(In reply to comment #0)
> I've been installing 3.4 on the public computers at the library where I
> work. This is happening consistently: Even when you choose custom install,
> there doesn't seem to be a way to choose options so that two aggravating
> things do not happen - 1) the program is added to the startup folder and
> greatly slows up the boot process, and 2) the default program for opening

It's the quickstarter.

If choose custom install and uncheck the quickstarter from the optional components, the quickstarter will not be installed and thus will not be added into startup folder.

otherwise, quickstarter will be enabled by default, and the openoffice window will show up at system startup. This is a bug that has been fixed in 3.4.1:Bug 119102

You can disable it manually: Tools->Options->Openoffice.org->Memory, Uncheck the "Load OpenOffice.org during system start-up"

> the .doc file type is changed to Open Office even if you have Microsoft
> Office installed. There is also no notice that this is what is going to

file association, in custom install there is a panel that set association for the MS office types. By default they are unchecked, and the MS office file types will not be associated with openoffice. It works for me.

> happen, so it's been a hassle all around trying to figure out 1) why all the
> computers were booting so slowly, and 2) why people are finding themselves
> in Open Office when they didn't mean to be, getting error messages about
> formatting when they try to save a document that was originally created in
> Word.
> 
> This has been consistent on all of the computers I've installed it on. We
> have over 30. It's a real pain undoing these settings when I wouldn't have
> chosen to set them up that way in the first place. I don't remember ever
> having this problem in previous versions.

Not a bug.  louqle explains how to control these options during install.