Re: [libreoffice-users] opening powerpoint files restart the computer
Hi :) As we keep pointing out Win7 and Windows generally is a bit of a resource hog. 1 more stick of 1Gb Ram would probably help. Better to get 2 new sticks as a matched pair so that you can get an additional 10% bump on performance. Better still if you can get sticks that are about as fast as your mbord can handle. A decent power supply might help but don't go crazy with it unless you plan to use it in a future hardware-upgrade. 350 Watt is usually plenty but you might find something that is more energy efficient and doesn't draw so much mains power if it's not using much. A new fan might help especially if you can re-arrange existing ones to push out more at the back or through the top of the case. Alternatively just install Ubuntu or Mageia or something like that as a dual-boot alongside your Win7. They use so much less resources that you will find the machine runs a lot more quietly, less hot, much faster and quiet possibly drawing so much less power that your Usb ports become quiet usable again. The 'new' or acquired hardware route should cost under £100. Trying a different OS is likely to be free. There are plenty of people on this list that could help you install one of the GnuLinux OSes although i suspect that each person has their own idea of what might be best for you. Generally i would recommend taking various different ones for a test-drive before committing yourself to installing one. Generally it is better to do this using a Usb-stick but it can be done with a Cd or Dvd drive. Most GnuLinux distros allow you to run a LiveCd session to test drive their OS. When you have tried a few then you might notice you prefer the lookfeel of some but others work better with your hardware. It doesn't really matter which one you install first as they all work much the same as each other and it's fairly easy to move from one to another later on, after you have become more accustomed to what your needs are. Some people install a different one each week but that's a bit extreme. Others stay with just one for a decade. Most of us are in the middle somewhere. A LiveCd session leaves no trace on your computer. It should pick-up on all the hardware that you have plugged in at the time and be able to find your internet connection. Sometimes some of them need a little coaxing. Some people use LiveCd sessions regularly for safer internet banking or to repair systems while others use them just to test-drive different systems. Your ISP still logs everything you do in just the same way as they would in Windows so avoid breaking any 'local' laws in the same way as normal. Oddly i find it's the cheapest blank Cds you can buy that are better for this. I think more expensive CDs are more highly tuned for data-storage rather than for running an OS. I've even had really expensive Cds fail and then 1 from a cheap pack of 20 (the packs that cost less than a small(ish) lump of bad cheese) worked fine. On 1 machine the Cd-drive appeared to be almost completely dead in Windows but i managed to get a tiny GnuLinux distro called SLiTaz (30Mb) onto the Cd. Then i booted the LiveCd of that. It's so tiny that you can even take the Cd out while still running the LiveCd session (it's really running entirely inside Ram without even touching your hard-drive or Cd-drive). With SLiTaz the Cd-drive was rock-solid so i was able to make a Cd of Ubuntu. Then because Ubuntu had been made using the same Cd-drive i was finally able to boot-up a LiveCD session of Ubuntu. The LiveCd session usually allows you to install the OS and if so then it usually allows you to play simple games while you are waiting for the installer to do the next thing. On more advanced hardware you could be doing emailing, watching a movie, playing a game and surfing the internet all while doing the installing but that's a bit extreme. The 1st thing is to try a few different LiveCd sessions so you can find out what you prefer the look of, and which works better and which you are happier using as your first. Regards from Tom :) From: Andrew Brown andre...@icon.co.za To: Demétrio Soares demetrio.soa...@gmail.com Cc: Tom Davies tomdavie...@yahoo.co.uk; Gabriel Risterucci cleyf...@gmail.com; users@global.libreoffice.org Users@global.libreoffice.org Sent: Monday, 22 July 2013, 8:44 Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] opening powerpoint files restart the computer Hi Demétrio As I suspected, I've been in IT since 1976, so a lot of experience helps with a good gut feel. Yes an old system, but as you say it suffices for your current needs. I would suspect you system is using DDR2 memory applicable for hardware at the time. What you could do, as a cheap and helpful upgrade is see if you can get your hands on another stick of 1GB RAM, it should not break the bank, as DDR2 RAM is still available. As you indicated, you have 1.5MB
Re: [libreoffice-users] opening powerpoint files restart the computer
There is not much stuff (if any) in LO that could cause a reboot of a computer. Although it's not possible to completely rule out a LO issue, I'd suggest you run some memory testing program (like memtest86+), as it's much more likely that your issue is related to faulty memory/hardware. -- Cley Faye http://cleyfaye.net 2013/7/21 Demétrio Soares demetrio.soa...@gmail.com Good morning, Using the most recent version of Libreoffice, 4.04 Windows 7, 32 bits, 1500mb Ram, AMD Sempron 2800mhz Every time one tries to open powerpoint files the pc fails and restarts, even slow starts. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] opening powerpoint files restart the computer
