Re: HTML Help links broken

From: Pete Lees (PD.Lees_at_btinternet.com)
Date: 03/03/04 

Date: 3 Mar 2004 02:32:40 -0800

Craig,

> 1) Could I just run hhupd.exe and reinstall over the existing HTML Help?

This won't work, unfortunately, because the HTML Help runtime
components are protected system components in Windows 2000 and later.
In order to upgrade the components you must install a Microsoft
critical update or service pack. You'll receive an error message to
this effect if you try to run hhupd.exe.

> 2) [...] 811630 does not show up as installed even though I have run
> the install several times! Could this be a problem?

The 811630 update should definitely provide the solution to the
problem, which is described in Knowledge Base article 822989.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822989

> 3) This seems like a problem of a missing or corrupted key in the registry.

You're right; this is a registry problem. The cumulative security
patches for Internet Explorer mentioned in KB article 822989 break the
registry entries for the HTML Help ActiveX control, which is the
component that ought to be invoked when you click a hyperlink of the
type mentioned.

I'm not sure if it will fix the problem, but you could try
unregistering and then re-registering the HTML Help ActiveX control by
opening a Command Prompt window and entering these two commands:

regsvr32 /u <drive>:\windows\system32\hhctrl.ocx
regsvr32 <drive>:\windows\system32\hhctrl.ocx 

--
Pete (Microsoft Help MVP)

Relevant Pages

  • Re: unusable Help for over 8 months
    ... Check the file type associations in Windows Explorer (Tools> Folder ... The hh.dat file stores user-specific information on all the HTML Help files ... Empty your Temporary Internet Files directory. ... open a Command Prompt window and then enter the ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.windows_update)
  • Re: help
    ... Check the file type associations in Windows Explorer (Tools> ... The hh.dat file stores user-specific information on all the HTML Help ... cause the files to misbehave if it has somehow been corrupted. ... open a Command Prompt window and ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.registry)
  • Re: Project 2000 Help Error after MS04-004
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    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)
  • Re: Help Support for Windows Applications
    ... 2.How to create and maintain help for a new Windows application. ... need to create a help file using the HTML Help Complier components. ... Microsoft Online Community Support ... You can send feedback directly to my manager at: ...
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  • Re: Project 2000 Help Error after MS04-004
    ... "Pete Lees" wrote: ... > Windows 2000. ... > The hh.dat file stores user-specific information on all the HTML Help ... open a Command Prompt window and ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.general)