? If not, there may have been (read: probably was) an existing (faulty) OpenOffice profile which could have been picked up transparently to you. So it is worth deleteing or renaming the User Profile.

For linking/embedding: /Edit /Links allows you to break the link and embed instead.

[acknak]

I've seen mention of resetting the profile, but with a clean install of Open Office on a clean install of Windows, I assumed that couldn't be the issue. ...

The OOo settings profile contains templates, macros, dictionary content and more that are user content, so the profile is not wiped clean by any OOo install process--ever. With "major" OOo upgrades, a new profile may be created but the old one is left in place and the old data & settings are migrated to the new profile.

If you want a fresh profile, you have to do it yourself, manually.

I agree, it seems unlikely to be the problem here, but it's definitely worth a try.

[idris]

Clearing the profiles did not help. The Writer hung another 3 or 4 times after I'd done it.
But I've managed to copy all the content from the original file to a new document (I only seemed to get a few seconds to have the original file open, and cut and paste, before Writer hung) and it seems to be stable for the minute. I guess it must have been a corrupt file.

So I think it's fixed for the time being.
Thanks for your input.

[RoryOF]

If the file originated in MS Office there are many reports of peculiar things happening when it is brought to OpenOffice. Copy and Paste into a new openOffice file often helps.

[chrismonroe10]

I first read this post when i was having problems saving anything longer than 30 pages. I was using free avast av with win 7 home and after about a month and a half in sept of 2015 it was becoming impossible so i ran word on office home and business for 12 months or so and then was forced to change av to avg free (sept 2016) because the laptop fan was going bananas even after wiping the drive or performing manual fixes. after that office home and business would no longer activate about a month later so i put open office back on. it all works fine now and large files over 120 pages save instantly and there is no lag or crashing anymore, microsoft insistent upon people registering to one drive and theres no warning about saving to the web or the license will blow up permanently. seems to be tied more to the av that people run more than anything else i could determine because it happened to me, long live open source, thanks.