Apache OpenOffice Community Forum

I created a text document in OpenOffice on my laptop.

I saved it to a USB thumb drive and took it to my PC and tried to open it. The attached image shows the error message that I got.

No other OpenOffice file that I opened had any problems.

What did I do wrong and how do I fix this?

I did nothing but create the document and save it.

Possible reasons:
- You edited the file on the thumb drive, and have not closed the file when you disconnected the device.
- You not edited the file on the thumbdrive directly, but just copied it by a file manager, and you not made a regular disconnection. Always wait a few seconds (it is depends on the actial PC speed) after the regular software disconnection, and before you unplug the thumb drive.

Tips and workarounds:
- Try to repeat the transfer procedure. Be very careful with every steps.
- Use the Open Copy button. It will open a copy of the file for editing.

You seem to have removed the USB drive before closing the document and thus have a lock file on your device - see viewtopic.php?f=6&t=89865 for more information. The second answer by Villeroy tells how to remove the lock file.

You possibly did not properly safely remove the USB drive, as I suspect Windows would have warned you that there was an open file had you tried to use the correct procedure to remove the drive.

Thank you!

Seems like you had a near identical problem a few years ago

If you are writing a long work, such as a book, you should have a regular backup routine. The timed/dated backup extension may be of use to you.
This can be downloaded from

http://flowcont.hu/LO_oxt_store/oxt/tim ... v1-2-0.oxt

Note that you must invoke it separately using its button; it does not replace the standard save mechanism.

Working to a USB key can be uncertain for a number of reasons, so having a recent backup stored on a computer to which you have access is wise.