Rob,
Hello, I have been having a problem with my help files in all of
Office Applications. None of them work!!! Whenever I bring up
a help file it always appears blank. There is nothing to control
or click on, the only thing you can do is close them. I have done
everything short of formatting my system. I have
uninstalled/reinstalled Office upgraded to the new version, no
help whatsoever. It even is affecting other products that use a
similar help system. I assume that some common Windows XP files
have been corrupted but I have no idea which it could be.
Here are some things to try:
1) Use Microsoft Critical Update 811630 to upgrade the components used
to view help files. This is available from here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=811630
2) Use MJ's Help Diagnostics to ensure 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".)
3) Delete 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, changes that you've made to
the size and position of a help window, 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 help
problems in Windows XP:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_h.htm
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/fixwinxphelp.htm
