Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 94156
Blue screen/reboot after register screen, OOo not startable
Last modified: 2009-06-30 13:29:48 UTC
On an english Windows XP SP2 Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz with 2 GB RAM using two monitors I installed the german RC2 of OOO 3.0 using custom installation to change the installation path to E:\Program Files. Started OOO. Unchecked automatically getting updates. I get asked if I want to register. Clicking "Ich möchte mich nicht registrieren" and "Fertig" after some seconds the computer freezes, shows a blue screen for about half a second and reboots. 1) I don't know a workaround and can't use OOO 2) A computer suddenly rebooting may do harm to data As I currently don't have the time to test all the combinations possibly causing this I suggest someone tests the special circumstances (en/de, custom install to E:, two monitors) if they cause the trouble. If there is a workaround known I suggest to publish it. I wanted to report this bug before OOO 3.0 is released otherwise I would have waited reporting it until I have the time to test all the circumstances. Set to Prio 3 because obviously not many people have that problem - there probably is already someone who got german OOO 3.0 RC2 installed on Windows.
This happens also using OOo 3.0 RC3. Still can't use OOo. I would assume that the problem is the custom path for installation. Don't want to test it currently because on C: is not much space left - this is the main reason why I use another path for installation.
I've never observed a blue screen after OOo start. Do have an OOo 2.x on your system? If yes, have you chosen to take over User Settings when starting OOo 3.0? First please remove c:\user\<user name>\appdata\roaming\openoffice.org. Start OOo 3 and don't take over User Settings of OOo 2.x.
Removed everything in %CSIDL_APPDATA% that sounded like OOdev or OpenOffice. Started OOo. Register wizard answered as usual (dont check for updates, no registration). Blue Screen.
Removed every OOo installation before (was only the recent one left as I did that before). Updated graphics driver of NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS to be sure this is not the cause. Searched registry for OpenOffice and OOo and removed suspicious entries. Searched C:\Program files and E:\Program files for ooo-dev and Openoffice, removed (also only one left as I did this before). Tried installing on C: of the en-US release version of OOo 3.0, but custom install where only change is not searching for update. Result: After "I don't want to register" and "Finish" same as usual. Some seconds busybee, then blue screen and instant reboot. Starting OOo not possible every time this register assistant appears, which always leads to blue screen and reboot. Of course I never got asked if I want to take settings from OOo 2.x. Searched my app data dir for roaming (nothing found). Please note that the settings I enter (user name, initials) never get saved as if I start it again the corresponding fields are empty.
@ gantim: Please answer my question.
OOo 2.x (iirc 2.4.0) was installed on the system before 3.0 existed. I'm not sure if I was asked to take over User Settings when trying 3.0 the first time. Think I uninstalled 2.x and then installed 3.x without taking over settings. Never installed an older version of OOo since my first test of 3.0. Anyway, this should make no difference as I removed every trace of any version of OpenOffice on my system before the last test thoroughly. There exists no directory C:\user (yes I show hidden files in Windows Explorer), that's why I wrote about %CSIDL_APPDATA%, but I searched all local drives for files or folders containing "ooo" or "OpenOffice" in the name and deleted them (except installation archives of course).
Just to make sure it is clear that I was thorough: Before I searched for files of course I uninstalled OOo the "standard way" using add or remove programs. Also I searched the registry for suspicious entries.
Do you have any OOo 2.x user directories in your 'Application Data' folder?
No, there is nothing named OOo or OpenOffice in Application Data or its subdirectories. Or anything that starts with the letter O directly in that directory.
Now installed OOOdev35. It took very long after pressing "Finish" and had also strange behaviour then (mouse jumping), but it didn't end in a blue screen and runs fine now. As not many people seem to be concerned by whatever-it-was I suggest to close this task (will be fixed automatically by later release).
worksforme -> closed
It seems any internet connection OOo is trying to open on my system is causing the problem. Clicking on Preferences/Online Update also results in a Blue Screen using Dev300m39. Using the proxy never was a problem for any application, OOo is the first one where I see such problems. Sounds also logical to me that the registration dialog tries to access the internet despite setting "don't register, manual search for update" (although I think it isn't supposed to do this!). Seems it was random that the installation worked fine for one time instead of causing a blue screen.
does it look for a network printer?
Now that you ask for network printer, I remember it to be known that the Windows XP driver for the network printer I'm using creates invalid temp directory names which cause Microsoft Office to crash under special conditions. This crash does a blue screen exactly like the one that appears on start of Open Office. I assume that some similar effect is the cause for this. As this is an error in the printer driver and not in OpenOffice I set the resolution to wontfix although it is a pity that such an error may make OpenOffice unusable for some people. I'm using another flavour of Windows now where the error doesn't appear (no, OpenOffice is not the cause for that change).
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