[Solved] Grey Screen

Issues with installing under all versions of MS Windows
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JimH
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 4:43 pm

[Solved] Grey Screen

Post by JimH »

Hi
Open Office has worked fine for me for a long time but when I tried to open a file today all I got was a totally grey screen with the 'close screen' cross in the top corner. Clicking on the 'close screen' cross didn't work though the grey screen did reduce in size and the cross turned red. I tried to stop the process with ctrl, alt, delete, Stop Process. but that didn't work either. I restarted but it was still there and now after closing the computer down for a while The grey screen has gone but came back as soon as I tried Open Office again.
Help appreciated please.
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Thu Jul 31, 2025 4:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: tagged solved.
Open Office 4.1.7 Windows 10
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Hagar Delest
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Posts: 33428
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: Grey Screen

Post by Hagar Delest »

Try to reset your OpenOffice user profile.
If no change... try LibreOffice.

Please add [Solved] at the beginning of the title in your first post (top of the topic) with the button if your issue has been fixed.
LibreOffice 25.2 on Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE Faye) and 24.8 portable on Windows 11.
JimH
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 4:43 pm

Re: Grey Screen

Post by JimH »

Thanks for the reply. I'm afraid resetting the 'user profile' turned out to be too complicated for me. However I tried for a bit without being able to find all the links and then after I'd given up I tried starting Open Office again and it opened up ok. Do you think I should persevere with it or try changing to another platform? There's a lot of stuff on it I don't want to loose.
Open Office 4.1.7 Windows 10
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LastUnicorn
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Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:41 am
Location: Scotland

Re: Grey Screen

Post by LastUnicorn »

Switch from OpenOffice to LibreOffice. There are several good reasons for making the switch anyway, some of which are mentioned here: [Tutorial] Considering a Switch from OpenOffice to LibreOffice? Some Useful Information
LibreOffice 25.8.0.4 (x64) installed to Windows 11 Pro. 24H2
Apache OpenOffice Portable 4.1.15 [Portable Apps]
For Java I use Adoptium Temurin JRE LTS Releases.
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Hagar Delest
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Posts: 33428
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 9:07 pm
Location: France

Re: Grey Screen

Post by Hagar Delest »

If by other platform you mean LibreOffice, it's very close, they come from the same ancestor (OpenOffice.org). But LO is under much more development, most of the developers went there.
Up to you. You can try a portable version just to check.
If you're satisfied with AOO, then just go on. Resetting the AOO profile is not that difficult, once you've found the roaming folder of your Windows account.
LibreOffice 25.2 on Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE Faye) and 24.8 portable on Windows 11.
JimH
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 4:43 pm

Re: Grey Screen

Post by JimH »

Thanks all of you for your input. I've downloaded Libra and all my files magically found their way into it so I'm very pleased with everything now.
Open Office 4.1.7 Windows 10
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