Hello My two cents worth would rather be to focus on the actual Powerpoint data file that is the source of the problem, when attempted to being opened. If it has any corruption in it, or possibly a piece of malware made to disguise and represent itself as a Powerpoint presentation, then I would accept it crashing and forcing a reboot of the PC, especially if there is no malware protection in place, on a Windows system especially. Virus writers can easily embed bad and malicious code into documents, presentations and spreadsheets. Try another known working presentation data file, and see if this also causes the crash with LO and the PC, if not, then you know where your source of your problem is. Cheers Andrew Brown On 21/07/2013 05:20 PM, Gabriel Risterucci wrote: There is not much stuff (if any) in LO that could cause a reboot of a computer. Although it's not possible to completely rule out a LO issue, I'd suggest you run some memory testing program (like memtest86+), as it's much more likely that your issue is related to faulty memory/hardware. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] opening powerpoint files restart the computer
While it's totally true that malicious code might be embedded in anything (especially ms formats... but we won't talk about this :)), I doubt it would trigger a reaction as bad as a reboot, especially under recent OS. Crashing a user program is very unlikely to cause a system reboot, except if it call some regular reboot code, that would trigger a clean reboot, windows closing and stuff. Most likely output is simply the program crashing/getting in an unstable state. As I said, it's not completely ruling out the possibility of a catastrophic crash caused by some code issue, but it's fearly reasonnable to suppose that loading this file make LO expand to use more memory than usual, touching a faulty area. If the computer usually work without issue, maybe the ppt file is very large, or very complex, or the LO loading routine doesn't handle it nicely and cause the memory cost to increase. It would be interesting to know wether the reboot is hard (instant black screen) or soft (windows closing down normally). Also, if the ppt file isn't sensitive, it would be useful to put it on some kind of file sharing site for people to try loading it. -- Cley Faye http://cleyfaye.net 2013/7/21 Andrew Brown andre...@icon.co.za Hello My two cents worth would rather be to focus on the actual Powerpoint data file that is the source of the problem, when attempted to being opened. If it has any corruption in it, or possibly a piece of malware made to disguise and represent itself as a Powerpoint presentation, then I would accept it crashing and forcing a reboot of the PC, especially if there is no malware protection in place, on a Windows system especially. Virus writers can easily embed bad and malicious code into documents, presentations and spreadsheets. Try another known working presentation data file, and see if this also causes the crash with LO and the PC, if not, then you know where your source of your problem is. Cheers Andrew Brown On 21/07/2013 05:20 PM, Gabriel Risterucci wrote: There is not much stuff (if any) in LO that could cause a reboot of a computer. Although it's not possible to completely rule out a LO issue, I'd suggest you run some memory testing program (like memtest86+), as it's much more likely that your issue is related to faulty memory/hardware. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] opening powerpoint files restart the computer
Hi Gabriel I agree, you make some valid points, but the MS hive (collection of the boot code plus apps running in memory in one big monolith file, unlike the Linux kernel with separate clients commucating with the kernel, all separate), is not as robust as we would like to believe, even in Windows 7 and 8. So as you covered in your reply, any bad data files forcing it's host app, as in this case LO with a presentation data file, to exceed it's memory boundaries, will cause the processor and microcode to force a reboot intentionally or accidentally, due to creating instability with the rest of the memory content, the hive. This is the weakness of the MS way of doing things. As to my coverage of malware in the data files, it could cause a system crash and reboot, if the malware code is written badly or incomplete. I also noticed that Demétrio Soares is running Windows 7 32 bit on only 1.5MB of RAM, this in itself could be the problem. Although Windows 7 can run on 1.5GB of RAM, it is recommended to run it on at least 2GB, and even better with 3 or 4GB. The 4GB will be a bit of a waste as a 32bit system can only see a physical max of 3.2GB, so installing 4GB would not see or use the last 800MB (as layman terms as I can explain it). With only 1.5GB of RAM, the O/S is using at least 1GB of this RAM leaving 500MB for apps and data file, so I would also expect a system crash if the data file was a large one. As an example I am using Windows 7 64bit with 6GB of RAM, and I am consuming 35% (2GB) of this RAM right now as I type this email, Thunderbird open, Firefox open, and not much else except some system resources running. Regards Andrew Brown On 21/07/2013 06:25 PM, Gabriel Risterucci wrote: While it's totally true that malicious code might be embedded in anything (especially ms formats... but we won't talk about this :)), I doubt it would trigger a reaction as bad as a reboot, especially under recent OS. Crashing a user program is very unlikely to cause a system reboot, except if it call some regular reboot code, that would trigger a clean reboot, windows closing and stuff. Most likely output is simply the program crashing/getting in an unstable state. As I said, it's not completely ruling out the possibility of a catastrophic crash caused by some code issue, but it's fearly reasonnable to suppose that loading this file make LO expand to use more memory than usual, touching a faulty area. If the computer usually work without issue, maybe the ppt file is very large, or very complex, or the LO loading routine doesn't handle it nicely and cause the memory cost to increase. It would be interesting to know wether the reboot is hard (instant black screen) or soft (windows closing down normally). Also, if the ppt file isn't sensitive, it would be useful to put it on some kind of file sharing site for people to try loading it. -- Cley Faye http://cleyfaye.net 2013/7/21 Andrew Brown andre...