# Open Office on Windows 10



## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I hadn't used Open Office for a while, so when I started it this morning, selected update. I got an error message saying it can't contact the web site. I think what it is really telling me is Defender won't let it.

Does anyone know if there is a program I have to tell Defender about in order to update Open Office? My work around was to download the newest version and install over the older version. That got me updated, but the update option still gives me the same error. I did find a reference to a program called soffice.bin, but a search of my hard drive didn't find it, but did find a soffice.cfg. I think soffice.bin may be for an older version of Open Office.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

If the problem is security settings it's more likely Windows Firewall that's blocking it than Defender. Verify that OpenOffice is open in your firewall settings.

Start-->Settings-->Update & Security-->Windows Security-->Firewall & network protection-->Allow an app through firewall

Scroll down through the application listing to verify that there's a checkmark to the left of OpenOffice, and that check marks are present in the boxes on the right under both Private and Public.

Of course, you could also try turning off the firewall temporarily to see if that helps.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Nevada said:


> If the problem is security settings it's more likely Windows Firewall that's blocking it than Defender. Verify that OpenOffice is open in your firewall settings.
> 
> Start-->Settings-->Update & Security-->Windows Security-->Firewall & network protection-->Allow an app through firewall
> 
> ...


It works out if you go thru defender or firewall, you get to the same place.

I added soffice which is the executable for open office. It starts fine, but when I select check for update I get

Status: Checking for an update failed.

Description: Error reading data from the Internet
Server error message.

That's the same error I was getting before I added soffice. Maybe it is a different program that is doing the update check.

ETA: I have task manager open and looking at processes. The process is listed as Open Office 4.1.5 (32 bit) both when activating open office and when selecting check for updates. The executable is soffice.exe.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

MoonRiver said:


> Description: Error reading data from the Internet
> Server error message.


That sounds more like an openoffice issue than a connectivity issue. They may have changed how they update. If you want the latest & greatest version then simply download and install the latest release.


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## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

Nevada said:


> That sounds more like an openoffice issue than a connectivity issue. They may have changed how they update. If you want the latest & greatest version then simply download and install the latest release.


I already did that. I thought it might fix the update problem, but it didn't.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Try LibreOffice....


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## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

I use LibreOffice which is a fork of OpenOffice with a few extras. It's update also does not work but they tell you this and take you to the website to download it. LINK to it if interested. https://www.libreoffice.org/

It seems LibreOffice is more updated & current and it is one of the reasons I switched over.


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