sal3.dll is missing when launching a file pinned to an Open Office app

Question

In Windows 7 you can pin a document to a program in the taskbar. I pinned an .xls document to Calc, but when I click on the shortcut I get the following error:

soffice.bin - System Error

The program can't start because sal3.dll is missing from your computer.
Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.

I got the same error when I pinned a .txt file to Writer.

I tried repairing Open Office, as suggested by the error, but that didn't fix the problem.

Any ideas? Is sal3.dll part of something that isn't installed by default?

Answer 1

http://www.dlldump.com/download-dll-files_new.php/dllfiles/S/sal3.dll/7.0.0.8779/download.html

The library sal3 (Windows: sal3.dll, Unix: libsal3.so) is located in the /program folder. It maybe necessary to add the /program folder to the PATH environment variable if the bean cannot find sal3.

There is no /program folder in Windows 7. You may find it in Program Files (x86) under "C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice.org 3\URE\bin". Add that path to the PATH system environment variable and it will work.

Answer 2

I had the exact same problem after updating to OO3.3. My text file shortcut was in the "Startup folder" and would not launch giving the same error (The program can't start because sal3.dll is missing...yada yada)

When I looked at the shortcut properties in the Startup folder (right click > Properties > under the "General tab") I found it had been changed from "Opens with: Notepad" to "Opens with: Open Office"!

I changed the file back to "Opens with: Notepad" - the error has disappeared and my file now opens on startup. No major registry fixes or other needed.