Help doesn't work in Word 2007

[Jonathan Allen]

I have a new installation of Office 2007 on Windows XP SP 2.
When I press F1, I get this error message:

"The setup controller has encountered a problem during install. Please
review the log files for further information on the error."

Then I get this error:

CL VIew can't display Help.
CL View cannot install the necessary files due to Windows Installer error 33.
The process cannot access the file because another process has locked a
portion of the file.

 

[Anne Troy]

When getting an error, type it into Google. That way you find your answer
much more quickly than waiting for us to find it. I found it here:
http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/29359796/re-cannot-not-access-the.aspx
See the last guy's post.
****************************
Hope it helps!
Anne Troy
www.OfficeArticles.com
****************************

 

[Jonathan Allen]

Oh great, just what I needed, another condescending twit chanting the Google
mantra. When will people like you learn that you can answer questions without
being rude or expecting that everyone should be an expert at getting useful
information out of a search engine? What is wrong with a simple, “Oh, try
this link.�

Moving on, I have already seen that suggestion and found it lacking. It
didn’t say what I should actually do with the utility, which is rather
important considering it lists 19 different “Office†installations that is
can potentially remove. As written, the suggestion is to download the
utility, then ignore it and reinstall Office with everything, even the stuff
I don't want.

More importantly, it doesn’t actually say what went wrong or how this is
suppose to fix it. The generic reboot/reinstall, while surprising effective,
doesn’t help with understanding the root cause or preventing the problem in
the future.

If anyone has some useful advice that doesn't involve chanting Google or
blindly reinstalling Office with everything selected, I would really
appeciate it.

 

[Tom Ferguson]

Hi;
The error message means setup has failed. The number, 33, indicates a
"lock violation" attempt.

When you use the "Help" system for the first time, it normally goes
through a setup routine. That has failed. The error message indicates
that the usual reason for this failure is that another process is using
a required file and has locked it. This locking process is a normal part
of operations and is required in a multi-tasking system such as Windows.

I would try shutting down Windows and retrying the task after the
desktop reappears after restart..

Do let us know.

Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell.User

..

 

[Dan M]

I may have found a way to make help work in Word and other Office 2007
applications. I myself was having the exact same problem and couldn't find
anything with the error message to solve the problem. But after looking
through the Microsoft Knowledge Base, I found something that seemed
effective.

First, if you still have Office 2007 installed, uninstall the entire program.
Make sure the computer is virus and spyware free. Also make sure that the
registry entries that were created by the previous installation are deleted.
You can do this by using a program that scans the registry for any kind of
inconsistencies and irregularities. If you're more of an experienced user,
then you may be able to edit the registry yourself.
Second, navigate the Microsoft Knowledge Base and print out instructions on
doing a clean boot. Doing a clean boot should remove interference from other
applications that may be running in a regular running state.
Third, clean boot and install Office 2007. Make sure all program files and
such are set to run from the hard disk.
Fourth, while still in clean boot, check to see if help files open after
installation. Check each and every program to ensure this.
Lastly, when completed, refer to the instructions printed out to return to a
normal boot.

Let me know if anything turns up.