@icon.co.za mailto:andre...@icon.co.za Hello My two cents worth would rather be to focus on the actual Powerpoint data file that is the source of the problem, when attempted to being opened. If it has any corruption in it, or possibly a piece of malware made to disguise and represent itself as a Powerpoint presentation, then I would accept it crashing and forcing a reboot of the PC, especially if there is no malware protection in place, on a Windows system especially. Virus writers can easily embed bad and malicious code into documents, presentations and spreadsheets. Try another known working presentation data file, and see if this also causes the crash with LO and the PC, if not, then you know where your source of your problem is. Cheers Andrew Brown On 21/07/2013 05:20 PM, Gabriel Risterucci wrote: There is not much stuff (if any) in LO that could cause a reboot of a computer. Although it's not possible to completely rule out a LO issue, I'd suggest you run some memory testing program (like memtest86+), as it's much more likely that your issue is related to faulty memory/hardware. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] opening powerpoint files restart the computer
Hi :) I think ram issues are the 2nd most likely cause of crashes. If it is the cause then you probably find other programs also seem to cause crashes too. The 1st most likely cause has usually been some bad version of Java. Each time Oracle release a version of Java they claim it is safe and that we must all upgrade to it asap or experience all sorts of unspeakable horrors. Then a few weeks later they admit there are problems with their newer one too. Then they release yet another and claim we must all upgrade to that. Rinse and repeat. If you are not using a Screen-Reader or other Accessibility tool then you can probably switch Java off without noticing any difference except that your system is more stable. Tools - Options - Advanced / Java At the top UNtick the box that asks if you want to use Java. You will see all the versions of java currently installed on your system listed in the big white box under that. Really your system should have no more than 2 but preferably none. Note that in the USA their Homeland security apparently sent out a warning to companies that they should remove Java from their systems because it was creating such huge problems so often. I'm not often in agreement with Homeland Security. I switched Java off in as many apps/programs as possible for about a month before i finally uninstalled it from all machines. I was a bit worried that i might have needed it for something but after a month found that nothing at my place needed it. Of course some companies still run job adverts for Java programmers ... Like i said, Ram is probably 2nd and after that is possibly wobbly graphics card issues. Overheating often leads to machines just cutting power. In the bios you might be able to set what temperature causes an automatic shut-down. I hooovered one persons laptop grills and keyboard solving that one for her!! It was a bit of a risk but worked out well. For desktops it's usually easier to take the side of the case off and gently remove the choking dust. Be careful !! a) it causes almost unstoppable coughing if inhaled. Drinking water doesn't seem to help but something heavier like mango juice or milk usually does the trick. b) the plastic nozzle of the hoover holds enough charge to seriously zap most of the components on almost any mbord. Even fingers hold enough static to significantly reduce lifespans of components although normal skin has enough unnoticeable oil to create other problems too. Generally with those sorts of things you will notice other programs also cause crashes. Going off on a tangent ... Win7 has some new clever way of filling up nearly all available Ram by caching what it thinks you will need next or might need quickly (such as things you just closed). So, some of that 35% will just be cached items. One of the big features about Win7 was that it was smaller than it's predecessor. Each newer version of Windows has usually been hugely more demanding in terms of resources than any previous version of Windows. With Win7 one of the boasts was that it's almost as small and efficient as Xp. (ie smaller than Vista). A 1st for MS. Wrt deliberately written malware embedded in documents i think that is usually only possible through Macros. The Macro code has to find a way of being executed as Administrator (in GnuLinux we say SuperUser or Root User (hence commands such as su or sudo)). I think LO Macros run in some safer way that denies them access to that level of privilege even when a Windows user is running as Admin all the time. Win7 is much better at working well as normal user so users are not all forced into running as Admin user all the time. Again a 1st for MS. While MS Office macros have been used as an attack-vector for quite a lot of malware over the years LO/OOo Macros never have been afaik. MS Office macros use a different language so they don't run in LO or any of the other competitors to MSO. In Windows it seems to be considered ok for apps/programs to suddenly go off and download updates and then install them and even force a reboot. Generally programs are polite enough to ask before forcing a reboot but if you dare to say no they will keep popping up with the demand every few minutes until you obey. In GnuLinux such behaviour would be considered a serious security issue. Regards from Tom :) From: Andrew Brown andre...@icon.co.za To: Gabriel Risterucci cleyf...@gmail.com Cc: Demétrio Soares demetrio.soa...@gmail.com; users@global.libreoffice.org Sent: Sunday, 21 July 2013, 17:52 Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] opening powerpoint files restart the computer Hi Gabriel I agree, you make some valid points, but the MS hive (collection of the boot code plus apps running in memory in one big monolith file, unlike the Linux kernel with separate clients communicating with the kernel, all separate
