Re: [Q] HTML Help Will No Longer Work on my XP system....

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: Pete Lees (PD.Lees_at_btinternet.com)
Date: 03/16/04 

Date: 16 Mar 2004 07:32:38 -0800

Donovan,

> To my knowledge nothing has changed on my XP SP2 system, but clearly I
> must be mistaken. ;-) I can no longer open any form of HTMLHelp. Double
> clicking on a CHM from Explorer just gives me a dialog with the caption
> "Help" and "Cannot open file mk:@MSITStore:<Path To The Help File>.

Here are some things to try:

1) Use MJ's Help Diagnostics to check that all the help viewer
components are properly installed and registered.

http://helpware.net/downloads/index.htm#MJs

(The only section of the MJ's Help Report that is relevant to your
problem is the one headed "HTML Help Run-time Components".)

2) Use Microsoft Critical Update 811630 to upgrade the help viewer
components. This is available from here:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811630

3) Delete or rename the file hh.dat, which you should find in this
directory:

\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\HTML
Help

The hh.dat file stores user-specific information on all the HTML Help
files on your system (favourite topics, search history, etc.), and can
cause the files to misbehave if it has somehow been corrupted. Windows
will create a new version of hh.dat when you next open any .chm file.

4) Empty your Temporary Internet Files directory. A full TIF directory
can cause HTML Help files to misbehave.

5) See the following pages for further guidance on how to resolve
XP-specific help problems:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_h.htm
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/fixwinxphelp.htm 

--
Pete (Microsoft Help MVP)

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