Question

Help in the menu bar will not work on any program

Asked by: paleface

Windows XP service pack 2 computer will not open the help section of any program.

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Asked On
2009-08-05 at 13:04:45ID24629394
Topic

Windows XP Operating System

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
10

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Answers

 

by: synquePosted on 2009-08-05 at 13:21:53ID: 25027697

So you get an error message after you click anything within a help menu? There's an issue with SP2 not being able to open legacy .CHM (Windows help) files.

Are you comfortable with editing registry entries? If so there's a registry key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions
create a subkey called MaxAllowedZone and set it to 2.

I can provide a reg file that does this automatically, if you'd like.

 

by: jcimarronPosted on 2009-08-05 at 13:32:44ID: 25027813

 

by: sramesh2kPosted on 2009-08-06 at 09:58:06ID: 25035591

One of these suggestions may help.

1. Clear the Temporary Internet Files

2. Clear the contents of the TEMP folder

Type %TEMP% in Start, Run dialog. Select all files in the Temp folder and
delete them. Some files in the TEMP folder may be in use. If so, ignore the
error and continue deleting the remaining files in that folder.

3. Register the core modules using these commands

regsvr32 ole32.dll
regsvr32 hhctrl.ocx
regsvr32 itss.dll
regsvr32 msxml3.dll
regsvr32 mshtml.dll /i
regsvr32 jscript.dll
helpctr.exe -regserver

Another step, suggested by Pete Lees [MVP]
=========

You could try deleting the file hh.dat, which should be in this directory:

%userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\HTML Help

Hh.dat is a database file that saves such session information as the window
position and favorites for the HTML Help viewer. The database file is
automatically updated every time the HTML Help Viewer is used. If the
database file does not exist, it is re-created. When updating the HTML Help
viewer, the information in Hh.dat is not necessarily compatible with the new
viewer, which can cause it to become corrupt.

Additional references:

PRB: HTML Help Viewer Causes Access Violation:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=235405

PRB: Hh.exe Causes an Access Violation When Opening .chm Files:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=235062

Reboot, and then try opening a CHM file.
Type in Start, Run: %Windir%\Help\access.chm

 

by: palefacePosted on 2009-09-01 at 15:01:43ID: 25236605

Running a system check and flie checker got the windows help functions working, but there are still some specific 3rd party sql programs where help still is not functional.

 

by: palefacePosted on 2009-10-02 at 10:08:07ID: 25479806

I haven't abandoned the question.  I just thought my final post was an easier fix.  The unresolved help issue was a third party problem requiring their tech support's assistance.  Thanks

 

by: palefacePosted on 2009-10-02 at 10:11:07ID: 25479827

THanks for your assistance with this problem.  I am going to split points because there is some beneficial info in the posted answers.

 

by: palefacePosted on 2009-10-02 at 10:16:26ID: 25479885

I was going to split points for the assistance that was attempted, but I don't see that option anymore.

 

by: palefacePosted on 2009-10-02 at 10:20:19ID: 31612124

THese solutions are informative and helpful, and may have fixed my problem if some standard microsoft utilities had not fixed it first.

Thanks

 

by: jcimarronPosted on 2009-10-02 at 10:58:53ID: 25480266

paleface--Glad all is well.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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