Did you know all of these ways to start OpenOffice.org? Choose the method that is most convenient for you.

• Right click the OpenOffice.org Quickstarter icon in the system tray (next to the clock). The Quickstarter is available on Windows and certain non-vanilla editions for Linux. On Windows, the Quickstarter does not start until you run OpenOffice.org and complete the new user registration wizard; this must be done once for each Windows user and each OpenOffice.org version.
  
  The Quickstarter is enabled by default. To enable the Quickstarter, open OpenOffice.org, click on Tools, click on Options, click on Memory, and click Enable systray quickstarter.

• Double click an existing document.
  

• Right click on an existing document. Then, choose Open With. Then, choose OpenOffice.org.

• Directly run the OpenOffice.org executable.

• Click Start, then click All Programs, and then click OpenOffice.org.
  

• OpenOffice.org 3.0+ only Double click the application icon on the desktop.

• By default, OpenOffice.org does not create Quick Launch icons on the toolbar, but it's easy to make your own:
  1. Make sure the Quick Launch area is shown in the taskbar.
     1. Right click on the Windows taskbar in a blank space.
     2. Click Toolbars.
     3. Click Quick Launch.
  2. Click Start, All Programs, OpenOffice.org.
  3. Drag an OpenOffice.org icon and drop it in the Quick Launch area.
  4. If there is not enough space, the new icon may be hidden, but you will see an arrow. If necessary, resize the Quick Launch area. If you cannot resize the area, right click on a blank space and choose Lock the Taskbar*.
     

• Drag a document onto to OpenOffice.org application desktop icon.

• Linux has a menu similar to Windows above, but it varies between Linux distributions and window managers (GNOME, KDE, etc). Usually the start menu is in the top-left or top-right-hand corner of the screen. It may be called the Applications menu. Click on it, then Office, then OpenOffice.org.
  

• Here are three ways to copy the item from the start menu.
  • In GNOME, right click on OpenOffice.org the menu. Then, choose Add this launcher to desktop or Add this launcher to panel.
  • In KDE, right click the OpenOffice.org menu item. Then, choose Add Item to Desktop or Add Item to Main Panel.
  • In KDE, drag the OpenOffice.org menu to the desktop.

• Many Linux distributions will by default create an OpenOffice.org launcher on your main panel. Click the launcher.

After installing on Windows, you will have two icons on the desktop that are generally safe to delete. One is the installer .exe and the other is a folder full of installation files. The file names will differ slightly according to the version you installed, but icons remain the same.

this is a stub

• Does the executable exist on the hard drive?
• Windows: Is OpenOffice.org listed in the Control Panel under Add/Remove Programs?
• Linux: Check your package manager
  • rpm -qa | grep -i openoffice
  • dpkg –get-selections | grep -i openoffice

Are you having trouble starting OpenOffice.org? See Troubleshooting: OpenOffice.org Won't Start.