I feel the logic boards will possibly have a noticeable burnt smell (as a modem did that went out during a storm). I have surge protectors on my openers as computers and etc.. I've heard if a lighting strike is close enough the surge protectors probably w/n help. I experience about 5 computers receiving expansion boardâÂÂs damages due to a strike and they all had surge protectors. If it is the board, the cost to you might be as much as another opener vs the actual board's cost. Electronics retail cost can be unreal in many cases. Good Luck! loger

I hear you, damccoy....my memory is NOT what it used to be either and my attitude is NOT what it used to be either. I find myself "cranky" about having to spend my valuable time learning something new when what I was doing was perfectly fine and suited my needs. AND I would really prefer spending my time doing something else more fun...like quilting or sewing or reading on my kindle or gardening or scrapbooking or cooking or most anything than sitting in front of a computer screen. And I know that I may learn a new trick or two but I really don't care....I was a happy camper with things the way they were! "Obstinate and cranky in her old age" Murphy

I use OO and it suits my needs well. I've not used LO yet, and since they are so closely related I wouldn't expect the differences to impact me very much. Since both are free, you should just flip a coin and take one for a test drive. There's really nothing to lose.

i finally installed oo 3.1 and it was able to open the spreadsheet. now getting 3.1 and getting it to work, well if you are interested that was a real interesting adventure! in case this helps anyone else i'll copy and paste it here. i posted this at the oo bullentin board, see link below. this is the final resolution: this is going to be difficult to explain but i have solved the problem and i have to admit i am impressed that i was able to do this! here's what i did after i posted this - 1st, instead of going to the web i opted to open an application i had. i clicked on oo 2.4 and it opened a window. from there i clicked on a link to do the download, 150 mb! it took about 45 minutes. but i still had ver 2.4. i realized i had to open the installation file that mozilla was showing me and when i double clicked the downloaded .exe or php file it started the install and i knew i was on the right track. that took a good 20 minutes and i told it to remove the 2.4 stuff. when done the icon for oo 3.1 writer on my task bar did not work! there are now 4 icons the 3.1 version put on my desktop. only the "oo org" 3.1 icon would launch oo and it was 3.1 so i could now use oo. but the other icons for impress, calc, writer and the task bar icon for writer all failed to work, they'd launch a window saying that it could not find "swriter.exe", trust me this is pretty confusing stuff for me! so i could get to oo 3.1 but only using the icon for "oo org" 3.1 so i right clicked the 3 icons that gave the swriter.exe error and looked at the properties. all 3 were going to C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice.org 2.4\program which shouldn't exist as i told it to remove the 2.4 software but it did not put the correct target address for the 3.1 programs and i recognized this as screwy. i looked at the properties for the 1 icon that would launch oo 3.1 and the target was exactly the same as the 3 icon's targets that were 2.4 but it had 3 in the address - C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice.org 3\program\swriter.exe so i changed the target in the icons that generated the can't find swriter.exe error. by doing that the 3 icons on the desktop went from being a white backround to bright colors and a larger icon! low and behold when i click on those 3 and the icon for the writer on the task bar each one launches the correct software! like i said, i am impressed i found this and was able to fix it, i can't imagine anyone would figure this out it just seems too cryptic! heck i even was able to open the spread sheet that started all this! i hate messing with stuff, i want it to work. i am not all that pc literate and i worry that if i change anything i'll mess something up. i have to admit this was NOT easy to do. oo does NOT provide a correct download/installation. if this happened to me it must be happening to everyone. so not only did this process fail to remove some 2.4 files but it loaded the incorrect target address for 3 icons (using the C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice.org 2.4\program\swriter.exe address)! makes me wonder..... Here is a link that might be useful: open office setup trouble shooting forum