Curious problem with 98SE2ME and Open Office

[SeeAScot]

In January I installed 98SE2ME on my IBM Thinkpad A22m(s) as follows.

Windows 98SE

IE 6.0 SP1

MDIE6CU25E.EXE

all the IBM Thinkpad device drivers.

DirectX 9.0c

dxtxtra.exe

sesp30b3-en.exe

then

98SE2ME

then

MDCU305E

(Which I believe containes nusb33)

I then put Open Office on the machines as well as much other software.

Open Office was installed as a portable app which means it was merely copied to the HDD to be run later when needed.

As I am mostly using Softmaker Office for my wordprocessor and spreadsheet needs I had no need to open a file in Open Office up until a couple days ago when I needed to view a Powerpoint file.

The toolbar just below the titlebar which contains the - File - Edit........-Help is just grey, not like an unpopulated toolbar gray, but just a flat grey bar like when things crash type of gray.

This happens with both OpenOffice 2.02 and 2.41. I went back to the original install before I added any software and whenever I try to run Open Office I have the same problem, even when nothing else has been installed.

I had no problem with with OpenOffice in Windows 98SE and there is no other program which I've run which does this, all the rest display the - File - Edit - etc toolbar normally.

I even tried installing KernelEx on a test installation without changing the behavior of OpenOffice.

What would or could cause only ONE program to do this in 98SE2ME????

[RodgerOver]

I am wondering whether this is not the Internet Explorer, some things are used in common by IE and Windows Explorer and I believe this menu bar belongs to them. Did you try to resintall IE. ??

Roger

Edit: found this (post from 2006), but there is no solution: http://www.oooforum.org/forum/viewtopic.ph...menu+bar#175495

At least you are not alone with your problem :-)

Edited May 16, 2009 by RodgerOver

[SeeAScot]

In my final install, after I have installed the following:

Windows 98SE

IE 6.0 SP1

MDIE6CU25E.EXE

all the IBM Thinkpad device drivers.

DirectX 9.0c

dxtxtra.exe

sesp30b3-en.exe

98SE2ME

MDCU305E

Then I install all my applications, installing the portable ones by merely copying the appropriate file folder.

Then I use 98Lite to remove Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player, replacing WMP with the K-Lite codec pack and Media Player Classic.

When I first noticed the problem it was on my working install, but I had saved the partition after I had done the basic 98SE2ME install and before I had added any other software, so I was easily able to go back to that point and try it, just by copying the partion to another HDD.

The interesting thing is that I do NOT loose the toolbar just below the titlebar which contains the - File - Edit........-Help when I install the Standard version of Windows 98SE, even AFTER I use 98Lite to remove Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player!

As the poster on the OpenOffice forum was using Windows 98FE, and I am having problems with 98SE2ME, apparently the problem is related to a file which is different in 98FE, 98SE, and 98SE2ME with the version which is in 98SE being the only version which does not cause the problem.

The only reasons I use OpenOffice are to use Impress when I need to open a PowerPoint file which someone sends me, or to open a newer version of a Word or Excel document than Softmaker Office will handle. Using Impress to open Powerpoint files is not affected by the absence of the File edit toolbar, however, even though I can open a newer Office file than I can with Softmaker Office, with that toolbar unavailable, I cannot save it in an older Office format which I can use without access to the file save as command.

[dencorso]

Get and install NirSoftware Current Process (google for it). With it running, start Open Office and navigate to the point where the missing toolbar is. Let it open and go to Current Process and do a refresh and click on the Open Office process, and there you'll see all the .exes and .dll it relies on. Jot them down and substitute one by one of these files by the ones you had before 98SE2ME. You'll have to go to DOS and back for each substitution. In this way you can find the file that's causing the issue. Good luck!

[M()zart]

Well, I can recommend you to use keyboard shortcuts as a workaround. CTRL+S to save, CTRL+SHIFT+S to save as. Hope that will be useful. Or you may try to install KernelEx and OpenOffice 3.

Edited May 18, 2009 by M()zart